Gütersloh Cultural Policy 2026: City Archives in the Spotlight – Preservation, Education, and Civic Participation

The Gütersloh City Archives: Cultural Hub in the Anniversary Year

In 2025, the year marking the 200th anniversary of Gütersloh, the City Archives played a central role in the city's cultural landscape. Through a wide range of projects, exhibitions, and educational initiatives, it not only fulfilled its role as a custodian of historical documents but also actively contributed to the city's cultural and educational infrastructure.

Archival Work in the Spirit of Transparency and Innovation

The 2025 annual report of the City Archives, presented in the Cultural Committee in April 2026, highlights the diverse activities of the archive. In 2025, 58 meters of archival material and 52 GB of digital data were added, with a growing number of private collections such as Dr. Heinz-Bjarne Heller's slide collection being acquired.

A central focus was digitization: 29 civil registration records were fully digitized, and the digitization of archival holdings up to 1910 is planned for the coming years. Using the software "Augias Archiv 9.2," 44 finding aids were uploaded to Archive.NRW, significantly improving the transparency and accessibility of the archive's holdings.

Web archiving is also a key focus: The City Archives use the tool Arkiwera to archive websites such as www.guetersloh.de or the Instagram channel @stadtguetersloh annually, in order to preserve digital traces of the city's history.

Education and Civic Participation in the Foreground

The City Archives are actively involved in educational work. In 2025, they supported seven students in their research for final projects and collaborated with schools such as the Geschwister-Scholl-Realschule and the Anne-Frank-Gesamtschule. Project days, history workshops, and storytelling cafés provided space for remembrance culture and participation.

A special project was the audio tour "Zeit:Punkte," in which citizens explored local historical sites and created audio contributions themselves. This form of citizen science combines cultural participation with digital mediation and will be continued in a second round.

Controversial Debates on Cultural Infrastructure

While the City Archives remain active, the Cultural Committee is at the same time discussing the future of cultural institutions. The AfD faction has requested the liquidation of Gütersloh Marketing GmbH, which is responsible for city marketing and event organization, and the sale of the "Weberei," a central cultural venue in the city. The administration rejects both proposals and emphasizes the strategic importance of these institutions for the city's cultural identity and attractiveness.

The AfD criticizes the funding of culture with tax money and cites deficits in the millions. The administration considers these arguments unsound and stresses that cultural policy is more than a cost calculation – it contributes to cultural diversity and social cohesion.

Outlook: Culture as a Central Element of Future Urban Development

The debates in the Cultural Committee show how strongly cultural policy decisions can polarize in local politics. While the AfD faction pursues a consolidated, financially oriented cultural policy, the administration emphasizes the importance of cultural infrastructure for the city's long-term development.

The City Archives will play a central role in the coming years with further projects, exhibitions, and educational initiatives – not least through the planned digital exhibition "History and Customs" at the C-City Conference. Gütersloh's cultural policy will continue to evolve – with or against the resistance of financially conservative currents.