As commercial enterprises are generally only required by law to keep records for 10 years, you could say it is a stroke of good luck in the case of Böttcherstrasse that, despite this legal requirement and the losses suffered as a result of World War II, an unusually large quantity of material from both the period of construction and the time following reconstruction has survived, thus making it possible to document the history of this highly extraordinary street almost seamlessly. Much of the archival material has been very consciously preserved in full awareness of the uniqueness and aesthetic value of the objects. The archival material is closely linked to the history and the buildings of Böttcherstrasse and is now owned by the Bremer Sparer-Dank foundation. The archive is operated in the scope of a service contract by Böttcherstraße GmbH and is housed in the gables of the upper two floors of Böttcherstrasse 4, which frame the famous carillon also maintained by the archive.
The archive’s tasks
The archive is tasked with preserving, cataloguing and indexing the collection. Its aim is to make the materials available to the public on various levels in order:
- to increase public awareness of the history and uniqueness of Böttcherstrasse;
- to provide publishing houses and other publication organisations with selected image and text materials;
- to allow interested private individuals to explore the themes and objects associated with the street in depth;
- to provide media representatives with prepared content and encourage independent research;
- to compile sources for school teachers and university lecturers and interpret them for their project-based learning;
- to make sources available to researchers for their projects and encourage open access to their work process and results;
- to provide advice as well as original and source materials to support the conservation of the buildings in collaboration with the Bremen State Office for Monument Protection.
The archive’s collection
The archive’s total collection spans around 275 running metres of shelf space. Around half of this is made up of documents originating from the business operations of the Böttcherstrasse management companies and stretching back to the early 1920s.
The other half of the archive’s collection is made up of collection items:
- approx. 4,500 construction drawings dating from the period of construction up to the present day;
- approx. 2,000 historical photographs from before 1945;
- approx. 50 paintings and drawings as well as a range of valuable artisanal pieces from the workshops in Böttcherstrasse;
- approx. 500 posters, mostly from exhibitions in Böttcherstrasse;
- approx. 250 historical films and audio recordings;
- a reference library containing approx. 3,000 books and magazines; and
- a particularly significant newspaper clipping collection started in 1927 and constantly updated, which includes all press releases referencing Böttcherstrasse in both Germany and international media. Nowadays, this also includes social media posts.
Running of the archive
The archive has been run by an academic specialist (half-time position) since 1994, assisted by a mini job employee and a volunteer. They are complemented by university students completing mandatory internships as part of their degree programmes in history and cultural studies. We work in close cooperation with the Bremen State Archive, which also advises us on all archival matters.
Ever since the archive has been run by an academic specialist, the aim has been to actively make the records and collection items available to the public once they have been documented and indexed. This is a matter particularly important to us, especially as the unique interplay of architecture and preserved historical sources at Böttcherstrasse makes it possible to gain a highly differentiated picture of the period of the Weimar Republic and the route to National Socialism, right up to the handling of history in the post-war period. This takes the form of exhibitions on the subject of Böttcherstrasse with colloquia and lectures, the publication of books, guides and leaflets for different target groups and training courses for tourist guides.
In parallel, the collection is continuously being digitised and evaluated – a process which will take some years yet. The long-term objective is to digitise all research-relevant material. In addition, the processing of user enquiries remains a key aspect of the archive’s work. As the archive is not staffed full-time, visits are only possible by appointment.