Times are changing
The development of curricula at the Archiefschool
Amsterdam and the Archivschule Marburg*
The Archiefschool Amsterdam and the Archivschule Marburg are two of the oldest
and best-known institutions for archival education in Europe. They not only have
similar names but also had similar structures and curricula until the 1980s. But
in the late 80s both schools found themselves on dangerous ground. Students
as well as the field criticized this kind of education and voices were being raised
which demanded the professionalization of archival education. This paper will
show the different reactions to this situation in Amsterdam and Marburg and
their consequences for archival education in Germany and the Netherlands.
Initial stage - archival education in Amsterdam and Marburg
until the late 80's
When it was founded in 1949, the Archivschule1 was a department of the Hessian
State Archives in Marburg. The professional archivists there gave lectures as part
of their daily work and they taught almost all of the lessons.
The Archivschule was and still is controlled by a Council in which representatives
of the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art, all 16 state archives, the Federal
Archives, as well as municipal and church archives confer with delegates
of the lecturers, the courses and the Society of German Archivists. This Council
is responsible for organizational questions as well as for any change in
the curricula.2
I am focussing here on the postgraduate education, but the Archivschule has also
run courses on the graduate level since 1950. These courses take 3 years, 1.5 years
in a state archives and also 18 months in Marburg. At the end of their time in
Marburg, the students have similar exams as the so-called ,,Referendare"3in the
postgraduate courses, but later they also have to write a diploma thesis and to
pass final examinations. At the end of their studies, they receive a diploma that is
comparable with the Dutch Archivistiek B diploma.4
KARSTEN UHDE
The author would like to thank Karen Anderson (Harnösand, Sweden) for her careful editing.
1 "Archivschule" will be used for the Archives School Marburg and "Archiefschool" will be used for the
Amsterdam school.
2 Organisationserlass der Archivschule Marburg, see: http://www.archivschule.de/wir-ueber-uns/
der-organisationserlass/ (as at 04.02.2010).
3 „Referendar" is the official title of the students of the postgraduate courses in Marburg.
4 The training and exam regulations of that time are published in: Werner Moritz (Ed.): Vorschriften zur
archivarischen Ausbildung (Veröffentlichungen der Archivschule Marburg, Vol. 16) Marburg, 1989.
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