Successful Journey Through Archives and Digitisation: An Interview with Julia Moldenhawer

Interview with Julia Moldenhawer, alumna of the bachelor's degree programme in Archives and the master's degree programme in Informationswissenschaften

Welcome to our interview today! We have the pleasure of speaking with one of our alumni, Julia Moldenhawer, who works in Archival Science and Digitisation. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and insights with us.

Question 1: Dear Mrs Moldenhawer, it's great to have you here. Could you please tell us what inspired you to choose the bachelor's degree programme in Archival Studies?

Answer: Of course, I'm delighted to be here. The decision was mainly influenced by my interest in history. However, I found that studying history alone was too abstract. Studying archives offered me a more practical approach and the opportunity to work directly with historical sources.

Question 2: You completed both your Bachelor's degree and your Master's degree in Information Sciences at our Department. Could you tell us more about your study experiences and what you focussed on during your studies?

Answer: Of course. My Bachelor's degree in Archival Sciences ran from 2007 to 2011 at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam. I then decided to do a Master's degree in Informationswissenschaften, which I completed in 2013. During my studies, my focus was less on the cataloguing of archive records and more on the digital provision of archive records and the associated issues. This focus also reflects my professorial recruitment interests.

Question 3: One notable stage in your career was your project work at the Central Archives of the Protestant Church in Sibiu, Romania. Could you tell us a little more about this experience and how it influenced your professorial recruitment?

Answer: During my Master's degree, I had the opportunity to work on a project at the Central Archives of the Evangelical Church in Sibiu, Romania. This experience broadened my perspective on Archival Science and gave me an international insight. Although it may seem unconventional to take a break from my studies for such a project position, this experience ultimately encouraged me to successfully complete my Master's degree and move forward with my professorial recruitment.

Question 4: Your professional journey took you from the Secret State Archives to the Artists' Archives Collection at the Berlinische Galerie. Could you tell us more about your work there?

Answer: At the Berlinische Galerie, I had the opportunity to work in the Artists' Archives Collection. Among other things, the Berlinische Galerie collects documents on important art dealers, which are important sources for provenance research, among other things. Correspondence between dealers and collectors, for example, makes it possible to trace the lives of artworks. They thus contain important clues to the current locations and owners. I worked on one such estate of an art dealer. The atmosphere in the BG was inspiring. In the museum, the focus is very much on exhibitions for the public. During the preparation period, there was always a very special atmosphere in this creative environment.

Question 5: Your expertise lies particularly in the field of digitisation and data management of archive material. Could you tell us more about your current responsibilities and projects?

Answer: I have been head of the Digitisation Department at the Brandenburg State Archives since 2016. I am responsible for the development and expansion of the strategic digitisation of archive records. This includes the technical infrastructure, data delivery to the DDB, online representation of digitised files, metadata management, application development and quality assurance. I recently contributed my experience in the object-friendly handling of unique documents during digitisation to the standardisation work for DIN 33910 "Object-friendly digitisation of archive and library records". My responsibilities also include the project management of third-party funded digitisation projects.

I have been Head of Department since 2020 - initially for Central Services, since 2024 for Digital Infrastructures - and am responsible for IT, digitisation, digital archiving, storage services and restoration as well as the research-initiated OFP project on digital provenance research (2020 - 2026).

Broadly speaking, in collaboration with the archivists, we are responsible for maintaining and storing the files and making them available in digital and analogue form in the reading room. Further information that is useful for studying sources or for regional history can be found in the publicly accessible library of the Landeshauptarchiv.

I can only invite anyone who is interested to browse through the holdings of theBrandenburg Specialist Unit for Archives and Public Libraries in Brandenburg online or to use our reading room and library on site.

Thank you very much for the interview! As the Department of Information Sciences, we are always happy to hear about the life choices and career paths of our alumni!

The interview was conducted by Milena Lotter, 2023, updated 2026.