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History of the company/bank and archive description for Berliner Wasserbetriebe Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts
History of the
company/bank:		 The Berlin Waterworks are a municipal company. Since more than 140 years they supply the inhabitants, trade and industry of Berlin with drinking water and since more than 120 years they dispose the waste water of the city.
In the year 1856 the first waterwork of Berlin, built by the english company "Berlin Waterworks Company", commenced with operation. The task of this waterwork was also the improvement of the hygienic situation in the city by flushing the gutters. In 1873 the city of Berlin acquired the waterworks from the english company. In the same year the construction of the sewerage was begun. The first of twelve radial - systems in 1878 officially was put in operation, the last system in 1909. These constructions were initiated by the doctor and specialist for hygiene Rudolf Virchow and the civil engineer and specialist for town planning James Hobrecht.
The formation of the new municipality of Berlin, through incorporations, in 1920 also demanded the reorganization of the water supply and the drainage of the city. In 1924 the "Berliner Städtische Wasserwerke AG" was founded, which in 1937 was transformed to a company that was operated under the own administration of the city. The supply of the southwestern districts of Berlin was done by the "Charlottenburger Wasser- und Industriewerke AG", which was founded in 1878.
After the Second World War the "Berliner Städtische Wasserwerke AG" and the "Charlottenburger Wasser- und Industriewerke AG" in 1945 merged to form a homogeneous company. The division of Berlin in 1949 also lead to the separation of water supply and the sewerage system. Only in 1992 the two waterworks of the city merged to form a single company responsible for the supply of the whole city of Berlin. In 1994 the company was transformed to an institution under public law.
Archive description The Historical Archives of the Berlin Waterworks are a part of the museum situated at the waterwork Friedrichshagen. A systematic collection of records started after the foundation of the museum in 1987. Until then, the records were kept at the several branches of the company.
The holdings at present consist of more than 22,000 drawings of plans and floor plans of facilities and technical equipment of the waterworks, pump facilities, water - towers, pipes, sewage plants, sewage farms and of the sewerage system. Besides this, the holdings consist of approximately 70 shelf metres of documents on the technical installations. The records date back to the middle of the 19th century and also document the history of the origins of the installations that were put out of operation or demolished. The Archives again and again receives new materials, including photographs, on such installations.
Beyond that, there exists an extensive collection of photographs, reaching from 1885 to the present. Among others, there are also original photographs on the construction of waterworks before and after the turn of the century, taken by the two court - photographers Hermann Rückwardt and Albert Schwartz, moreover films on the water supply taken in the 1920s and in the period after the Second World War and video tapes on modern water supply and the disposal of waste water.

Records on the company history of the Berlin waterworks are also deposited at the "Brandenburgische Landeshauptarchiv" and the "Landesarchiv Berlin".
Publications
  • Bärthel , Hilmar : Wasser für Berlin: Die Geschichte der Wasserversorgung. Hg.: Berliner Wasser Betriebe. Berlin 1997.
  • Berliner Wasser Betriebe (Hg.) : Alte Wasserwerke in Berlin: Historische Fotografien von Hermann Rückwardt und Albert Schwartz, in: Historische Beiträge, Heft 1, Berlin 1995.
  • Berliner Wasser Betriebe (Hg.) : Berliner Wassertürme: Historische Fotografien und Zeichnungen, in: Historische Beiträge, Heft 2, Berlin 1996.
  • Berliner Wasser Betriebe (Hg.) : Denkmale der Berliner Wasser Betriebe: Teil I: Wasserwerke und Wassertürme. Teil II: Abwasserpumpwerke, Wohn- und Verwaltungsgebäude, in: Historische Beiträge, Heft 4, Berlin 1997.
  • Berliner Wasser Betriebe (Hg.) : 100 Jahre Berliner Wasserversorgung: 1856 - 1956. Berlin 1956.
  • Butter , Jelena : Ein Archiv im Aufbau - Das Historische Archiv der Berliner Wasserbetriebe im Museum im Wasserwerk, in: Archiv und Wirtschaft, 30. Jg. (1997), H. 2.
  • Butter , Jelena : Geschichte und Perspektive: 10 Jahre Museum im Wasserwerk, in: Museums Journal, 11. Jg. (1997), Nr. IV.
  • Groß - Berliner Wasser- und Entwässerungswerke (Hg.): 100 Jahre Berliner Wasserwerke. Berlin 1956.
  • Kley , Günter u.a. : Wasserwerk Friedrichshagen: Industriedenkmal und Versorgungsbetrieb 1893 - 1993. Hg.: Berliner Wasser Betriebe. Berlin / München 1993.
  • Schmidt , Wolfgang : Das Wasserwerk Berlin - Friedrichshagen als Denkmal der Produktionsgeschichte in Berlin und künftiges Museum der Wasserwirtschaft der DDR, in: Denkmale in Berlin und der Mark Brandenburg. Weimar 1987.
  • Seibt , Hans - Jürgen : Wasser, ein kostbares Element, in: Museums Journal, 5. Jg. (1991), Nr. II.
  • VEB Wasserversorgung und Abwasserbehandlung Berlin (Hg.) : Wasserwerk Friedrichshagen: Technisches Denkmal. Berlin 1987.
  • Kühne , Günther / Günter , Rudolf : Alte Pumpwerke in Berlin. Berlin 1987.
  • Fünfzig Jahre Berliner Stadtentwässerung 1879 - 1928. Berlin 1928.
Conditions of use Access to the holdings of the Historical Archives can be permitted. At present, a computer-based inventory is in preparation.

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