Archive records: granting access
In Lower Saxony, you can evaluate archive material in the relevant archive for scientific purposes, for local history questions, to research your own family or to clarify legal issues. You can find out which archive material is relevant to your question by using the appropriate finding aids, which the respective archive provides either on the Internet or on site. The archives can be used by any person who has a legitimate interest in inspecting archive records.
Responsibility lies with the respective archive.
In Lower Saxony, in addition to the Lower Saxony State Archives in Hanover with further locations in Aurich, Bückeburg, Oldenburg, Osnabrück, Stade and Wolfenbüttel, there are also district, municipal and city archives. The Lower Saxony state parliament, the universities, the regional churches and various economic sectors also maintain their own archives.
You can find an overview of the various archives and their individual responsibilities in the Lower Saxony Archive Information System.
- Identity card, if applicable
Fees may apply. Please contact the responsible office.
Pre-registration for a visit to the archive is recommended. Visitors who have not registered for an archive visit may have to accept longer waiting times or a repeat journey.
User and cost statutes of the respective archive
Archives are increasingly offering the option of providing online access to their holdings. Many of the archives represented in the Lower Saxony Archive Information System (Arcinsys) make their electronically recorded indexing data available in Arcinsys. You also have the option of ordering the archival records identified online for use after registration via Arcinsys. Please note that the requested documents can only be viewed in the archive that holds them.
Lower Saxony State Archive
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
