The holdings of the Zittau City Museums include an important collection of 54 historic guild and guild shops, which were expanded in 2022 with another valuable chest. This Ark belonging to the guild of the cooper also contained an impressive part of their historical documents from the end of the 16th to the first half of the 20th century.

Among them are the deed with the council decree of the guild regulations for cooper from 1569 as well as the founding document of a funeral fraternity by cooper, wheel and wheelwright from 1626. There were also ten birth certificates that had to be submitted by anyone who wanted to be admitted to the guild as an apprentice. The oldest of these documents comes from Anna Maria Kaufmann from Zittau in 1676. The guild drawer played an important role in guild life as the repository of all official guild documents. The Municipal Museums of Zittau owe the new guild drawer to a native of Zittau, whose grandfather Rudolf Kaiser was the last foreman of the East Saxony cooperage guild and who last owned the guild drawer.

From March 8 to May 10, 2023, the chest with the documents can be viewed in the cabinet of the Zittau Municipal Museum.