The Austrian State Archives

and its Importance for

Interregional Research

CrArc-Meeting 17 - 19 October 2012 in Wien-Erdberg

Interregional Importance

Today‘s Austria is a small country,

But an „archival great-power“

It holds large quantities of archival sources,

especially in its capital: Vienna

Why?

Vienna as Aulic Residence

Until 1806, Vienna has been residence of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg dynasty

Until 1918, Vienna has been the capital of an European great power:the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

Common Central Authorities

After 1918 the records created by the central administration of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy remained in Vienna

also the records of the Holy Roman Emire of the German Nation

Today these files are kept by the Austrian State Archives

The Austrian State Archives

• The Austrian State Archives are a public equivalent body of the Federal Chancellory of Austria

• founded in 1945,

• uniting several public archives,

• housed in different locations in Vienna

Today‘s Locations

Central Building (since 1988)Nottendorfer Gasse 2 (Wien-Erdberg)Underground Line U3, Bus Terminaldirector general, administration, 3 of the 4 departments

House-, Court- and State Archives (HHStA) Minoritenplatz 1 (Downtown)Underground Line U3

Old Aulic Chamber Archive, Franz Grillparzer-RoomJohannesgasse 6 (Downtown) Exhibition- and events centre (in preperation)

Central Building in Erdberg

Key Performance Indicators

- 4 departments- 200 kilometres of records- 800.000 volumes of publications- 100 employees- 5.000 users per year- 10.000 written inquiries per year- Our oldest record:

a Carolingian parchment from 816 (HHStA)

Organigram of the OeStA

Archive of the Republic (AdR)

• „living archive“• founded in 1983• holds public records from 1918 to the present• acquisition of records from the Federal

administration of Austria• digital longterm archiving – archiving of

electronic files (digLA)

Historical Archives

Historical Archives – „dead archives“

1. General Administrative Archive / Finance, and Aulic Chamber Archives (AVA/FHKA)

2. Family, Court and State Archives (HHStA)

3. War Archives (KA)

AVA/FHKA

General Administrative Archive / Finance, and Aulic Chamber Archives (AVA/FHKA)

• Records of the Austrian central administration until 1918: for internal affairs, justice, education, agriculture, trade, traffic, and finance

HHStA

Family, Court and State Archives (HHStA) • location Minoritenplatz (downtown)• hold records until 1918:on the history of the Holy Roman Empireon the history of house and court of the

Habsburg empire, andconcerning the diplomacy of Austria-Hungary

War Archives (KA)

50 kilometres of recordsmilitary records of the Habsburg monarchy,

until 1918military parish registers, until 1938 (CrArc)military collections:

maps, plans, pictures, personal paperslibrary of the OeStA

Repository – War Archives

Homepage of the OeStA

Address: www.oesta.gv.at

Navigation:Tasks & OrganisationHoldingsUser InformationPublicationsServiceFamily research

Homepage (German)

Homepage (English)

User information – reading room Erdberg

Research

Archive information system: www.archivinformationssystem.at/

Register of ArchivesAdministrative library• Collection of links: Service Collection of links

• Tips for researchers:Tasks & Organisation Kriegsarchiv Tips for researchersTasks & Organisation The Hungarian archival delegation

Archive Information System

Structured Search

Relevance for interregional research

Because of the transnational relevance of our records, the OeStA are of special relevance for historical research:

• for the „successor states“ of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

• for our neighbors

• for interregional topics and projects

Baden Agreement 1926

• These circumstances were taken into account long before the foundation of the OeStA:

• by an agreement between the Republic of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary:the so-called „Baden Agreement on Archives“ from 1926

The Hungarian archival delegation

• one dalegate at the HHStA (Magyar Országos Levéltár)

• two delegates at the War Archives (KA)(Hadtörténelmi Intézet és Muzeum)

relevant even for Slovakian historical research!

Other bilateral Agreements

• Further bilateral agreements exist between the OeStA and several national archival administrations, that is to say:

Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Mazedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Ukraine

Interregional Projects 2012

• The OeStA is a popular project partner• Current: CrArc – Memory without Borders

restauration, digitalization, and registration of files of transnational /interregional interest (several partners from Slovakia and Austria)

• Current: Forte Cultura – Fortified Heritage multidisziplinary utilization of fortifications between Baltic and Adriatic Sea (Partners from Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Ukraine)

• In preperation: Digitization of documents on World War One from Southeastern Europe (Partner: public archives in South East and Central Europe)

Thank you for attention!

©Dr. Christoph TepperbergKRIEGSARCHIV

christoph.tepperberg@oesta.gv.at