The Stadtarchiv Rosenheim

The city of Rosenheim’s exact date of foundation remains unknown and the same is true for its archives. In 1328, Duke Heinrich of Lower Bavaria granted Rosenheim market rights. In the fourteenth century at the latest, the existence of the market’s own archive can be assumed. This archive remained a purely administrative archive until the nineteenth century. In 1876, twelve years after Rosenheim had been raised to the status of a city, the archive was housed in the new town hall, the former railway station. The first, part-time archivist was Ludwig Eid (1865-1936), docent at a teacher trainings institution, in 1900/01.

When the new building of the Städtische Gemäldegalerie (City Paintings Galleriy) was completed in 1937, the back building of the gallery became available to the archive. Thus the archive became accessible for public use. Albert Aschl (1900-1982), who also managed the gallery and the museum, was the head of the archive. After his retirement, no full-time archivist was hired, but instead a municipal cultural office was established for the first time with the role of a cultural adviser. In 1991, the city archive and the cultural office were separated spatially and personally, when the archive, as an independent institution within the cultural office, was for the first time staffed full-time by a trained archivist.

Over the following years, the level of public awareness of the city archive rose and as a consequence the tasks and visitor numbers increased. In 1997, the 1937 building was extensively renovated and extended to include the reading room annex. This extension made it possible to look after a larger number of visitors to the archive and to organise events. Exhibitions such as "Rosenheim in den 50er Jahren" (Rosenheim in the 1950s) or "Zur Kur nach Rosenheim!" (Spa Breaks in Rosenheim) became highly successful. With the pilot experiment "Archivpädagogik" (Archival Pedagogy), the city archive also broke new ground to encourage students’ interest in history. Jointly with the Rosenheim District Office, the annual school competition “Heimat erleben“ (Experience Home) is held.

In addition to administrative files with a volume of over 3,000 metres of shelving, the Rosenheim City Archive also holds estates of individuals and associations as well as extensive collections of pictures, posters, films and newspapers. The photo stock alone comprises 30,000 positives and 350,000 negatives. As a scientific regional library, the library of the city archive contains over 36,000 volumes.

Back in 1997, the city archive secured the domain www.stadtarchiv.de and has presented itself online since then. The online offering is constantly expanded and already comprises around 300,000 data records. In addition to information on the city’s history, it is possible to research original sources or view digitised editions of local daily newspapers via the online database. The online offer complements the possibility of personal consultation and underlines the understanding of the city archive as an information and documentation centre on the history of the city of Rosenheim.

• The objects of the "Stadtarchiv Rosenheim" available in bavarikon

Collections owned by the Stadtarchiv Rosenheim available on bavarikon

• Franz Zell: Architect and Trendsetter 1866-1961
• Post-war posters from Rosenheim, 1945-1948

Exhibitions of the Stadtarchiv Rosenheim on bavarikon

• Franz Zell: Architect and Trendsetter 1866-1961
• Revolution and Soviet Republics in Bavaria 1918/19