Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum: Inventory books

The impressive collection of weapons, uniforms and military insignia, as well as many artefacts relating to Prussian history, can be traced back to the armoury and the Prussian Military Museum founded there in 1883, which was intended to serve the glory of the Brandenburg-Prussian army. After the museum was dissolved by the Allies in 1945, the holdings and the armoury itself were transferred to the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte (Museum for German History), which was newly founded in 1950. The central history museum of the GDR was intended to convey a socialist view of history, from primitive society to communism. The museum's collection activities focused on implementing this model of history and brought together numerous testimonies to the history of social movements since the Middle Ages, especially the labour movement, and the material culture of everyday life. However, the society and politics of the GDR were also an important focus of the collection. Today, the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German Historical Museum) is committed to reflecting the regional, cultural and social diversity of Germany as part of Europe in its collection activities. Particular emphasis is placed on evidence of the history of democracy in Germany, but also of National Socialism and its aftermath in the FRG and the GDR.

The holdings of the Zeughaussammlung are documented in main inventory books, which are currently being digitised and published. The inventory books of the Museum für Deutsche Geschichte that have already been digitised are being processed for publication and will be published first. The inventory books of the Deutsches Historisches Museum must also be processed for publication. All acquisition and inventory books will continue to form the basis of the collection documentation and will be recorded in parallel with the digital documentation in the disposal, restitution and similar records. The published status of each individual inventory book corresponds to the publication date in the Heidelberg Accession Index.