Students and researchers intending to use archives in Germany might find the new German archives: a guide to discovering and using them useful.
Created by Ms Ulrike Kändler as part of her internship at the Bodleian Library, August 2014, the guide is designed to help you finding your way through German archives and to enable you identifying exactly what you need for your research – quick and easy! There are more than 3.600 archives offering their holdings and services in Germany so it can be daunting to know where to start.
The guide comes in three main sections:
- Get Ready
You are planning a research trip to Germany? Or you are for the first time ever on your way into an archive? Here you will find everything you need to know to make the most of your trip
- Discover German Archives
Which archives should you visit? Here you will find a short introduction on the various types of German archives as well as links to a number of the more important ones.
- Find it
Here you are introduced to some different search tools: Regional gateways to search by region and identify smaller archives or meta/search engines such as Kalliope.
The many archives are usefully indexed by broad subject areas as follows:
- State Archives
- Municipal and local archives
- Church archives
- Literary archives
- Economic archives
- Political Archives
- Media archives
- University archives
- Movement archives
Do you know your Ablieferungsliste from your Zugang?
A glossary will help you understand specialists terms you are likely to encounter and enable you to communicate with German archives more effectively.
Help, I can’t read the script!
The guide also includes links to script tutorials and useful transliteration resources.
Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to Ms Ulrike Kändler. Without her incredibly hard work, dedication and expertise this guide would not exist. Her short period in Oxford leaves a legacy from which Oxford researchers can benefit from for a long time to come.
