In 2021, we digitized the Freital Photo Archive for BGH Edelstahlwerke GmbH, comprising nearly 64,000 negatives. The archive documents the development of the plant from its dismantling in 1946 and reconstruction starting in 1948 through to the end of the GDR in 1990. The collection ranges from metallographic images for materials engineering to photographs for the company newspaper Friedensstahl, as well as employee activities and the plant’s architectural evolution.

In the first phase, all information from the original negative sleeves was systematically recorded in a database – including handwritten descriptions, year of capture, and negative format and type.

The negatives were then digitized at various resolutions depending on size and format. After conversion from negative to positive, the captured metadata was automatically embedded into the IPTC standard.

This extensive project made a major contribution to preserving and providing access to these historical photographs, ensuring their accurate and sustainable archival storage. Upon completion, this important source on the industrial history of the GDR and the city of Freital will be accessible online via the German Photothek and the German Digital Library (DDB).

The digitization was supported by the German Digital Library as part of the Neustart Kultur program funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).

Explore this and other collections at: www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de