archive - Handschriftenarchiv Dresdner Kreuzchor

The Archive

The Handschriftenarchiv Dresdner Kreuzchor - an institution that preserves a rich history.

The archive is based on the manuscript collection of the music library of the world-famous Dresdner Kreuzchor. Here manuscripts, prints and copies of manuscripts from the former Kreuzchor choir were added to this collection due to their age, recent publications or special historical content. For a long time it stood undiscovered in the storage rooms of the library in the attic of the institution. The Handschriftenarchiv Dresdner Kreuzchor was founded in 2013 with the aim of systematically recording and digitising the documents collected in the manuscript collection as archival records and making this unique history easily accessible to the public. In cooperation with the music library, the manuscripts and prints were recorded in analogue form. However, the Dresdner Kreuzchor did not support this endeavour; the tasks of the current choir were too extensive. The Handschriftenarchiv works on an honorary basis.
The extent of the aging of the pieces is about 100 years and reaches far into the times of the cantor Rudolf Mauersberger. However, the majority of the actual collection was destroyed in 1945 during the firestorm on Dresden. Archive records from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s therefore dominate the collection.

The Handschriftenarchiv started its first attempts online in 2014 with a Jimdo page. Since 2016 the Handschriftenarchiv has started its web strategy: There was a new website with an online catalogue, a newsletter and postings. Via the issuu.com platform, the Handschriftenarchiv offers interactive digitisation and reconstructs unknown works with Musescore. Through Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, and Wikipedia, the Handschriftenarchiv has also found access to modern social media. In autumn of 2017, the manuscript archive launched the "Project 3.0", a new concept for the public appearance and internal recording of manuscripts. Thus, a professional database was created to meet the archival requirements and a new website and online presence were designed that were adapted to the archive.