Archive holdings of the department of academy holdings since 1945

The department of academy holdings since 1945 includes the official records of the German Academy of Sciences in Berlin and the Academy of Sciences of the GDR respectively, the holdings of the ‘Coordination post for dealing with the institutes and facilities of the former GDR Academy of Sciences' (KAI-AdW) and the ‘Coordination and development initiative for research in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia reg. ass.'(KAI e.V.) and the holdings of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin (West). The documents of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, which remained after 1945 in the Federal Republic of Germany under the management of its last director, Helmuth Scheel, are also part of this department.

The archival holdings of the GDR academy form the main part of the department. They document the beginning of a transformation process in the academy in 1946 from a scholar's society to the central research institution of the GDR with its own research facilities and, by doing so, record four decades of academic development in the GDR.

The official records from the academy of the GDR are divided into the following holding groups:

• holding group management bodies of the academy 1945-1968
• holding group management bodies of the academy 1969-1991
• holding group research areas 1969-1990
• holding group mathematic-physical institutes and facilities 1945-1991
• holding group chemical institutes and facilities 1945-1991
• holding group medicinal institutes and facilities 1945-1991
• holding group of institutes and facilities for humanities and social sciences 1945-1991
• holding group other institutes and facilities 1945-1991
• holding group academic societies 1951-1992
• holding group national commissions 1955-1992
• holding group functional organs of the academy 1945-1991.

The state of the sources on the history of the academy of sciences in the GDR is basically good, although here, too, in spite of the efforts of the academy archive during the transitional period to extensively secure the records of Berlin's academy facilities, losses were made. The majority of these historical sources are accessible for research. The holdings of the Prussian Academy of Sciences after 1945, of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin (West) 1987-1990 and of the holding group KAI 1990-1994 represent separate transfers within the department of academy holdings since 1945.