Federal funding approval for our city archive

In July 2021, the Radebeul Municipal Archive received news of a federal funding commitment as part of the "Digital Programme for Libraries and Archives within Neustart Kultur - Wissenswandel".

The head of the city archive, Annette Karnatz, explains the background: "Over 20 years ago, we had our local daily press microfilmed via a funding programme of the Free State of Saxony - in line with the state of the art at the time. This enabled us to save the contents of the valuable newspaper holdings from being lost and make them available for use on the microfilm scanner in the city archive. Printouts on paper were also possible. The utilisation films became fragile over time, the technology became outdated and convenient use on the PC was no longer possible. The original newspapers are also difficult to use and their state of preservation prohibits their use. Microfilm scanners are no longer produced, so we had to do something.

A funding programme launched at short notice came at just the right time. " In December 2020 - in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic - the application was submitted. The microfilms of the local daily press are being digitised to enable future use via the internet. The federal government is covering 90% of the costs, which is a great advantage for our city archive and saves our budget," says the city archivist happily.

The concrete cost offers are currently being obtained, but they will amount to over €10,000. With 90% funding, the financial burden for the town of Radebeul is within reasonable limits.

Anyone who is interested in Radebeul's town history and wants to find out "how it really was" can then view the historical daily newspapers (Kötzschenbrodaer Zeitung/General-Anzeiger 1865-1941, Radebeuler Tageblatt 1896-1943) from the comfort of their own PC at home.

The regional Sächsische Zeitung (microfilms) will also be digitised, but can only be used in the reading room of the Radebeul municipal archive for copyright reasons.

"There are also plans for users to share their research results with the city archive. This would have a wonderful effect, as it would allow more verifiable facts to flow into the archive database. This also opens up great opportunities for school projects as part of historical education work," says Annette Karnatz, pointing out future possibilities and looking forward to the response.