Welcome

The Political Archive of the Federal Foreign Office

Welcome!

3 ° C

Berlin

The Political Archive is the “memory” of the German foreign service. The archive contains 26 linear kilometres of material, which can be consulted for research purposes in line with the legal regulations. This website will tell you more about the services provided by the Political Archive.

Important information

Info

Dear user of the Political Archive,

due to the extension and intensification of the measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, we unfortunately see ourselves obliged to extend the closure of our reading room until probably 28 February. We very much regret the inconvenience that this may cause. However, we will, of course, endeavour to answer your queries in writing and, where possible, by sending out digitalised copies. We are aware of the fact that this service is, generally speaking, not an equivalent substitute for your own research in the Reading Room.

You may continue to search our finding aids online as before. When working from home or when out and about, you have the option of searching electronically in our finding aids and accessing scanned files (where available) using invenio, a Federal Archives application.

We thank the Federal Archives for allowing us to use the invenio search engine. Please note that it is not possible to search in the holdings of more than one archive at a time; if you wish to search in various archives, you will have to register more than once. In some cases it was necessary, for technical or organisational reasons, to allocate new record group designations.

We will publicise any changes as a result of the current COVID‑19 situation on our website. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Practical information

How to prepare for your visit and how to get to the Reading Room.

Tutorials

This page contains essential background information for working with all of the holding groups. Sound preparation will make your work in the archives easier and faster.

Aids for the Foreign Office’s history and records management

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here you can find answers to frenquently asked questions about using the Political Archive as well as selected information.

Registration and collection of files at the counter

History of the Political Archive

Today, the Political Archive stores archive material covering over 26 linear kilometres. The structure of the record groups as well as a certain number of gaps in the records result from the Archive’s…

Document publications

Important documents from the files of the Federal Foreign Office have been published with detailed comments in various academic series.

Legal information

The statutory basis for the legal status, competence, responsibilities and use of the Political Archive is explained here.

Contact and opening hours

Name

Political Archive of the Federal Foreign Office

Town

Berlin

Postal code

10117

Tel.

+49 (30) 1817-2179

Fax

+49 (30) 1817-5-2179

Further information in our data protection declaration

Street

Kurstraße 36

Opening hours

Mon.-Thu. 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Friday 8:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Contact

Pull times for records

Mon.-Thu. 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
Friday 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m.

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