Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
Switzerland (online only)
The online access portal of the Swiss Federal Archives (Schweizerisches Bundesarchiv, SFA) at recherche.bar.admin.ch enables researchers worldwide to search, order, and consult almost all fonds of Switzerland's national archives online. The portal replaced the earlier swiss-archives.ch platform and provides digital access to over 200 years of Swiss federal government documentation.
The Swiss Federal Archives trace their origins to the Helvetic Republic of 1798, with records moving whenever the seat of government moved. Following the creation of the Federal State in 1848, the archives became part of the Federal Chancellery and settled in Bern. The first federal archivist, Johann Jakob Meyer, was appointed in 1849. The current archive building in the Kirchenfeld district of Bern was constructed between 1896 and 1899. In 1914, the institution was officially designated the Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives). On 9 May 1944, the Federal Council approved regulations making records at least 50 years old publicly available. Over the following decades, closure periods were progressively shortened, and today the standard period is 30 years.
As of 2018, the Federal Archives held over 66,000 linear meters of printed documents and 20.7 terabytes of digital documents, covering Swiss federal governance from 1798 to the present. Holdings include diplomatic records, military documents, immigration records, administrative dossiers, historical photographs, maps, and multimedia materials. Notable digitized collections include the historical photograph collection documenting active service in the First World War and Carl Durheim's police photographs of stateless persons. The building and its collections are designated as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The portal at recherche.bar.admin.ch allows users to search the archive's fonds, place orders for documents, and receive digitized content by email. Analogue materials can be digitized on demand. A reading room in Bern is open Tuesday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person consultation. Artificial intelligence tools are used to automatically anonymize sensitive metadata before making it available online. The archive has a permanent staff of 57.8 full-time equivalents and an annual budget of approximately 19.2 million CHF.