The archives of the universities, colleges and universities of applied sciences of the Free State of Thuringia take over, index and preserve the documents produced at the respective educational institutions. On the basis of the Thuringian Archives Act, numerous universities in the Free State maintain their own archives, whose holdings document both the history of institutions and the development of research and teaching in Thuringia and make these sources accessible to the public. The archives also take over the estates of the professors, lecturers and scientists who worked at the institution and document the work of independent committees within the institution as well as student activities. The largest university archive in Thuringia is the archive of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, whose holdings range from the 16th century to the present day. The archive of the Hochschule für Musik FRANZ LISTZ Weimar occupies a special position, as it is also the state music archive. The Thuringian University Archives work together in the Thuringian University and University Archives Working Group of the Thuringian Association of the VdA.