Legal Form and Statutes
The DAI is a federal institution within the Federal Foreign Office with the right of scientific self-administration. It is based in Berlin, uses its own seal and has its own assets. The current statutes have been in force since 2019. The work of the DAI's organs, details of evaluations, departmental or commission conferences and voting are regulated by the rules of procedure.
In the course of its history, the German Archaeological Institute has been assigned to various institutions. Founded in 1829 as a private association under the protectorate of the then Prussian Crown Prince, it became a Prussian state institution in 1871 under the name "Institut für archäologische Correspondenz" (Institute for Archaeological Correspondence).
In 1874, the DAI became an imperial institution, and from 1887 it was known as the 'Kaiserlich Deutsches Archäologisches Institut' and from 1914 as the 'Archäologisches Institut des Deutschen Reiches'.
From 1874 the DAI was part of the Foreign Office. After 1934, it was briefly under the Ministry of the Interior and then under the Ministry of Science, National Education. In 1945, the Institute was held in trust by the Land Berlin and then transferred to the Federal Ministry of the Interior. In 1970, by decree of the then Chancellor Willy Brandt, it was transferred to the Federal Foreign Office.