I’ve blogged several times about the collapse of the Archives in Cologne, Germany. I can 
finally give my readers another update. It seems that the collapse of the Cologne city archives three months ago could have been worse. Not all is lost. “It’s sensational that everything is still there somehow,” said the head of the archive, Bettina Schmidt Czaia, Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The condition of the material varies a lot, but less than one quarter had severe damage, and even here there is hope. With the help of a specially developed software, damaged documents can be restored. The restoration of the entire archives, however, can last for 30 years – or longer.
Eighty-five percent of the total documents have now been salvaged. The remaining 15 percent are located in a pit below ground – and in the groundwater. The Fire Department is currently examining how this material is best salvaged. “We will not give up,” said Schmidt-Czaia. “We need everything, we call upon all.” What’s needed most, according to Schmidt-Czaia, is “Money, money, money.” And the amount of money is “a high three-digit million amount.” The federal government, and the city will be supplying some of that money, and it’s hoped that the European Union will pitch in.
A new Archive building is estimated five to seven years in coming. Schmidt-Czaia has called for an immediate decision by the city before the local election on 30 August. Until an new archive is completed, Schmidt Czaia would like to see a temporary visitor center and reading room in the city.
As bad as the the collapse may have been for the archivists, Schmidt-Czaias realizes that good will come out of the experience. “Archivists from around the Republic write me that they now have a voice they did not have before.” Suddenly, the public has recognized the sleeping treasures in their archives.
Meanwhile 1500 conservators, archivists, scientists, students and other volunteers are helping out. Intensive cooperation has particularly come from the neighboring Dutch and Belgians.
Read more about the Cologne Archives restoration work in the June 19, 2009 edition of dewezet.de. (the article is in German)
