The relocation of the Idar-Oberstein town archive from its previous location at Bahnhofstraße 1 and 3 to Nahe-Center 13-14 has been successfully completed in recent weeks. The new reading room of the city archive will be open to visitors from Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
800 linear meters of archive material, spread over two buildings and three floors, had to be transported from Bahnhofstraße to the Nahe-Center in an orderly fashion over the past few weeks. The task was made more difficult by the fact that the majority of the shelves in which the archive material is stored first had to be dismantled and then reassembled at the new location. Closing the reading room for six weeks enabled the city archive team to overcome this challenge with the help of the city janitors and a local removal company.
The approximately 1,100 moving boxes have now been completely unpacked and sorted. Two large stacks on one level in the new premises in the basement of the former C&A department store offer sufficient space for secure and archive-friendly storage of the entire collection.
The modern and bright reading room with user workstations and WLAN access enables anyone interested in the history of the town and its inhabitants to research and view the archive and library material on site. Documents from the Idar-Oberstein town council and company archives from local businesses, particularly from the jewelry and gemstone industry, form the main focus of the collection. The archive also has numerous documents and collections from associations and private individuals as well as extensive newspaper and photo collections, which provide an insight into the past of the town, its districts and the surrounding area. Civil registers from 1800 onwards, address and telephone directories, copies of church registers and genealogical literature are available for family history research.
- The new reading room will be open from August 15 every Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. For more extensive research projects, it is advisable to book in advance to avoid waiting times. The city archive can be contacted by telephone on 06781/64-473 or by e-mail at stadtarchiv@idar-oberstein.de. The entrance is located on the forecourt level on the left-hand side of the building, barrier-free access is guaranteed via the Nahe-Center parking garage (upper entrance Nahestraße).