Based on an initiative by Christine Eichert, head of the archives of the Weimar University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (now Bauhaus University Weimar), the Thuringian University Archives Working Group was founded in 1995 to promote the exchange of expertise and information among archival colleagues at academic teaching institutions. Furthermore, the acceptance of the supporting institutions as well as their visibility vis-à-vis the larger sections of the state and municipal archives was to be strengthened. Initially, real groundwork had to be done to convince the archive institutions of the necessity of having or creating their own archives. And this task still determines the commitment of the working group today. The current ten members meet regularly for working conferences that focus not only on specialist topics, but also on current developments in Thuringia's higher education and science landscape.