Digitizing the Historical Archive in the Ethnologisches Museum Berlin, 1830 – 1947
Modern and Contemporary History
Final Report Abstract
The acquisition records in the historical archives of the Ethnologisches Museum (EM) der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (SMB) represent unique and extraordinary sources for researching the provenance of ethnological objects, as well as for historical and arthistorical research. The aim of the project to digitize the archival materials from 1830 to 1947 was to make these sources available to researchers around the world in an accessible online databank. The historical archive includes complex records documenting the acquisition context of the collections. The significance of the records extends far beyond the history of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. Important legislation during the German Kaiserreich (1871 to1918), made Berlin a central “clearing house” for ethnological artefacts which were sent to other museums and institutions around the world. The records in the archive therefore document the phase of European colonialism that began in the early nineteenth century. It also documents the effects of these developments in Germany and in other countries and source communities from which the objects were acquired. This project aimed to record, paginate and digitize more than 588.000 pages of archival material, which had already been digitally inventoried in the museum’s electronic catalog. The individual archive files were made available to the public via the DFG Viewer in the museum’s onlineportal.
