Tanzania National Archives

[1] From 1950 onwards, the British government investigated whether a joint archive service could be set up for the then colonies and protectorates of Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

In June 1963 the ministry, supported by UNESCO, commissioned J. R. Ede, a professional archivist, to look after documents worthy of archiving.

He initially endeavoured, under sometimes daring circumstances, to recover and secure files that were stored in the attics of provincial and district administrations across the country.

A third division is dedicated to a museum, archives and research relating to the "Founders of the Nation" Julius Nyerere and Abeid Karume.

[6] The archives were initially housed in the basement of a government building known as the Old Treasury, facing the harbour near Azania Front Lutheran Church.

Finally in 1984, the National Archives were relocated to buildings specially built for this purpose at Upanga, Vijibweni Street No 7.

The National Archives are comprised by their headquarters in Dar es Salaam and six regional branch offices located in Mbeya, Mwanza, Arusha, Dodoma, Tanga, and Singida.

After initial difficulties, the German side showed an interest, first commissioning the historian Egmont Zechlin, then staff from the school of archives in Marburg.

This help in sorting and indexing the documents also served to maintain relations between West Germany and Tanzania, at least in the cultural field, since Tanzania had recognized the German Democratic Republic, and the Federal Republic had frozen diplomatic relations and development aid in accordance with the Hallstein Doctrine.