Nine years after the devastating collapse of Cologne's historic archive, five defendants are finally on trial. They face charges of negligent homicide and hazardous building practices.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/O. Berg
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On March 3, 2009, the Cologne city archives suddenly caved in on itself, killing two people and destroying countless historical documents. Nearly 10 years later, a court will rule on who was at fault for the catastrophe.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/H. Blossey
Buried under debris
In 2009, Cologne's historical archives, the most significant such archive north of the Alps, suddenly caved in. Bakery apprentice Kevin, 17, and design student Khalil, 24, lost their lives, and valuable medieval manuscripts and historical photographs were destroyed forever. Mismanagement and faulty construction of a metro tunnel was the cause of the collapse.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Treasures of city history
This handwritten medieval document shows parts of the 1437 Cologne statutes. More than 1,000 years of regional history were documented in the archive. Among the items are original manuscripts of significant personalities including medieval philosopher and scientist Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, French leader Napoleon Bonaparte and former German chancellor Konrad Adenauer.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
Rescue efforts under time pressure
Aid workers hurried to save whatever could still be saved, and time was running out. The first priority was to fix damage that might cause even more damage. Whereas at first it was feared that almost all irreplaceable manuscripts had vanished forever, it then turned out that almost 95 percent of the items could be saved.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
Collect, wrap and freeze
Resulting from the building's dramatic collapse, roughly 10 percent of the documents landed down below ground water level. First, these lost items needed to be located and picked up. Wet parts had to be carefully cleaned of dirt and sludge and wrapped into a sheeting before being shock frozen at -22 Celsius to later be defrosted in a special dryer to prevent the formation of moisture.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
Recovery, renewed identification
Countless documents were heavily damaged, deformed or torn apart – and almost worse, tangled-up in total confusion. Thousands of pages needed to be identified, ordered and filed anew if researchers were to be enabled to study them once again. Only a thorough cleansing process could prevent tiny dust particles from slowly eating away at the material.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
Cleaning by hand
Even books that did not get soaked needed to be meticulously cleansed before being archived anew. Each single sheet of paper had to be restored by hand. It was particularly important to remove almost invisible traces of mold. Experts wearing gloves and masks took great care to clean the material by hand.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
With tender hands
“Von zarter Hand“ ("Of a tender hand") is the fitting title of this 19th century novel by Johannes Richard zur Megede being carefully cleaned. The restoration experts need to take great care, using particular sponges, brushes and paintbrushes. Dust and dirt must be meticulously removed, lest the paper becomes porous so that, over time, it will decompose.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
Restoration of historical evidence
Manuscripts that needed to be frozen must be dried in special machines before dirt and dust may be removed from them. Books are given a new binding. Every single page needs to be polished and burnished before the book can be put in order anew. All materials are also digitized so that researchers can make better use of them.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Limits of restoration
The technology available today cannot restore all damaged seals and signets. But as such technology may be improved in the future, the single components of the items are being preserved, explained the former head of the restoration team, Nadine Thiel, in 2011.
Image: DW
Project to last for decades
The experts and aid workers not only examine and restore paper objects, but also film reels. The restoration of the entire inventory of Cologne's historical archive is a very huge task. It's estimated that the works will have to continue for at least 30 years.
Image: Kölner Stadtarchiv
New home for Cologne's history
A new site for archiving Cologne's treasures is in the works, set to be finished by 2020. It will not only house the manuscripts formerly kept in the old archive, but also a collection of photographs. Meanwhile, the dispute about who is to be held responsible for the 2009 disaster continues, although soon, it will be too late anyway. In March 2018, the statute of limitations will be over.
Image: Picture-Alliance/dpa/O. Berg
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Some nine years after the spectacular and deadly collapse of Cologne's city archive, the trial of four men and one woman accused of negligent homicide and dangerous building practices began on Wednesday at the city's state courthouse.
Two of the defendants are from the construction management department of the city's transport operator KVB, which contracted the building of the subway tunnel that is said to have caused the collapse. The other three are from the Arge construction consortium made up of the firms Züblin, Wayss und Freytag and the Bilfinger Group, which were working on the tunnel at the time of the collapse.
City prosecutors had also charged a sixth man, but he has since died.
The court has scheduled 126 days of testimony. Should the defendants be found guilty, they could face several years in prison, as well as serious financial fines. After lengthy delays, the case needed to start this year before the statute of limitations expired.
Trial opens with a surprise
The first day of the trial began with a surprise when it was announced that the 14-year-old half-brother of one of the men killed in the collapse had been named as a joint plaintiff in the case. His lawyer said that the young man wants to know why his brother had to die.
One of the worst building catastrophes of the postwar era
Numerous witnesses and experts are expected to testify during the trial, which must be completed before March 3, 2019, when the 10-year statute of limitations expires. The collapse, which is believed to have been caused by construction work on a nearby subway line, killed two residents in neighboring buildings and destroyed the apartments of 36 more. Prosecutors claim the collapse was caused by faulty construction work.
The construction companies, however, have repeatedly contended that it was caused by hydraulic ground failure and was not a result of negligence on the part of site managers or workers.
Most important historical archive north of the Alps
The archive, which was originally established in the Middle Ages, housed tens of thousands of historical documents, the oldest of which dated from the year 992 A.D.
Some 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of shelves, containing 90 percent of the archive's holdings, were destroyed when the building caved in. The contents they held were subsequently buried in the mud and water of the collapse.
