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German Diary Archive The German Diary Archive (abbreviated to DTA in German) in Emmendingen opened in 1998. It collects private diaries, memoirs, and correspondence; its current collections range from the late 18th century to the present. The archival collections are available for researchers and students, with some restrictions for privacy. As of August 2024, the archive's holdings include more than 27,000 personal documents of nearly 6,000 different authors.[1] Establishment and organizationThe diary archive began in January 1998. It is funded by contributions from its members, grants, donations, and, as of 2023, funding from the state of Baden-Württemberg. In addition to a full-time office manager and a research associate, more than 80 volunteers contribute to the archiving, digitization, and content-based indexing of the collected life testimonies. AimsThe goal of the archive is to preserve everyday history, hence their focus on unpublished life stories from the individuals in their archives. The archive is the first of its kind in Germany, though others like it existed before it was founded in other countries and focused on other languages. In March 2019, the archive was recognized by the state of Baden-Württemberg as a "cultural monument of special importance".[2] Collections scopeThe archive is interested in diaries, memoirs, letters, and photos or other personal documents of private individuals. They explicitly state they do not want documents such as calendars, guestbooks, legal documents, accounting books, or published or fictional texts.[3] Usage and researchThe German diary archive can be used by appointment during its business hours. However, its website offers an online catalog for individual researchers and preliminary searches.[4] Similar organizationsIn Germany
In other countriesMany similar archives are members of the European Diary Archives and Collections organization.[7]
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