Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - STEWART, William J.: Summary of Discussions
Summary of Discussions 257 down in 1957 to reconsider the entire problems of the archives of the State administration and the need for a new building for the National Archives. Of course, it paid special attention to the principles to be used for the strongrooms. In addition to the general risks from fire and humidity, the committee regarded the latest developments in nuclear weapons, which might heavily damage, or destroy, surface buildings in a wide area. Humidity, rain, or snow penetrating into a damaged building would imperil the archive material kept there. The committee also found the situation of the site at that time at the disposal of the National Archives too close to the harbour and to an important railway station. The best protection would be to have the strongrooms built inside solid rock, as far away as possible from supposed risk areas, and provided with a reliable air- conditioning equipment which could be kept running, even if the ordinary electric power supply was cut off. Also, it would then be unnecessary to evacuate the archive documents in case of an outbreak of war, where many other transport needs must be given higher priority. The danger of the plant being requisitioned was estimated to be no greater than for a surface building, especially since similar plants had become rather common in the region. Satisfactory declarations as to that matter were given by the competent authorities. Calculations showed that the cost of underground strongrooms would not exceed that of a corresponding surface plant, and that maintenance would be less expensive for the former. As an alternative to underground strongrooms, microfilming was discussed as a security measure, but it was turned down as being too expensive. The committee in its views had support from a preliminary pro memoria by the director general of the Swedish National Archives, recommending strongrooms in solid rock for the future building of his institution (finished according to that principle in 1968). In accordance with the conclusion of the 1957 committee, the principal requirements for the site of the future National Archives building became these: location of the strongrooms in appropriate solid rock; natural outlet for draining, i. e. independent of pumps; situation outside the city centre, with no military or strategic targets in the neighborhood; situation near a public communications line with good traffic frequency; situation reasonably near to the Blindem campus of the University of Oslo. As it turned out to be difficult to acquire from the City of Oslo the only ground uniting all these elements, the director general of the National Archives at the request of the Minister of Education and Ecclesiastic Affairs assumed responsibility for any delays caused by the attempt to achieve the optimal solution. We are lucky to be able to tell that we obtained just that site. The strongrooms have been installed inside a hill consisting of homfels, with natural outlet for drains water into a brook ending in the Oslo Fiord. On a shelf in the hill side is the administration building. More important, maybe, than the situation six kilometers in a straight line from the city centre, is the position of the new Mitteilungen, Band 39 17
