Cologne's historical archive faces a long road back

For the past several weeks, more than 60 firemen and volunteers have been spending most of their days at the site where the archive once stood. With scoops, cranes and even their bare hands, they search through the rubble not for bodies, but for paper.

That is because the documented history of the entire region now lays buried under 60 tons of rock and other debris.

"Today we just found a document from the 11th century," said Cologne fireman Thomas Buergermann. "This is what we are doing, looking and searching for archival material, 12 hours a day every day, with the exception of Sunday."