Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
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Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
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The University of Vienna Archives (Universitätsarchiv der Universität Wien) is one of the oldest university archives in the German-speaking world. Its origins trace to 1388, when the University of Vienna acquired its first iron archive chest (the Archa universitatis) to store deeds and seals forming the legal foundation of the institution. The oldest comprehensive catalogue dates to 1708. In 1875, Karl Schrauf became the first full-time professional archivist at the Archive, merging historic holdings from different locations and making them available for research. Since 1975 the Archive has operated as a separate division of the university directorate. In 1993, following the University Organisation Act, it became a service unit, and on 1 January 2004 it was integrated as a subunit of the Vienna University Library and Archive Services. Since 1 January 1997, the Archive has been home to the Austrian Society for the History of Science.
The Archive preserves seven centuries of documentation relating to one of Europe's oldest and largest universities, founded by Rudolf IV in 1365. Holdings include administrative and legal records from the medieval period onward, academic senate files, rectorate records, faculty administrative documents, enrollment registers and study catalogues (Nationale) dating to the early modern period, student records for genealogical and biographical research, and an extensive image collection comprising photographs and graphics of important persons and buildings in university history. The Archive is actively digitizing select materials, including enrollment forms and study catalogues of the philosophical and law faculties and records relating to women students (1902–1921).
The Archive's holdings on the history of a major Central European research institution are significant for understanding the history of science and scholarship in Europe. Records document prominent historical alumni including Sigmund Freud, Karl Popper, Friedrich Hayek, Erwin Schrödinger, and Gustav Mahler. The Archive also holds records of the Academic Senate and the University Consistory, as well as collections pertaining to the Austrian resistance during the Second World War.
The Archive's reading room is open to researchers, including members of the public, at Postgasse 9 in Vienna's first district. An online archive information system (AIS) provides finding aids and, in some cases, document-level descriptions. Digitized items are accessible via the PHAIDRA digital repository platform of the University of Vienna. Researchers are encouraged to contact the Archive for guidance on specific collections. The Archive also maintains a reference library on the history of the University and the history of science, accessible only in the reading room.