At Aurora, preservation is more than storage. Every image, tag, and record is part of a larger mission: to safeguard the visual history of rail transport across Germany and Europe. Our efforts are structured around long-term access, historical accuracy, and cultural stewardship.

We invest in high-resolution scanning and lossless file formats to ensure that each image can be accessed decades from now without degradation. Each file is stored with multiple backups in secure, redundant servers.

Every image is paired with German-English bilingual metadata, covering date, location, equipment type, manufacturer, and usage. We work with historians and collectors to ensure accuracy, context, and consistency.

While some archives restrict access, we believe in balancing exclusivity with openness. Our digital library is designed to serve both the curious public and professional institutions. Select images are made available for download, licensing, or scholarly use.

We actively collaborate with museums, researchers, and private collectors to share rare documents, publish new findings, and co-curate historical themes. Preservation at Aurora Bildarchiv is an evolving effort, rooted in collaboration and trust.

• Restoring and digitizing fragile negatives from pre-war collections
• Adding AI-supported search functionality to aid research
• Expanding metadata tagging to include socio-economic context and transport policy relevance
• Launching a Member Archive for early access and collector previews