A TEAM of Essex experts is going to Germany to help rescue precious documents under threat after a building holding the city’s archives collapsed.

In March, the Cologne City Archives, the most important municipal archives in Germany, collapsed while an underground railway tunnel was being built, killing two workers.

More than 20 miles worth of archive material, including two of only four existing manuscripts written by Albert Magnus, considered the great German theologian of the Middle Ages.

Safety work has delayed access and rain has caused the rubble to be soaked, hindering the recovery of the documents.

Now, four members from the Essex Record Office and the assistant editor of the Victoria County History of Essex, have volunteered to spend five days in Cologne to help the official recovery operation.

Their work in sifting and sorting through the documents will offer valuable experience in responding to other archive disaster situations.

Stephen Dixon, Essex County Council’s archive services manager, said: “It is crucial we help with this operation.

“To lose so much historical information would be a tragedy, but we need to act fast to make sure these records are not lost for good.

“Once paper gets wet, damaging mould quickly sets in.

“We need to retrieve the material and then it will be flash frozen and stored for two years before cleaning, conservation and repair can occur.

“It is a very time consuming process and the more people who can help, the more material we are likely to save.”