1

Archives and archival organization in southern Germany from the early 19th

century until World War I. The example of Bavaria

Pisa, 16.9.2011; Joachim Kemper (Speyer, Germany)

1.Introduction: Southern Germany (19th century)

2.The archival “landscape” in Bavaria:

Organization, principles and archival buildings

3.Instead of a summary: Historical research

and archives in Bavaria

2

1. Introduction: Southern Germany (19th century)

Archives are very traditional institutions (long history,

tradition).

Especially the turn of the 18th to 19th century has

brought to the (from today's perspective) "southern"

german regions and states large changes. The impact

on the role of archives and their organization and work

was significant.

In the center of attention stays Bavaria, the most

important of the southern german states.

3

1. Introduction: Southern Germany (19th century)

State development in the time of “German

Confederation” (1815-1866 = “Deutscher Bund”) was

still open and not foreseeable . Build up: Ca. 39

states/free cities; Prussia and Austria (in parts), small

and medium-sized states (Bavaria, Baden,

Württemberg, Hannover etc.).

„German War“ (1866): „Lesser german solution“,

dominance of Prussia in the new empire (1871).

4

1. Introduction: Southern Germany (19th century)File: Wikimedia commons

5

1. Introduction: Southern Germany (19th century)

Nevertheless: the archival management remained in the new

empire a business of the single states.

Bavaria was the major state of the empire apart from Prussia;

with special role – also in archivistics (up to our times, for

instance: Bavarian Archives School, since 1821). Bavaria is

also in the focus, because there we have a very high and

sophisticated number of state archives. Bavaria had at the

beginning of the 19th Century to deal with the tradition of

many newly added territories and monasteries etc. A very

centralized and very strong on pertinence-principle based

archival management was established.

6

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Bavaria was at the beginning of the 19th Century one of

the big winners of the territorial and political changes of

the Napoleonic era. In 1806 the kingdom of Bavaria was

founded.

Unlike today, there was not only the state located in the

southeast of Germany, but also (since 1816) a county

left to the Rhine, leading directly to France: the "Rhine

Palatinate" with its capital Speyer.

7

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

All in all, the basic changes around (1800ff.)/1806/1816

brought a significant change in the archival live, and

not just in terms of their legal status. The documents of

secularized dioceses or monasteries were transferred to

the state, their acquisition or disposal had to be

organized.

A look at the central archives in Munich will be important

to classify the prevailing principles and methods!

8

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Archival Reorganization of 1799: Three central archives

were divided due to local, state and regional matters on

the principle of pertinence. The various provinces

should still have further additional provincial archives.

1812: Attempt to build a single national archive for the

entire kingdom (“all other archives will exist no

longer”). Centralization in the strictest form of selection

to Munich, especially all charters, selected manuscripts

and “the most interesting” records.

9

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

While the real centralization could only be in parts

executed, the theoretical centralization in Munich was

postulated for a long time!

1820: Existence of regional archives assured.

From 1837: Organizational continuity of the Bavarian

state archives until now. National archives Munich and

state archives („Kreisarchive“): Amberg, Bamberg,

Landshut, Munich, Neuburg, Nürnberg, Speyer and

Würzburg.

10

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Strange from today's perspective appear the criteria by which a

distinction was made between the “quality” of archives (e.g.

charters).

Some misunderstandings and disputes started between the

archive due to the different interpretation of principles;

question of archival responsibility (e.g. Neuburg).

Since the 1920 provenance became temporary important, but

not until the 1960s the revision of stocks and the exchange of

stocks between the state archives was the declared primary

task of all state archives in Bavaria.

11

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Organization, turning point 1921: The “Kreisarchive” were

renamed in “Staatsarchive”, which is still valid today.

The Bavarian Main state archives (“Bayerisches

Hauptstaatsarchiv”) still exists also from 1921, it was

consolidated from the former Bavarian Central State

Archives together with the "Secret State Archives”

(under the Bavarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the

Secret House Archive in Munich. New chief-archivist of

the whole archival administration was the General

director.

12

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Organization, turning point 1921: The „Secret House

Archive” is since 1923 property of the "Wittelsbach

Compensation Fund". It is also part of the Bavarian

Main state archives, but the concession to do research

in this archive is tied to the approval of the House of

Wittelsbach. Another special role played for many years

the Bavarian Military archive (“Kriegsarchiv”). It was

incorporated after WW II in the Main state archives.

13

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

Organization, turning point 1921: In parallel to this

external reorganization, the new general director

Riedner planned an internal change (based on

provenance): “a better distribution of the records, the

elimination of fragmented records, in short the revision

and the exchange of stocks”. There should be a

"reliable archive topography". But the attempts were

mostly in vain ...

14

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

The consolidated archival organization (1837/1921) in

Bavaria was broken until our times only in two cases

(acquisition of Coburg, 1920; Speyer/Rhine-Palatinate,

1946 dropped away).

15

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

New archival buildings (between 1871 and WW I):

• Prussia: pioneer in constructing “modern” archival

buildings (two parts, administration and depots);

average Prussian State archives in the provinces of the

state occurs as a brick-lined functional-building.

• In Bavaria and in other "smaller" states of the empire

we can generally also assume a certain amount of new

buildings with seemingly greater need for

“representation”.

16

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

New archival buildings (between 1871 and WW I):

• Bavaria: Since 1877 some new buildings, like in Amberg, Speyer,

Munich and Bamberg – but the Prussian example (the modern

division of archives in two parts) was seen with some retention.

• Example Staatsarchiv Bamberg (1902/1905): Especially in the case

of the new and very representative archive of Bamberg, the

Bavarian archivists consciously decided against the "foreign"

Prussian “style” and created an backwards-archive-design: Three-

blade “castle” with closed administrative building and a kind of

neo-baroque garden in the courtyard; the magazine: cabinet-

system (with many separated cabinets, chambers or single rooms).

17

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

18

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

19

2. The archival “landscape” in Bavaria: Organization, principles and archival buildings

20

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria

Archival and institutional continuity in Bavaria ↔ Archives

and archival holdings have been torn apart due to the

principle of pertinence, or even because of the principle

of value…

Although the principle of provenance is since decades in

Bavaria ruling, the revision of stocks and the exchange

of stocks between the state archives make some

difficulties.

21

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria

And: A changeful history conducts a serious dissemination of

records.

Example: Rhine-Palatinate („Bayerische Pfalz“, „Rheinpfalz“,

1816-1946 Bavarian; capital: Speyer), fragmented in former

times in many territories and states. The modern state

archives Speyer has at most fragmented archival holdings of

the previous dominions. The only archive, that rans

continuously through the year 1800, is the archive of the

former imperial city of Speyer; our tradition is still

undisturbed.

22

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria (Map Rhine-Palatinate, 1789, http://www.hoeckmann.de/deutschland/pfalz.htm)

23

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria

The archival holdings are mostly not in the region; they

are in fact in archives like Munich or Karlsruhe or

elsewhere.

Reasons e.g.: Principle of archival following

(“Archivfolge”), migration of families (and archives),

archival (didactical) collections.

A reconstruction of the Palatine archives in the region

itself, a return, has been postulated many times, but it

is impossible.

24

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria

Solutions to the problem: Deposita (e.g. records of the

„Reichskammergericht“, from Munich to Speyer; a

solution also for the thousands of „Palatine“ charters in

Munich?); virtual reconstruction through digitization or

at least through (cross-border-) finding-aids?

25

3. Instead of a summary: Historical research and archives in Bavaria

Conclusion

and

“Grazie”!

joachim.kemper@stadt-speyer.de