History of the University Archive
Establishment of the Archive at the Viadrina
After the founding of the new Berlin University in 1810, as part of the reorganisation of the Prussian university system, the old Brandenburg State University in Frankfurt (Oder) was forced to close its doors a year later, following more than 300 years of existence. It was relocated to Breslau (Wrocław) and merged with the Jesuit university Leopoldina. The relocation affected not only university operations but also the Viadrina’s archive.
At that time, the archive was divided: in 1811, part of the university’s records was transferred to the Royal Secret State Archives. Since 1963, these materials have been held at the Brandenburg State Archives in Potsdam. Another portion of the archive was moved along with the university to Breslau (Wrocław). Some of these materials were later transferred to the Secret State Archives in Berlin.
According to current knowledge, however, most of what remained in Wrocław was almost completely destroyed in 1945 during the final weeks of the war. This likely included at least parts of the Viadrina’s archival holdings. Only a few surviving items were returned to the newly founded Wrocław State Archives.
In the summer of 1968, a number of volumes of documents originating from Frankfurt (Oder) and formerly held in the Wrocław State Archives were discovered in the former Magdeburg State Archives. In 1973, these were transferred to Potsdam and incorporated into the holdings of the University of Frankfurt (Oder) in the Brandenburg State Archives.
Since its re-establishment in 1991, the new Viadrina University initially maintained only the standard intermediate archive required for public institutions. As the first embargo periods began to expire, the Chancellor and President of the University agreed to establish a dedicated final archive.
The first steps toward founding the archive were taken as early as 1995 by the then Rector, Professor Dr Hans N. Weiler. On 18 May 2005, during the 14th meeting of the University Senate, the Archive and Intermediate Archive Regulations were officially adopted.
By letter dated 11 July 2006, the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg (MWFK) granted the University Archive official status as a public archive in accordance with Section 4 (4) of the Brandenburg Archives Act (BbgArchivG).
History of the Archive Library
On the basis of the decree issued by the Brandenburg state government on 20 August 1991, entitled "Abgabe amtlicher Druckschriften an öffentliche Bibliotheken" (Amtsblatt für Brandenburg, 2/1991, p. 720), appropriate implementation within the University was initiated in early 1993 by the Library Director.
Since then, the University Library has received three copies of all official publications and printed materials produced by the European University. One of these is designated as the archive copy. This copy is non-circulating, labelled with location code 01, and stored in the closed stacks.
In addition to its function as the archive library, the University Library also serves as a public academic library, supporting academic research, general information needs, and lifelong learning. It plays an active role in both regional and national academic literature provision.
The disciplines relevant to the University Archive and the archive library’s reference collection are comprehensively represented in the holdings. This function continues to be carried out in consultation with the Archive.