Description of stock: Abt. 20 Municipal cultural institutes Scope: 160 archive boxes (= 1271 units of description = 21 linear metres) Duration: 1879 - 1980 On the history of the cultural institutes In 1934, the 'Städtische Kulturinstituten' (Municipal Cultural Institutes) took over the management of the Municipal Museum (previously owned by the Antiquities Society), the Municipal Archive, which had been occupied full-time since 1898, the Municipal Library (Scientific Library and Public Library, founded in 1879 as a library of the Society), which initially belonged to the Antiquities Society and was transferred to the City in 1906, and the Gemäldegalerie (Picture Gallery), which had existed since 1913, under the directorship of Dr. B. H., which had been under the direction of Dr. H. H. H., and which had been in existence since 1913. Friedrich Maria Illert (1892-1966) (see also Introduction to the History of the Archive). The merger of these institutions under one director (1934-1958 Dr. Friedrich Maria Illert, 1959/60-1979 Dr. Georg Illert) existed until the dissolution and division into individual offices on 31.12.1979. At that time, offices 41 (Kultursekretariat), 42 B (Bibliotheken), 43 V (Volkshochschule), 45 M (Museum) and 47 A (Stadtarchiv) were established. After 1945, after the destruction of the 'Bergkloster' (domicile since 1933), the responsibility of the cultural institutes located first in the Museum im Andreasstift, then from 1963 in the Haus der Kulturinstitute and/or zur Münze extended to the Volkshochschule established in 1947 after the failed attempts of the Weimar Republic (1919/26). This also applies to the preservation of historical monuments which has been carried out by Illert since the end of 1945 for the town and district of Worms, as well as to the urban Terra Sigillata manufactory existing from the end of 1945 to 1951 according to initial considerations from the period around 1941/42. This initially functioned as a municipal company which produced ceramics in accordance with historical models under municipal direction and passed into private hands in the spring of 1951 by way of leasing. The files were delivered to the archives in several deliveries and index layers. With the processing completed in autumn 2007, since the 1980s ongoing efforts to form the collection, to index it and to delimit it have been brought to an end; most recently, files were taken over in 1995. In this way, numerous aspects of local cultural policy between the 1920s and around 1980 can be comprehensively researched. A differentiation from the files of the successor offices (cf. Dept. 6, from 1980) has meanwhile been made. The classification is the result of working on the material, as there was no consistent classification in the file plan. The holdings have a total of 1221 units of description and comprise 154 archive cartons and 2 oversized formats. The duration ranges from 1877, 1890 to 1981, 1990. The content of the department Due to the loss of a not inconsiderable part of the service registry of the institutes for the period before 1945 due to the effects of war, the chronological focus of the tradition is on the period thereafter. The founding circumstances and the activities of the cultural institutes up to the Second World War are only recognizable to a limited extent from the files. For the period after 1945, in addition to documents on the aforementioned institutions and, above all, their reconstruction, the files also contain numerous materials concerning Jewish sites, various associations and scientific societies, as well as extensive correspondence. Separately, there is also Dept. 22 with records of the preservation of historical monuments (cf. there). Supplementary archive holdings Due to the strong position of the director Dr. Friedrich Illert, the material was closely interlocked with his estate (Dept. 170/16), which is not always clearly separated from the files, and the temporal focus of which is also clearly post-1945; in addition, the still unlisted estate of his son (Dept. 170/17), which could only be taken over in 2006, will be of importance. Important is the supplementary file material in the files of the city administration (Dept. 5, Dept. 6); in addition there is the city theatre existing from 1945 to 1956. The documents of the Altertumsverein (Abt. 75) are important because of numerous overlaps and above all because of the museum; in addition, relevant documents can be found in the collection of contemporary history (Abt. 204) and in the Dienstbibliothek. For the time before 1933, reference is made to Abt. 170/23 Nachlass-Splitter Erich Grill. Department 22 (Preservation of historical monuments) comprises the materials resulting from Illert's work as a monument conservator; the files on the preservation of historical monuments and the reconstruction of Worms, which resulted from Dept. 20, were also classified there (with proof of origin). The photo department keeps very extensive photographic material with a special focus on cultural institutions. Literature Regular activity reports of the cultural institutes can be found in volumes 2 to 13 of the journal 'Der Wormsgau' published by them together with the Altertumsverein; Reuter, Dr. Friedrich M. Illert; G. Illert, 100 Jahre Altertumsverein Worms; Johannes, Geschichte; Beständeübersicht (1998), Einleitung p. 18ff.; Geschichte der Stadt Worms, hg. v. Gerold Bönnen, Stuttgart 2005 (various subjects and further lit.)
