Aktenführer

Aktenführer is a German occupational term that refers to a person responsible for handling and organizing files and records within an administration, court, or archive. The word combines Akte (file, record) and Führer (leader, person in charge). Historically, Aktenführer appeared in bureaucratic contexts as a role focused on the management of case files, including labeling, routing, and maintaining the order of documents. Responsibilities often encompassed retrieving and transporting documents, updating file metadata, tracking file movements, and protecting confidential information. Aktenführer typically operated under clerks or administrators and coordinated with judges, investigators, or other departments to ensure that cases progressed and records were correctly archived or disposed of according to policy.

In contemporary German usage the term is uncommon and generally regarded as archaic or regional. Modern equivalents include Sachbearbeiter (caseworker), Aktenverwalter (records manager), or Archivmitarbeiter (archival staff). The core concept—Akteführung, or the management of documents from creation to disposition—remains central to records management, whether in government offices, courts, or archives.

See also: Akte; Aktenführung; Archiv; Sachbearbeiter.

Note: This article describes historical and descriptive aspects of the term and should not be read as endorsement of any political context.