Staatliche Museen zu Berlin--Preussischer Kulturbesitz. Zentralarchiv

The Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (Central Archive of the Berlin State Museums) is an academic institution in Berlin, Germany, linked with the collections and administrative departments of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. It functions as the primary site for research and preservation of the museums' "memory" and their primary source documents. Its holdings span the history of the Staatliche Museen of today back to the former Königliche Museen (Royal Museums) of the Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire. Through consolidation, the holdings have become one of the most important art history archives in Germany. The Zentralarchiv's mission is to handle these materials according to archive-specific principles, to ensure long-term preservation and to make them accessible. In response to increased demand for information and documentation about the history of the museums' collections, a location on Museum Island is open to the public, offering holdings of the archive for researchers as well as answering queries.