In 2011, Aarhus had its first City Archives. The Archives were organisationally placed in the City of Aarhus’ administration for Citizens’ Services and Libraries. The Archives were established on the basis of analyses of the circumstances of archives in Aarhus Municipality following a preceding examination of archives in comparable cities. The Archives will have a City Archivist and two permanently employed archivists.
The task of the City Archives is partly to be the Aarhus Municipality’s archive authority and partly to advance working with history among citizens and authorities on the basis of the archives.
Mission:
The Archives must provide the citizens of Aarhus with the facilities for reflecting on the past and its role for the present and on a basis of critical faculty creating co-ownership of the city and underpinning the city brand.
The City Archives’ supervision of the municipal administration’s establishment of archives occurs on the basis of the Archives Act and replaces the contract the municipality had since 1962 with the Business Archives/State Archives on this task. At the end of the year, the City Archives moved into let locations at the Business Archives and the two institutions must run a reading room in cooperation, adhering to the motto of ‘Two institutions – one entrance’. The Municipality’s archives will also in future be delivered to the Business Archives but with the agency of the City Archives.
The City Archives join the Archives Committee in the association Local Archives of Aarhus Municipality. The association coordinates matters of joint concern for the 23 local history archives in the municipality. The autonomy of these archives will not change due to the establishment of the City Archives.