The German Diary Archive, Personal document archive and museum at Old Town Hall in Emmendingen, Germany.
The German Diary Archive is a collection of personal documents and a museum housed in the Old Town Hall of Emmendingen. The institution preserves more than 27,000 documents from approximately 6,000 authors spanning different time periods, including diaries, letters, and memoirs from the 18th century onward.
The institution was established in 1998 by Frauke von Troschke to preserve personal records from German history. A noteworthy item in its collection is the Württemberg Writing Calendar from 1760, authored by military chaplain Gottlieb Christoph Bohnenberger.
The archive collects everyday life stories rather than those of prominent figures: anyone can hand over diaries, letters or memoirs after a preliminary conversation, and relatives may do so on the writer's behalf. Since 2012 the Stiftung Deutsches Tagebucharchiv supports the work, and in June 2015 Emmendingen helped found EDAC, the European network of diary archives, in Amsterdam.
The archive is accessible Tuesday through Friday with morning hours available, while afternoon visits are limited to Tuesday and Wednesday. It is advisable to check exact opening times in advance and arrange a visit beforehand, as access to specific documents may require prior notice.
A team of roughly 30 specialized volunteers works across Germany to decipher and transcribe old handwritten documents in Kurrent script, which was commonly used until the 1940s. This painstaking work makes it possible to unlock historical texts for contemporary readers.
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