The holdings of the archive refer to diverse groups of documents that have been combined into a unit according to logically comprehensible aspects such as their origin, their context of origin and their factual content according to formal characteristics. These include, for example, the files of city and district administrations, but also collections of photographs and newspaper clippings. Almost all documents in an archive are assigned to collections that structure the archive.

Our archive is divided into the following subcategories:

• Department A (from 1800 to 1898)
• Department B (from 1899 to 1907)
• Department C (from 1908 to 1950)
• Special Department CS (from 1939 to 1945, documents related to WWII)
• Department D (from 1950 to 1972)
• Department E (from 19739

The catalogue for the departments A-CS can be found on our external website:

https://www.hallewestfalen.de/portal/seiten/stadtarchiv-900000148-22700.html

Archival collection:

• estate of the local researcher Heinrich Meise
• material collection and essays of the historian Dr. Uwe Heckert
• essays and reports on different aspects of the city’s history
• collections concerning clubs, associations, and unions
• posters, brochures, and flyers with relevance to Halle (Westf.)

Church registry copies beginning from 1680:

• births, marriages, deaths in the municipality of Halle (Westf.) until 1874 (alphabetically sorted index cards)

Registry Office catalogues from 1874:

• Births until 1912
• Marriages until 1942
• Deaths until 1992

Address Books/ directories:

• former resident listings from 1692, 1750, 1785
• street name and number listings from 1901
• first telephone book from 1910
• directories from 1914, 1938, 1951, 1962 and newer versions

Digitized versions of the 1901 and 1938 directories can be found on our (external) website.
https://www.hallewestfalen.de/portal/seiten/stadtarchiv-900000148-22700.html

Newspapers:

• “Haller Kreisblatt” ( from 1921 to 2015 analogically, 2019 to current digitally)
• “Westfälische Neueste Nachrichten” (from 1936 to 1944; with gaps)
• “Freie Presse” (from 1948 to 1956)
• “Westfalen-Blatt” (from 1969 to 2022 analogically; 2019 - current digitally)
• Newspaper clippings collection (local history and relevance concerning special topics and events) 

Maps and plans:

• Maps concerning the city and its surroundings (including former districts until 1973)
  (noteworthy are for example the sketches of the surveyor Hermann Siekendiek (K49),
  Maps of the special recording by Richard Schluckebier in 1824,
  City development maps and construction drawings)

Photographs:

• nearly 12.000 photos categorized by street names, negatives and slides ranging from 1880 until today.

Archival Library:
Literature concerning the city and local history, approximately 540 books including:

• Genuit-Thiessen, Klaudia: Halle in alten Ansichten, 1994. (“Halle from old viewpoints”)
• Heckert, Uwe: Halle in Westfalen – Geschichte(n) einer Stadt, 2005. (“Halle in Westphalia- Tale(s) of a city”)
• Kosubek, Wolfgang: Mein Leben in Halle um 1945 (Zeitzeugengespräche), 2009. (“My life in Halle around 1945- witness reports”)
• Meise, Heinrich: Die Stadt Halle in Westfalen, 1968. (“The City Halle in Westphalia”)
• Meyer zu Hoberge, Eduard: Die Stadt Halle gestern und heute, 1977. (“The City Halle yesterday and today”)
• Schoo, Simon: Halle Westfalen auf dem Weg ins Heute, 2019.  (“Halle in Westphalia on its way to today”)
• Wolf, Karl: Freud und Leid im Kreise Halle (Westf.) - 1800 – 1905. (“Joy and Grief in the district of Halle in Westpahlia”)