Almost half of the German Federal Archive's, the National Archives of Germany, total contents were destroyed during World War II, and by the end of the 1950s, records that had originally been seized by the government of the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II had been returned to the archive.
The federal archive for institutions and authorities in Germany, the first precursor to the present-day Federal Archives, was established in Potsdam, Brandenburg in 1919, a later date than in other European countries. Despite efforts to save the most valuable parts of the collection, almost half of the archive's total contents were destroyed during World War II. By the end of the 1950s, records that had originally been seized by the government of the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II had been returned to the archive. 
