Ilsemarie von Scheven talks local history in situ

We visit the town hall (Amtshaus) Pelkum with the former city archivist Ilsemarie von Scheven. The 93-year-old guides us through the building along her memories. The staircase and corridors awaken memories; most of the rooms less so; a journey along Ms von Scheven's memories of a time when the archives of the new independent city of Hamm were housed here in the building or rather, were re-created under the careful hands of two, quote von Scheven, "50-year-old non-specialists"; a re-creation, literally like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. The women's mission was to "build a replacement archive for the city". The town's archives had been burnt down with the town hall in the bombs of the Second World War; the only one in Westphalia, as Ms von Scheven points out. Where the memory leaves us, we explore what can nowadays be found in the building. The head of the city hall himself grants us access and accompanies us. More recordings and info: https://archive.org/details/Ilsemarie_von_Scheven_AmtshausPelkum2014