Access to the Reading Room

The Reading Room is located in the Federal Foreign Office in central Berlin.
The Federal Foreign Office is a security restricted area. Please understand that certain security measures are required, in particular security checks.
Use the entrance at Kurstrasse 36, where you will exchange your valid ID card or passport for a visitor’s pass.
Follow the signs to the Reading Room. No coats, jackets, bags, food or drink may be taken into the Reading Room. These must be left in the lockers directly outside the Reading Room (you will need a €1 or €2 coin for the lockers). You will be given a see-through bag for your working materials.

You will be given a see-through bag for your working materials on request.

In the Reading Room

Please go to the staff desk and fill in the necessary forms. The Reading Room staff will help you to use the finding aids and, if you have any substantive questions, will arrange for you to talk to a specialist.
The Reading Room has 27 work stations. There are sockets for plugging in your laptop. Wi-Fi is available. The Reading Room also has a reference library with volumes of collected documents and studies on the history of German foreign Policy.

Handling archival material

All the documents in the Political Archive are irreplaceable! Please handle the material with the utmost care, observe the Regulations for Users of the Reading Room (Reading Room Regulations and Regulations for the Use of the Political Archive of the Federal Foreign Office) and follow the staff’s instructions. Documents must not be removed from the Reading Room, damaged, stained or soiled. You must not write on them, stick anything on them or put them into a different order. Items such as padded strip weights and foam wedges are available from the Reading Room staff. These aids will help you to deal correctly with unwieldy archival material.
Telephones, loud conversations, food and drink are not allowed in the Reading Room. There is a seating area outside the Reading Room.

Do you have any questions? We will be glad to help you!