The town of Lemgo was founded around 1190 by the nobleman Bernhard II zur Lippe. The origins of a municipal archive can be traced back to 1432.
The oldest document in the town archive is from 1245. The document collection comprises just over 1,900 documents.
Among the best-known holdings are certainly the almost 225 trial records on the so-called "witch persecution" before the municipal criminal court. From around 1564 to 1681, around 250 people were accused and often executed in several waves of persecution.