Holdings of the Municipal and Provincial Archives of Vienna
Fishing privilege granted by Maximilian I. (1506)
The holdings of the City and Province of Vienna are divided in accordance with the principles of archival science into two groups. Its function as Archives of the City and Province obliges this institution to take care of the records coming from vast spheres of public administration. This is defined under the Vienna Archival Law (Wiener Archivgesetz) of 2000 for the first time by the precise notion of "archival material of the City and Province of Vienna". Also specified is the circle of those institutions having the duty to offer their records or authorized to do so.
The second group comprises a field where one can dispose freely. This concerns collections getting complemented regularly or occasionally. The archives at present keeps files, documents, books, maps, drafts, photographs and microfilms requiring altogether about 58,000 running metres of space.
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The genesis of what is kept in the Archives of the City and Province of Vienna is connected closely to the history of the city and of its institutions. Evidence dating from the Middle Ages shows that it was the exclusive duty of the archives to preserve only the most important documents. Besides the registries of public administration, however, historical archives developed little by little. It was only in 1889, though, that the archives became an independent scientific institution forming part of the municipal administration.
City of Vienna | Municipal and provincial archives of Vienna
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