German Archives

[ellend1]

Good evening. During my ancestor research, I have come across Landesarchiv Sachsen_Anhalt. Using the "Volltextsuche" on their website, I have sometimes been able to learn a little more about my ancestors by searching for their names:

http://recherche.landesarchiv.sachsen-anhalt.de/Query/suchinfo.aspx

I also have ancestors in Baden-Württemberg, Bayern, Berlin, Hessen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Saarland, Thuringia.

My question: do any other states have websites that include a "Volltextsuche" field where I can search for names (provided I have enough information to determine if it is the correct person). I have searched on the computer, but I have not been able to find other state archives with this "Volltextsuche" feature.

Thank you for any input.

Regards,

Ellen

[Sbriglione]

Hello Ellen,

I have already written to you something about the "Landesarchiv Sachsen-Anhalt". Especially about Berlin, Baden-Württemberg and Thuringia I need to tell you that it is not really better, there.

The best state-archives I know about are those of Niedersachsen "("Lower Saxony") where you may do very specialized researches and often find what you want.
What you will NOT find in their "Volltextsuche" are - for example - special names as a part of a tax registration or something like that: if the person you are looking for is a subject or an important person in a special document or map you will find her or him.
But will this be enough for you? Lots of documents are put together into hardcover books (sorted by institutions, main theme, main autor, main governement, villages or however) - and then you only might have the option to ask a fellow researcher or the archive to take copies for you and maybe tell them which persons you are looking for and how much you are willing to pay for the research and copy.
Negative: in Lower Saxony archives it may become a problem to find a fellow researcher to help you because they have to pay money to get into the archive and you have a small limit of how many documents you are allowed to take a look at when you are there for one day...

Greetings again!
Giacomo Sbriglione

P.S.: for some regions of Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen the archives of Niedersachsen are interesting, too: for example they have different documents out of some regions in the north-western part of Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen.

[Wolfg. G. Fischer]

Suche in Hessen

Hello Ellen,

it is not called "Volltextsuche", but "Suche":

https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/einfachesuche.action

Regards, Wolfgang

[ellend1]

Thank you for all the information and the link. I will spend some more time looking around.

Kind regards,

Ellen

[Gastonian]

Hi Ellen:


For archives in Thüringen, the state-wide archival information system is https://www.archive-in-thueringen.de/de/. Like the system (arcinsys) for Hessen mentioned by Wolfgang, it offers information on holdings of all participating archives in the state, not just the main state archives (Landesarchiv).


The Landesarchiv Berlin has its online finding aids at https://www.landesarchiv-berlin.find...t/php/main.php.


Depending on how far back in Berlin/Brandenburg you want to look, you should also consider the former Prussian state archives (Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz), whose online system is at https://archivdatenbank.gsta.spk-ber...RCH/search.htm. Note that these two Berlin archive systems apparently have search interfaces only in German.



The online catalog for the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg is at https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/home.php. It also is apparently available only in German.


For Rheinland-Pfalz, the equivalent site (also only in German) is https://apertus.rlp.de/. I have not found an equivalent for Saarland or for Bayern.


Regards


--Carl-Henry

[ellend1]

Thank you Carl-Henry! I will email myself these links you provided (and the link from Wolfgang) so that I will be able to easily find them. Thanks for the assistance!

Kind regards,

Ellen

[gki]

Bavaria:

https://www.gda.bayern.de/service/findmitteldatenbank/

However, I do not think that you will have much success just looking at results from those search engines. They are made to find documents, not people.

Maybe if you tell us what exactly you are looking for, we can help you better.

[Gastonian]

Hi gki:


While these search engines are obviously not designed as a main source of genealogical information, they do provide lots of additional tidbits (Häppchen) of information to supplement what can be found in the churchbooks.


Thus, in arcinsys.hessen.de, I have found that my ancestor Cyriacus Portugal as a journeyman carpenter (Zimmergeselle) sued in 1790 for not getting paid properly (https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/...tailid=v401903), that my ancestor Philipp Werner Greif, while serving as chaplain (Kaplan), got into trouble with the authorities (https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/...ailid=v3655493 - unfortunately, the file was destroyed during World War II), and that my relative, the schoolmaster Johannes Schwind, was accused of sorcery (https://arcinsys.hessen.de/arcinsys/...ailid=v1014643 - apparently declared innocent, as he lived another 8 years).


Obviously there will be more information in the tax lists (Amtsrechnungen) and deed records (Grundbücher und Kataster) that have not been individually indexed on these websites - for that I will have to go to the archives themselves.


Regards


--Carl-Henry

[ellend1]

Thank you gki. I am not looking for anything specific. As Carl-Henry stated, I sometimes find tidbits (Häppchen) of information: legal disputes, land discrepancies. Sometimes I find the name of an ancestor's wife (that I did not know) or reference to the remarriage of a widow.

Being accused of sorcery would be an interesting tidbit to learn!!

Kind regards,

Ellen