Stadtarchiv Zürich

The Stadtarchiv Zürich is primarily the archive of the city of Zurich since 1798 as well as of the 19 incorporated villages that today belong to the city of Zurich. The Zurich City Archives are a late institutionalised archive. The 19th century saw the first attempts at centralisation in the municipal archives system. In view of the incorporation of Zurich in 1893 (takeover of 11 municipal archives), the creation of an archive plan became urgent. This resulted in the division of the archival material into ten sections, designated with Roman numerals (1894). At that time, the city archive was headed by the substitute of the city clerk; organisationally, it belonged to the city chancellery. Although the Municipal Code of the City of Zurich, in force since 1893, had already envisaged a City Archivist as head of the municipal archives"for the archival busines" (Municipal Code of 24 July 1892, Art. 63), this position was not created until 1930. From 1909 onwards, the Zurich City Archives had a permanent archivist for the first time, which meant that it could be continuously looked after. At the same time, the City Archives opened up to the public. The municipal ordinance of 15 January 1933 finally separated the City Archives from the City Chancellery. With the second incorporation, another 8 municipal archives were added to the Zurich City Archives in 1934. 

Copies of commonly used archival material are available for restoration purposes. 

Like the municipal archives, various other holdings date back to the"pre-Helveti" period, especially with regard to municipal properties, such as the Fraumünsteramt, the Sihlwald or the Pfrundhaus St. Jakob an der Sihl. Likewise, the citizens' books since the late Middle Ages and the parish registers since the Reformation period are available in the Zurich City Archives. The focus is on the records of the municipal authorities and the entire city administration of the last 200 years. The"Special Archive" department is also of outstanding importance, with around 375 holdings that broaden the view of the city's history. These holdings offer a wealth of material on culture, economy and society, as well as on everyday history. A library that was fundamentally reorganised between 1943 and 1954 supplements the archive holdings (reference library with a focus on Turicensia). The archive library also includes an extensive collection of newspaper clippings. 

To visit the reading room, please register two working days in advance if possible. To avoid waiting times, please also order the required archive materials in advance.