One of the most valuable buildings from the imperial era in Münster from an art history perspective is the old state archive building located on the corner of Fürstenbergstraße and Bohlweg. After being housed provisionally in various buildings on Domplatz since 1829, the state archive moved into the new neo-Renaissance building on Bohlweg in 1889.
This was the first archive building in Prussia to be designed according to the so-called magazine system, which strictly separates the magazine area from the administrative wing for fire safety reasons. The building of the Münster State Archives then served as a model for other Prussian archive buildings because of its groundbreaking concept.
Due to increased space requirements, the storage wing was expanded in 1938. During the war, the administrative building on Fürstenbergstraße was destroyed, but the storage facility survived unscathed. After the war, a lack of space led to the relocation of holdings to temporary alternative storage facilities.
The planning for the necessary new construction measures, which began in earnest in 1952, dragged on for decades. It was not until 1972 that construction of a new building could begin, which was finally inaugurated in 1975.
The new part of the building is clad in grey concrete and constructed in the brutalist style. On the one hand, its rawness and simplicity form a striking counterpoint to the decorative façade of the old warehouse, but at the same time it also emphasises it, giving it a high recognition value in Münster's cityscape.
