Right before us stands the Staatsarchiv Chemnitz. But what makes this place so special? It’s not just a repository of old documents. It is a time capsule holding secrets of the past.
The Staatsarchiv Chemnitz is a division of the Sächsisches Staatsarchiv. It safeguards state records and the administrative archive of the Schönburg estates. Think of it as Chemnitz’s memory bank. It stretches back centuries.
Inside the Staatsarchiv Chemnitz are roughly 25 shelf kilometers of documents. These include deeds, official books, files, drawings, maps and electronic data. The oldest document dates back to 1233. It extends to the present day.
The Staatsarchiv Chemnitz holds jurisdiction over the archival materials. These come from courts, authorities, and public bodies in the former Chemnitz administrative district. Its history is quite interesting.
In 1949, the State Archive Depot of Southwest Saxony was located in Forderglauchau Castle. Here were stored the holdings of the Schönburg princely house. The house was expropriated in 1945. In 1951, the Landesarchiv Forderglauchau was founded. Its jurisdiction extended to the manor archives. It also included local authorities of the western Ore Mountains and Vogtland.
From 1959, the archive was renamed Landesarchiv Glauchau. It was responsible for all state authorities. It also oversaw former manor archives in the Karl-Marx-Stadt district. Magazine space in Forderglauchau Castle was inadequate. So, this responsibility was transferred to the Landeshauptarchiv Dresden in 1964. In 1965, the Landesarchiv Glauchau became a branch of the Landeshauptarchiv Dresden. Since the 1960s, unsuitable conditions in Forderglauchau necessitated a state archive in Karl-Marx-Stadt. This never materialized.
To promote regional historical research, a branch of the Staatsarchiv Dresden was set up in Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1984. This was due to a resolution by the GDR Ministry of the Interior. It started operating three years later. It had no magazine space. In May 1990, the archive obtained its own premises. It moved into the building of the SED district management in Karl-Marx-Stadt. This allowed the archive to expand from a one-man operation to three archivists.
After reunification, the Staatsarchiv Chemnitz became an independent archive in 1991. It was assigned the holdings of the former Landesarchiv Glauchau. Barbara Schaller was appointed head of the archive. Due to large quantities of archival material, magazine space was soon exhausted. The material came from former GDR authorities and companies. In 1992, the archive moved into the machine halls. These belonged to the former VEB Baumwollspinnerei Karl-Marx-Stadt. It was in the Europark industrial and leisure center on Schulstraße.
In 1999, the archive’s jurisdiction expanded. It covered all state documents. These originated in the areas of the Erzgebirge and Voigtland districts. It also covered the Zwickau district directorate and the Chemnitz and Zwickau district administrative authorities. After Barbara Schaller, Annegret Wenz-Haubfleisch became the new head of the archive in 2000. In 2001, the Chemnitz archive location was secured. Previously, there had been considerations since the 1990s. These involved dissolving the archive and relocating the holdings. The proposed location was Schloss Hubertusburg.
From 2002, the holdings were transferred from the Hauptstaatsarchiv Dresden. On January 1, 2005, the Staatsarchiv Chemnitz merged. It joined the Referat Archivwesen at the Sächsisches Staatsministerium des Innern. The merger also included the state archives in Dresden, Freiberg and Leipzig. This formed the “Sächsisches Staatsarchiv”. Since 2007, Raymond Plache, former head of the Bergarchiv Freiberg, has been in charge.
The Staatsarchiv Chemnitz relocated to the Peretzhaus on Elsasser Straße in 2012/13. This was closer to the city center. The lease agreement was signed on August 19, 2010. Extensive renovations were done to the Peretzhaus. A new magazine building was necessary. The archive was closed from February 1, 2012. This was to prepare for the relocation. It reopened to the public on May 13, 2013.
Three Stolpersteine commemorate the Peretz family. They owned the hosiery factory in the building. The family was dispossessed, persecuted and killed during the Nazi era. These stones lie in the sidewalk in front of the archive building.
The Staatsarchiv Chemnitz is more than just an archive. It is a reminder of Chemnitz’s past. It safeguards stories for future generations.