Danish National Archives

Danish National Archives
Danish: Statens Arkiver
Agency overview
Formed 1889 (1889)
Preceding agencies
  • Gehejmearkivet (1296-1883)
  • Kongerigets Arkiv (1861-1884)
Jurisdiction Government of Denmark
Headquarters Copenhagen, Denmark
Employees 260
Minister responsible
Agency executive
  • Asbjørn Hellum, Keeper of Public Records
Parent department The Ministry of Culture
Website www.sa.dk
The Danish National Archives

Danish National Archives (Danish: Statens Arkiver) is the National archive of Denmark. The State Archives is the collective name for the Danish National Business Archives, the Danish Data Archives, the Danish National Archives and the three provincial archives at Viborg, Aabenraa and Odense. The primary purpose is to collect, preserve and archive historically valuable records from central authorities, such as ministries, agencies and national organisations and make them available to the public. The archive is part of the Ministry of Culture.

Location

The headquarters of the Danish National Archives are located next to Christiansborg Palace on Slotsholmen. A new purpose-built storage building was opened in 2009 at Kalvebod Brygge. It was designed by PLH Arkitekter.

History

It was founded in 1889 out of two older national archives, Gehejmearkivet (1296-1883) and Kongerigets arkiv (1861-1884).

Collections

The Danish National Archives holds the archives of the Danish overseas trading companies, including the archives of the Danish East India Company, the Danish Asiatic Company, the Danish West India and Guinea Company and the Danish West India Trading Company, and reflects Denmark's relations with foreign countries such as the European States, Russia, Turkey, North African states and the American states. The archives of the Danish overseas trading companies were inscribed on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in 1997.[1]

The Sound Toll Records, which provide detailed information about every ship and cargo that entered the Baltic and departed from the Baltic through the Danish straits starting in the 15th century, are held at the Danish National Archives and in 2007, the collection was inscribed on the Memory of the World Register.[2]

Storage

The documents are stored on electrically powered mobile shelving – double-sided shelves, which are pushed together so that there is no aisle between them. A large handle on the end of each shelf allows them to be moved along tracks in the floor to create an aisle when needed. The units have a small AC or DC motor hidden in the base that automatically moves the units when a single button is pressed.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danish National Archives.
  1. "Archives of the Danish overseas trading companies". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2008-06-04. Retrieved 2009-12-15.
  2. "Sound Toll Registers". UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2009-12-15.

Coordinates: 55°40′32″N 12°34′52″E / 55.67556°N 12.58111°E / 55.67556; 12.58111


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