Introduction to the collections of the University Archives

Current inventory overview 

Inventory group 1828 to 1945 (old stock)
More than 50 percent of the old stock of TUD's Archives have been destroyed during the Allied bombing of Dresden on 13/14 February 1945. Thanks to the courageous commitment of some university members, important files from faculties, the Rectorate and the Pension Office (administration) could be saved from the destroyed, formerly representative University Main Building near the Dresden Main Station. These records include a large proportion of students' files from the 19^th and early 20^th century.
Much more complete is the heritage of the former Forstliche Hochschule Tharandt [Forestry College Tharandt], which in 1816 was converted – under the direction of Heinrich Cotta – from a private forestry school into a state educational institution, bearing the name Königlich Sächsische Forstakademie [Royal Saxon Forestry Academy] (later Königlich Sächsische Forstliche Hochschule Tharandt [Royal Saxon Forestry College]). This second oldest European forestry school on a scientific basis was integrated as "Abteilung Forstliche Hochschule [Branch Forestry College]" into Technische Hochschule Dresden, in 1929.

Inventory group 1945 to 1968
This inventory group of the University Archives contains, in addition to the structures of the university administration, the Senate, the faculties with their institutes, including the Arbeiter‑und‑Bauern‑Fakultät (Workers and Farmers' Faculty), also the administration of the university with several affiliated social and cultural institutions. These files, for example, bear testimony of the initial influence of the Soviet Military Administration upon the university, the rapid and ample reconstruction, structural extensions on the campus, and the structural development of the largest and most efficient technical-scientific education facility in the former GDR. In addition to the high international reputation of the university, the party-political influence also became evident.

Inventory group 1969 to 1990
This inventory group comprises the records of the Rectorate, the Senate, the administration, the sections with their institutes and professorships as well as social organisations, in particular the Free German Trade Union Federation (FDGB). With the enforcement of the so‑called 3^rd University Reform, initiated by the Politburo of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, SED, and the government of the GDR in 1968, the GDR's higher education and technical education was further centralised, and the remainders of existing autonomy were abolished against partial resistance from the institutes. Except for some academic functions, the faculties lost their original relevance. Sections were founded as the basic scientific units, headed by section directors, who – according to the principle of democratic centralism – were strictly directed and controlled by the Rectorate and the SED district administration. The number of the sections rose from initially 22 to 28.
Apart from the sections, structures had been introduced, discharging superordinate university‑wide tasks, such as the Computing Centre, the Institute for University Sports and the Institute for Law in Science and Technology.
During the last decade of the GDR, the university had partly adapted to the new conditions of the world market and the international development. Thus, the position of Export Commissioner and a structure for commercially used study programmes were created. The aim was to gain foreign exchange. Furthermore, the safety and surveillance apparatus was expanded.
In 1986, the former Ingenieurhochschule Dresden [Dresden Engineering College] (founded in 1861 as a trade school) was integrated into the university. It served as the basic structure for the IT Centre of the GDR's higher education system, which was affiliated to TU Dresden and intended to make up for the GDR's deficits against the West, in the field of modern information technology.

Inventory group 1990 et seq.
The political turnaround and reunification of Germany had fundamental implications for the university. A staff and expert audit resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of employees and the disappearance of structures within the shortest possible deadlines. On the basis of the Act on the Structure of Higher Education and the Universities in Saxony of 10 April 1992 and the Act on the Universities in Saxony of 4 August 1993, in the Free State of Saxony both the former "Friedrich List" University of Transportation and the Pedagogical University "Karl-Friedrich-Wilhelm-Wander", both established in 1952, were resolved. The teaching activities continued at TU Dresden under new thematic and structural conditions.

The archives of both universities form independent inventory groups in the University Archives. The Medical Academy "Carl Gustav Carus" established in 1954, was the predecessor institution of the Faculty of Medicine "Carl Gustav Carus", which was established in 1993, and of the eponymous university hospital. Link https://tu-dresden.de/med/mf/die-fakultaet/einrichtungen-1/archiv_profil

The University Archives furthermore contain the records of written heritages (private writings), the files of the students (with exam documents), the graduation documents and the personnel files.

The modern archive records, established after 1990 (also digital documents) are not yet open to the general public. This group contains archives of the first management level (Rector, Vice-rectors and Chancellor), of the academic self-government, the schools and faculties, the central units, staff units and the directorates.