From Würzburg to the World

What do graduates of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) do for a living? In order to introduce students to different perspectives, Michaela Thiel, Managing Director of the central alumni network, interviewed selected alumni. This time, Dr Alexander Wolz answered her questions.

Dr Wolz, how would you describe your work to a layperson? As an archivist, it is my job to save and preserve historically valuable and interesting documents for posterity and to make these documents available to interested researchers.

What made you choose your profession? I decided to become an archivist because I enjoy studying history, but I didn't just want to read about it in books, I also wanted to work with the original documents.

What advice would you give to students who want to pursue a similar career? I would advise students who want to become archivists to build up archival skills, such as reading old documents, during their studies and to gain some practical experience in archives.

You sometimes see people queuing at the front door of the State Archives in the morning - do you know what topics people are mainly researching? Visitors to the Würzburg State Archives do research on all kinds of topics. They research the history of Würzburg or Franconia or trace their family history. But we also help people with legal enquiries, for example when inspecting land registers or building plans.

What is your best study memory? I have many fond memories of studying at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Würzburg. I learnt a lot, was taught important skills and met lots of interesting people. It's impossible to pick out a single memory.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Are you not yet a member of the university's alumni network? Then you are cordially invited to register at the network's website! There you can also find the previously published interviews with JMU alumni and alumnae.