Departments

Directorate K (Communication)

Directorate K is responsible for the Federal Archives' communication with the press, politics and the public.

Departments Z I and Z II (Central Administrative Matters)

Departments Z I and Z II are responsible for the central administrative matters of the Federal Archives. Their task is to provide the personnel and organisational resources needed to fulfil specialist archival tasks in the individual departments of the Federal Archives. The headquarters of Department Z I are based in Koblenz; the headquarters of Department Z II are in Berlin; Additional offices are also represented by staff at other locations of the Federal Archives.

Department IT (Information Technolgy)

The establishment of department IT in March 2019 particularly meets the needs arising from the digital transformation. Represented at almost all locations, the department is dedicated above all to the tasks of planning and developing the archival information technology, the digital archives and the digital intermediate archives.

Department GW (Policy and Science)

Department GW is responsible for archive-related policy matters and scientific affairs. Its headquarters are located in Koblenz. It coordinates interdisciplinary issues such as forming the archival holdings, public relations, training and education, international relations and issues pertaining to archival law. It also supports the management in strategic planning. Department GW finally comprises the units responsible for the Federal Archives' scientific editions.

Department AT (Technical Archival Matters and Central Professional Services)

Dissociated from the former department G, department AT was established in March 2015, assuming responsibility for the cross-sectional technical archiving tasks. After the establishment of department IT in March 2019, department AT includes the sections responsible for conservation matters and the administration of the storerooms, including film. It is represented at the sites in Berlin, Koblenz and Hoppegarten.

Department B (Federal Republic of Germany)

Mainly situated in Koblenz, department B is responsible for the transmission of records from the central civilian authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany, including the western occupation zones. It advises the federal administration on the organisation of their records management and is responsible for the intermediate archives in Sankt Augustin-Hangelar and Hoppegarten. Department B also includes the Equilisation of Burdens Archives in Bayreuth and the archives of the Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg.

Department BE (Provision of Services for Use)

The former departments R (German Empire) and DDR (German Democratic Republic), whose main tasks for years were to answer inquiries and to support the users in Berlin-Lichterfelde, have merged to become the new department BE. In the long term, department BE is supposed to harmonise and to optimise the workflows of use within the Federal Archives as a whole.

Department PA (Information on Personal Data related to World Wars I and II)

Department PA in Berlin-Reinickendorf has taken over the remaining tasks of the former German Office for the Notification of Next-of-Kin of the former German Wehrmacht (WASt). One of the central tasks is to provide personal information on the fate of military staff in World Wars I and II. Department PA also assists in war graves matters.

Department MA (Military Archives)

Department MA in Freiburg is responsible for the documents of military provenance of the Federal Republic and its predecessors. These include documents from the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Federal Armed Forces' Administration, the National People's Army, the Wehrmacht, the Waffen-SS, the Reichswehr, the Schutztruppen and Freikorps, the North German Federal Navy, the Imperial Navy and the Prussian Army from 1867.

Department FA (Film Archives)

Department FA in Berlin comprises the holdings of the film departments of the Federal Archives (until 1990) and the State Film Archives of the GDR. Films are transmitted to the department FA based on the regulations of the Federal Archives Act and the Film Promotion Act as well as a result of active collection. Department FA also includes the unit in charge of pictures, maps, plans, posters and sound recordings based in Koblenz.

Department AR (Archival Holdings)

Department AR is responsible for cataloguing the documents of the State Security Service of the former GDR and for evaluating, organising, cataloguing, conserving and managing the files in accordance with archival principles. To execute these tasks, the department is divided into six offices responsible for cataloguing, research, card indexes, stacks, digitisation and conservation.

Department AU (Use of Records from the States Security)

Department AU of the Stasi Records Archive is responsible for ensuring that the Stasi records are made available to citizens as well as to authorities and research and media organisations in accordance with the purposes specified by law and in compliance with the legal provisions. Requests by individuals to view their own personal file, enquiries from public and non-public bodies, rehabilitation agencies and requests from the fields of research and the media are processed by Department AU, which is also responsible for deciphering the code names of the State Security Service’s unofficial employees.

Department R (Regional Tasks)

Department R of the Stasi Records Archive is in charge of the twelve regional offices of the Stasi Records Archive. The aim of the regional offices is to ensure the preservation and utilisation of the documents of the State Security Service of the former GDR in the East German federal states. The regional records of the MfS are appropriately catalogued in the regional offices. Research on individuals and subjects is also conducted and made available for use.

Department VF (Education and Research)

The Education and Research Department (VF) fulfils the Stasi Records Act’s mandate to educate and teach. This mandate is fulfilled by preparing historical sources in a user-friendly, scientifically sound manner and providing information through contemporary methods. 

This department has five specialised divisions: VF G is responsible for the principles and management support of the Stasi Records Archive. VF 1 develops and supervises educational programs and archive pedagogy for the Stasi Records Archive and the entire institution; VF 2 is responsible for creating exhibitions and specialised studies on the Stasi Records Archive as well as meeting the exhibition needs of the entire institution and for the publicly accessible library of the Stasi Records Archive; VF 3 is responsible for the development of the “Stasi Headquarters. Campus for Democracy” in Berlin-Lichtenberg as well as for the supervision of events organised by the regional offices; VF 4 develops findings in scientific research projects from the perspective of source studies and publishes them for various user groups. It is supported in this work by the Publications Department, which oversees the editing, producing and marketing all of the department’s publications.

“Foundation Archives of the Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR” in the Federal Archives (SAPMO)

SAPMO is a dependent foundation under public law within the Federal Archives.

The SAPMO in Berlin-Lichterfelde makes archive material available that was created outside the state authorities of the GDR as part of political decisions to regulate and manage the state and society. It was subject to strict secrecy until 1990 and is now freely accessible with the exception of documents relating to individuals. SAPMO includes a library with the holdings of more than 30 former institutions and organisations, which have been transferred with their archival material to the Federal Archives. The library offers its own reading room, local and interlibrary loans, and an online catalogue.

The Archival Material 

The archival material includes the files of the SED Politburo and the offices of individual functionaries, the Central Committee with its departments and the Party’s own training centres from 1946 to 1990. The archives of the German Communist Party (KPD), which were kept in the SED Party Archive from its inception in 1919 until the illegal activity ended in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1971, were also transferred to SAPMO along with the Party Archive. The collection also contains extensive trade union holdings, including documents on social insurance and the holiday service. Documents from other mass organisations, such as the FDJ with the Ernst Thälmann pioneer organisation, the Cultural Association and the Society for German-Soviet Friendship as well as over 400 bequests are also available for use.

The Library Holdings

The academic specialised library and staff library in Berlin-Lichterfelde forms the professional centre of the Federal Archives library with six decentralised staff libraries. Around 1.7 million volumes can be used in the foundation, including grey literature from the parties and organisations of the GDR and the former Eastern Bloc countries. In Berlin-Lichterfelde, the official printed publications of authorities, associations and organisations of the German Reich and the GDR are largely complete.

New acquisitions are focused on publications on and from the period of the GDR and Germany before 1945 as well as on the history of the former socialist states, the history of the international labour and trade union movements and individual parties, trade unions, organisations and political groups from the mid-19th century to the present day. User copies supplement the collections.

Organisational Chart 

The organisational chart or organigram is a schematic presentation of the structure of the Federal Archives with its various departments and the “Foundation Archives of the Parties and Mass Organisations of the GDR” in the Federal Archives. The chart also contains simplified information on the tasks and management of the organisational units.

The classification plan of the Federal Archives is available for download on this page. The classification plan is a compilation of the hierarchically-organised tasks of an authority that serves as a framework for the registration of documents and the creation of files.

Download the organisational chart (PDF, 260 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards)