Archivschule Marburg
Marburg, Hessen, Germany
- Founded
- 1949
- Students
- 50
- International
- 0%
- Programmes
- 13
- Taught in English
- 13
About Archivschule Marburg
Archivschule Marburg - officially the Hochschule für Archivwissenschaft - is the central training and continuing education institution for the archival profession of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is a state enterprise of the state of Hesse and trains archivists for both the higher (wissenschaftlicher Archivdienst) and senior (gehobener Archivdienst) levels of the public archival service.
Founded in 1949 as a post-war successor to earlier Prussian archival training traditions, the school has operated for more than 75 years and is unique in Germany as the sole nationally mandated institution for archivist training. Its programmes combine professional formation with archival science research, and it regularly organises academic colloquia and specialised conferences.
Beyond initial professional training, the school offers a comprehensive continuing education programme (Fortbildung) covering records management, archival law, digital preservation, and data management. It is a participant in NFDI4memory, the German national research data infrastructure for historical sciences.
Germany's sole nationally mandated institution for professional archivist training
State enterprise of Hesse with over 75 years of continuous operation
Trains archivists for both higher and senior levels of the German public archival service
Runs a comprehensive annual continuing education programme (Fortbildung) open to practising archivists
Participant in NFDI4memory, the national research data infrastructure for historical sciences
Located in Marburg, a historic Lahn-valley university city with direct rail links to Frankfurt
Key facts
- Founded
- 1949
- Students
- 50
- International
- 0% - Destatis reports no foreign students enrolled at the school (WS 2024/2025); admission is limited to civil-servant trainees appointed by German federal/state archives.
- Programmes
- 13
Study programmes
13 accredited degrees at Archivschule Marburg, 13 of them taught in English.
Showing 1–13 of 13 programmes
Admissions & fees
What it costs
Initial training is funded under an inter-state administrative and financing agreement (Verwaltungs- und Finanzierungsabkommen) - trainees are civil-service employees receiving a salary/stipend, not fee-paying students. Continuing education (Fortbildung) courses are offered at cost-covering rates; individual course fees apply and vary by programme. No semester contribution or non-EU tuition surcharge model applies in the standard university sense.
Admission requirements
Admission to the professional training programmes (Referendarausbildung for higher archival service; Anwärterausbildung for senior archival service) is organised through the participating German federal states (Bundesländer), not through open international applications. Candidates are civil-service trainees (Beamtenanwärter) seconded by their employing state. There is no direct open-admission route for international students seeking a degree programme. The institution is not listed in the standard international application channels (uni-assist, Hochschulstart). Prospective international applicants should contact the school directly or approach the responsible state archive authority in their target German state.
Application deadlines
There is no open application: admission requires appointment as a civil-servant trainee (Beamter auf Widerruf) by an archive of the federal or state governments, and applications are made to the employing archives whose vacancies the school lists on its Stellenmarkt job board. The three-year lower-grade training begins annually on 1 September / 1 October with the school course starting each October; the two-year higher-grade training begins annually on 1 May, with the school course starting each January. Each course cohort is a fixed group of 10 to 25 people.
How international applicants apply
Restricted entry - there is no open or international application route and uni-assist is not used. Trainees are appointed as civil servants on probation (Beamte auf Widerruf) by federal or state archives and are sent to Marburg for their academic course phases; applications are made directly to the training archives that advertise posts on the school's Stellenmarkt job board (stellenmarkt.archivschule.de), never to the school itself.
Languages of instruction
German only. All initial training and continuing education courses are delivered in German.
Entry requirements, intake dates and language levels differ for every degree.
Campuses & locations
Bismarckstraße 32, 35037 Marburg; Landesbetrieb des Landes Hessen
Living in Marburg
Marburg is a historic university city in central Hesse, Germany, situated on the river Lahn. Home to Philipps-Universität Marburg (founded 1527, one of the oldest Protestant universities in the world), the city has a strong academic character with a population of roughly 75,000. The medieval old town (Altstadt) and Marburg Castle (Landgrafenschloss) are prominent landmarks. Marburg is well connected by rail to Frankfurt am Main (approx. 1 hour).
Student life & support
As a small specialist institution focused on professional civil-service training, Archivschule Marburg does not have a campus student life comparable to a general university. Trainees benefit from Marburg's broader university environment, including facilities of Philipps-Universität Marburg. The town has an active student scene due to its large university population relative to city size.
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