Colapse of the Building of the Archive of Cologne

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It does not seem to get a lot of media attention in the US, but yesterday in Cologne the building of the Archive of the City collapsed. Some assume it has to do with underground building works. The collection in this city archive contains original records since the 10th century, the records of the Chancellery of the Hanse from the beginning till the 17th century, all files regarding Cologne's role as leader of the Rhenish Free Cities within the Holy Roman Empire from 1478 till 1795, all archives and record of the monasteries in Cologne since the 11th century till 1795 (approx. 19'000 documents), privileges issued by Otto The Great and others, the complete literal estate of Heinrich Boell, the more than 340 volumes of the protocols of the City Council since the 1288 till 1795, parts of the records of Imperial Chamber Court from 1495 till 1803, certified original copies and originals of the imperial recesses from 1288 till 1795, and much more.

If the collection would be lost, it would be a national catastrophe for Germany. The worst cultural lost in times of peace.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7921988.stm

I hope they can save some of the documents! Arg! all that history!

Can they save the documents? (Yes, I did hear about it on the news on the radio while driving, but didn't see any TV yesterday so I don't know if it got coverage there.)

Oh!

I just learned there were also original manuscripts of Albertus Magnus (+1280) stored.

This is a very significant (and dismal) event. It is defies good sense that I should hear about it from a forum post rather than the news media.

No news was not good news in this instance.

how strange!