Protecting our history for future generations. We think we are doing the right thing by placing our important documents and records into a custom built archive building. Unfortunately, it appears that not even archives and their custodians are immune to destruction. We have potential loss of life, and the damage done to the documents may never be repaired and with it the loss of important social history.

Questions Abound After Cologne City Archive Collapse | Germany | Deutsche Welle | 03.03.2009

Questions Abound After Cologne City Archive Collapse

Witnesses said the collapse resembled a scene from a movie
Rescue workers tried to determine whether anyone had been trapped after the four-story, archive building suddenly collapsed in Cologne. Authorities are also investigating the possible causes.

The archive was built in the 1970s, and there was initially no clear answer to the question of why it would suddenly collapse.

Cologne's archive contains some 65,000 documents connected to the city's history. Some material in the archive dates back to 922.