Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation

The Secret State Archives Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation ( or GStA PK) is an agency of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation headquartered in Berlin, Germany. A Federal statutory body, it is one of the largest repositories of primary source documents in Germany and spans the history of Prussia, Brandenburg, the House of Hohenzollern and the Prussian Army. Insofar as the agency represents over 400 years of archival work of the former states of Brandenburg-Prussia, including their main roots in the Teutonic Knights, the Archives can be said to cover "nine centuries of European history between Königsberg and Cleves." Building Originally located in the Berlin Palace, the Archive moved into a prestigious new building erected specifically for it in Berlin-Dahlem. It was built between 1914-1924 following a design by . The building was renovated and expanded in 1999. The address is Archivstraße 12-14, D - 14195 Berlin, Germany History The origins of the Archives can be directly traced back to 1282, when a collection of official papers under the auspices of the Margrave of Brandenburg was first documented. Formal organization of the stocks occurred in 1468, and in 1598 the Elector of Brandenburg appointed Erasmus Langenhain "Registratura Archivorum" to bring systematic order to the sovereign's documents, official records and files. Today's GStA PK traces itself back to this professional tradition.