The Central Archives for Research on the History of the Jews in Germany were founded in Heidelberg in 1987, inspired by the comprehensive German Jewish Archives that had existed in Berlin from 1905 to 1939. The main purpose of the Central Archives is to preserve and study the historically valuable documents entrusted to them by Jewish communities, associations, institutions and individuals, normally as permanent deposits. Storage capacity is currently 1500 metres.

Further information can be found on the website of the Historical Research Archives at http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/sonst/aj/englisch.htm