Austrian State Archives

The Austrian State Archives are among the most important archives worldwide.

On the one hand, they are central archives for the federal services of the Republic of Austria (supreme bodies and ministries). On the other hand, their historical departments are the keepers of the archival heritage of the Habsburg empire (1526–1918) and its central authorities, as well as of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (until 1806). The oldest piece in the collection of acts and charters of the Babenbergs and Habsburgs dates back to 816. Because its rich holdings, the Austrian State Archives have become a contact point for researchers from all over the world and actively contribute to historical research through the organisation of conferences and publication of research results.

Hence the archives are also – and above all – the “memory” of the administration responsible for and resourcing these results: they thus take over crucial tasks involved in protecting basic rights. As “raw material storage facility for historical research” – which is what archives became in the second half of the nineteenth century – the Austrian State Archives may assume the prerogative of being a “memory storage facility” in a much wider sense. However, they are not only one of the chief institutions for historical research in Austria; the Austrian State Archives subsist as a modern service enterprise for citizens and the Administration and are endeavouring to set up new standards in e-government as well. The contents of the archives are now accessible for online research at http://www.archivinformationssystem.at/ .

Departments of the Austrian State Archives: Archives of the Republic, War Archives, General Administration, Finance and Exchequer Archives