New city archive in Bayreuth: Completion is getting closer!

New city archive in Bayreuth: Completion is getting closer!

A lot is happening in Bayreuth! Work on the new city archive, which is being built on the site of the former Leers’ villa in St. Georgen, is entering its final phase. Today, October 6, 2025, the construction progress can be reported with joy. The team has now finally completed the facade of the new building facing Inselstrasse. Storage rooms have already been installed on the upper and lower floors of the new building, ready to accommodate a significant amount of archive material.

The future users can count themselves particularly lucky, because there will be a spacious, glazed foyer on the ground floor, which will be equipped with a reading room and a seminar room. The final work is already in full swing so that these rooms can soon be put into operation.

The status of the renovation

The renovation of the historic Leers’ villa, which offers 415 square meters of usable space, is coming to an end. It is planned that this villa will house offices for the employees of the city archives as well as other work rooms. A highlight is the glazed connecting building, which enables barrier-free access between the villa and the new building. This creates a seamless transition between the two buildings.

Parallel to the construction work, preparations for the move have already begun in the current city archives in the former community hospital at Maximilianstrasse 64. Here, over 7,000 archive boxes were prepared for packaging. The comprehensive inventory of the city archives includes not only the archival files of the city administration, but also the estates of over 60 private individuals and documents from companies, associations and institutions in Bayreuth.

A promising future

With construction costs of around 21.5 million euros, which had to be increased by 1.25 million euros, it is a proud project. Financing is supported by, among others, the Oberfrankenstiftung, urban development funding and the cultural fund. The laying of the foundation stone took place on October 13, 2023, followed by the topping out ceremony on May 3, 2024. The inauguration of the new city archive is planned for the beginning of 2026 - an event that many are looking forward to.

In the meantime, public access to the old archive will be suspended from October 13th. Until then, interested citizens still have the opportunity to use the reading room. The archivists are available to answer written inquiries, but you should plan for longer processing times.

The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR), which is responsible for many cultural building projects in Germany, accompanied and supported this construction. [bbn.de] reports on the extensive activities in this area.

An exciting time is beginning for Bayreuth! The completion of the city archives will be a great benefit for the city and its citizens.