Cultural Authority

Use of archive material

In the reading room of the Hamburg State Archives you can view documents from ten centuries that provide information about the history of Hamburg, your own family history or legal matters.

Detailed description

The Hamburg State Archives hold documents from ten centuries that can provide information about the history of Hamburg, one's own family history or legal matters. If you want to do historical research or family research, the State Archives offer you extensive holdings for analysis.



The Hamburg State Archive primarily stores documents from the Hamburg administration, but you can also find documents from religious communities, associations, companies and personal estates here.


In order to maintain the context, the documents in the State Archives are sorted according to the authority, office or court where they were created. In order to determine archival material, you should therefore always clarify who was responsible at the time you are looking for, ie where the archival material came from.



You can find the archival material that is of interest to you using our online finding aids as well as printed finding aids and card indexes in the reading room, then order them and view them in the reading room of the State Archives.



It is also possible to order reproductions of archival material for a fee.

 

Information

Prerequisites

To view the archives in the reading room, you must first fill out an application for use.

Documents required

request for use


Order form for archive material and library material



You can download the required documents here: https://www.hamburg.de/bkm/befertigung/4299604/archivgutbestellung/

Please note

no

Deadlines

no

Procedure

You can prepare your visit to the reading room of the State Archives:

Processing time

no

Fees

No

Legal remedies

omitted

Legal basis

Hamburg Archives Act (HmbArchG) of January 21, 1991


https://www.landesrecht-hamburg.de/jportal/portal/page/bshaprod.psml?showdoccase=1&doc.id=jlr-ArchivGHArahmen&st=lr

Address and contact information

Cultural Authority

State Archives

Mon-Wed 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Thu-Fri 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

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Keywords: genealogy State writing and documentation City Archives Old files, letters Family photo, genealogy History, national history Reading room of the State Archives Maritime history Church book excerpt City administration Stamps, imprints Estates Manuscripts Written material Club archives Family archives Church archives Personal studies Archive information Family tree research Company archives Local history, local research District history Customer Center, State Archives Civil status documents, certificates seal Shipping history Lending of archive material, State Archives Library, State Archives Books, State Archives Newspapers, State Archives Birth certificate (older than 110 years) Death certificate (older than 30 years)

Last updated: 11.04.2026