Vision statement & collection profile
1. Mission and function
The Archives of Contemporary History collects documents from private collections on the history of Switzerland in the 20th and 21st centuries. It complements the state's tradition-building activities and thus enables teaching and research from the perspective of private actors.
In order to fulfill this task of national importance, the archives is dependent on substantial contributions from third parties in addition to the basic funding from ETH.
2. Focus of the collection
The Archives of Contemporary History collects the bequests and testimonies of natural persons and the archives of private organizations which are of nationwiede importance and document the history of Switzerland in a transnationally entangled world. The collection focuses on politics, economy and contemporary Jewish history.
3. Archiving
Archival material is secured, indexed and preserved in a trustworthy and comprehensible form. In doing so, the Archives of Contemporary History is guided by international standards and best practices. It thus enables academic research and public discussions to be based on historically reliable sources.
4. Access and use
The Archives of Contemporary History makes its archive material accessible in the reading room on site and via its online services. Online access is being expanded continuously so that the archive material can be found easily and historical documents can be consulted while safeguarding interests worthy of protection.
5. Teaching and research
The Archives of Contemporary History is a service provider for teaching and research. It provides access to private documents from the recent past, advises researchers in their search for archive material and offers teaching and further education acivities in cooperation with universities, universities of applied sciences and professional associations.
6. Dialogue with the public
With events, publications, workshops and cooperation with other memory institutions, the Archives of Contemporary History makes a scientifically sound contribution to the understanding of the past and present.