Company Archives

The collection comprises (partial) archives from companies, institutions, organizations, federations, and associations. Today, over 40 individual collections are archived.

Junkers-Schweröl-Flugmotor JUMO 4, ca. 1931, Signatur: Juprop 945. Photo: Deutsches Museum

About the Collection

In its acquisition policy, the archive focuses on nationally significant enterprises and institutions that are of exceptional importance to the history and development of specific branches of science and technology. A particular focal point among the corporate archives is aviation, represented by the extensive holdings from firms such as Carl Berg, Junkers, Heinkel, and Messerschmitt. In recent years, an increasing number of holdings have been acquired from companies that specialized in the manufacture of scientific instruments. These include the archives of C. A. Steinheil Söhne in Munich, Dennert & Pape in Hamburg, and A. Ott in Kempten.

The corporate archives comprise files, correspondence, photographs, technical drawings, and research reports. In contrast, the company publications collection primarily preserves printed material relating to a company’s products.

Geheimer Forschungsbericht von Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker aus dem deutschen Atomprogramm in der NS-Zeit, 17.7.1940. Signatur: FA 002/0501. Photo: Deutsches Museum

Institutions, Associations, and Organizations

Among the collections and subcollections of academic institutions, associations, and societies, particular mention should be made of the long-established Gesellschaft Deutsches Naturforscher und Ärzte (GDNÄ), the Polytechnic Association of Bavaria (PTV) and the so-called ‘Confidential Reports on the German Nuclear Programme’.