The Company

150 Years of Public Transport

The old BVG archive was lost when bombs destroyed the BVG headquarters in November of 1943, which means that countless documents no longer exist. Today's collection was compiled after the war, and has been systematically ordered since 1987.

Following the political reunification of Germany in 1990, the respective transport companies from the two halves of the city were unified in 1992. In the process a large amount of material, most of which has not yet been explored, was transferred from the BVB to the BVG archive. This material is being viewed, systematically restored, and catalogued by the archive staff and numerous volunteer assistants.

Photo archive undergoing digitalization
The core of today's archive is without question the photo archive. It contains thousands of photos relevant to the history of public transportation in Berlin, including more than 3,000 historical images from the launch of the Berlin public transport system (ÖPNV) on into the post-war period after 1945. Many glass plates with negatives have hardly even been looked at. An electronic photo archive is planned, with a directory of key words that will considerably simplify finding specific images. This is also the best way to make them available to the public at large.

Nearly seamless route histories
The archive contains nearly seamless route histories, collections of old tickets, as well as timetables and posters. Notices announcing the opening of individual metro lines and their extensions have also been saved. These contain historical descriptions of the respective lines, architectural plans, photos of stations at the time, as well as sketches of the surroundings. The archive also contains network maps from the period before 1910. Drawings are also available from this time, showing architecture as well as trams and buses.

The archive contains BVG and BVB company magazines, such as the magazine known as Die Fahrt ("The Drive") started by Ernst Reuter in 1929. The BVB produced a magazine entitled Signal starting in 1950, and the archive contains even its earliest issues up to 1955. The magazine was continued by the BVG after reunification, and then replaced in 1998 by the BVG profil.

How can you use the archive?
The BVG Archive is not a public institution, but it can be visited for a fee of 3 euros per 30 minutes. The utilisation is free for half an hour. It is also possible to commission research or to have copies, photos, or CDs made. It is even possible to purchase printing rights. We will gladly provide the corresponding price list on request.