The Swiss Federal Archives
The Swiss Federal Archives preserve the documentation of government actions and make it accessible. This enables the administration to account for its activities and work more efficiently. For the public and researchers alike, archiving is essential for the formation of independent, critical opinions in a democratic state under the rule of law. Research in the Federal Archives can be carried out online or on site.
The Federal Archives’ mandate is to ensure the long-term availability of information relating to the Swiss Confederation. Their activities cover five areas:
1. Information management: The Federal Archives support and advise the Confederation on the creation, organisation and management of its data and documents.
2. Appraising archive worthiness: The Federal Archives work with the administrative bodies to select the data and documents that are to be archived for an unlimited period.
3. Preservation and management: The Federal Archives ensure that documents are preserved in the archives and that digital data remain readable at all times.
4. Access: The Federal Archives make a catalogue of the archival and data fonds of the Confederation available to the public. Analogue archive documents can be consulted on site or ordered online as digital copies. Digital archive documents are supplied online.
5. Mediation: The Federal Archives participate in research on selected historical issues and make the results accessible to a broad public.
The basis for the Federal Archives’ mandate is to be found in a number of laws – principally the Federal Act on Archiving (ArchA, SR 152.1). The Federal Archives set out their main areas of activity in a strategy, which is valid for five years.
The “Federal Archives” section provides an overview of current activities, the organisation and the long history of the institution, which is one of the oldest in the federal administration.
Strategy 2026–2030
Following the successful implementation of the 2021–2025 strategy and its “digital first” principle, the Swiss Federal Archives’ new strategy ensures that in an age of data rooms and artificial intelligence, the actions of government remain traceable, verifiable and accessible over the long term.
Directorate / Executive Board
The members of the Directorship and the Executive Board.
Organisation
The directorate is responsible for the strategic and operational management of the Swiss Federal Archives.
Legal basis
An overview of the laws, ordinances and directives that govern the activities of the Federal Archives.
Federal Council decisions
Federal Council decisions regarding the “Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War (ICE)”
Facts and figures
Key figures on the Swiss Federal Archives from the end of 2025. Figures for previous years are available for download under “Further Information”.
The history of the Federal Archives
Anyone looking for information about the history of the Federal State in the Federal Archives today has more than four million dossiers to choose from. Yet it all started from very small beginnings: when the Helvetic Republic established the Central Archive in 1799, it contained just a few diplomatic documents.
Access to official documents
Any individual may cite the Federal Act on Freedom of Information in the Administration (Freedom of Information Act, FoIA) and demand access to official documents without having to provide evidence of a particular interest.
New archive building in Zollikofen
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (EFK) has carried out an audit of the project to construct a new archive building in Zollikofen (. In its report, the EFK concludes that the audit findings paint a positive picture.
Swiss Federal Archives
Archivstrasse 24
CH - 3003 Bern