Family research (person-related research) – General information

Family research (genealogical research) is time-consuming. Contrary to widespread misconceptions, there is unfortunately no "central register of persons" in the Austrian State Archives that would allow researchers to simply and easily look up any person by name.

Below, we would like to provide you with some general information about the possibilities for conducting genealogical research in the holdings of the Austrian State Archives.

For details specific to individual departments, more information may be available under their respective entries in the menu on the left. The fee-based services of the Austrian State Archives, which go beyond the preparation of archival materials, are explained under 'Inquiries'.

Basic data and prior knowledge

For successful genealogical (biographical) research in the Austrian State Archives, you will need some basic data about the person you are looking for (e.g., dates of birth and death, details about the person's career etc.). This information can often be found in family documents. Moreover, you will also need certain prior knowledge, such as proficiency in the German language and the German cursive script.

Useful practical approaches are described in: Henning, Eckart/Ribbe, Wolfgang (Hrsg.): Taschenbuch für Familiengeschichtsforschung. 13. Aufl. Insingen 2006, für Österreich speziell Hederer, Kerstin/Kluger, Rupert: Tipps für Familienforscher in Österreich. Salzburg 2005 (Schriftenreihe der Diözesanarchive Österreichs 1); Riepl, Reinhard: Wörterbuch zur Familien- und Heimatforschung in Österreich. Waldkraiburg 2. Aufl. 2004. Mit regionalem Schwerpunkt Mayrhofer, Willibald: Quellenerläuterungen für Haus- und Familienforscher in Oberösterreich. 2. Aufl. Linz 1992. Für den Großraum Wien: Geyer, Rudolf: Familiengeschichtliche Quellen in Wiener Archiven. In: Familiengeschichtliche Blätter 28 (1930), Sp. 1 bis 22; Gall, Franz: Biographische Forschungsmöglichkeiten in Wiener Archiven. In: Anzeiger der phil.-hist. Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1962, S. 155 bis 165.

Preparatory study of literature

If you are researching historical personalities of note, it is advisable to first consult relevant biographical reference works, some of which are already accessible on the Internet (see, e.g., our collection of links in German).

The insights gained in this way may already provide part of the information you were looking for, or at least prove useful for further research. If this does not apply, you may want to consult military and state almanacs, directories of authorities, and similar publications, many of which are also available in the library of the Austrian State Archives. The insights obtained from these sources may give you part of the information you are seeking or at least important clues for further research.

The jurisdiction of the Austrian State Archives

The geographical catchment area, shaped by the territorial expansion of the monarchy over the centuries, extends from present-day Belgium to Sicily and from Alsace to Ukraine.

The nature and structure of the archival materials require specialized search techniques. The holdings stored in the individual departments of the Austrian State Archives are generally organized according to authorities and subject matters within the jurisdiction of specific authorities.

Essentially, the Austrian State Archives hold the records of the supreme bodies and central authorities (ministries) of the Habsburg territories and the Republic of Austria since 1526.

In terms of personal history and biographical information, the Austrian State Archives primarily hold materials related to employees of these central offices (usually found in sub-holdings titled Präsidium / Central Administrative Division) and subordinate departments. They also contain records concerning individuals who had any form of contact with these authorities - whether as petitioners, applicants, complainants, adversaries in lawsuits, or parties involved in civil law or probate matters.
Please note that personal files, as we know them today, were a development of the (late) 19th century. Before that, personal particulars and person-related data were not collected in a concise form.

Family archives, legacies of personal writings, and archives of noble families, which were placed in deposit with the Austrian State Archives (mainly concerning estates supervised by the financial administration or the private demesnes of the Habsburg-Lorraine family), significantly expand the catchment area.

For details about relevant record groups and holdings in the individual departments of the Austrian State Archives, please refer to the corresponding subitems in this menu.

Approaches

The fundamental prerequisite for genealogical research at the Austrian State Archives is to identify points of contact between the life of the person you are researching and the authorities of the Habsburg Empire, the Dual Monarchy, the Austrian Republic, or the NS regime.

If there are no indications of such contacts, you may want to focus on other archives, such as the archives of cities or Länder. In the Greater Vienna area, the Municipal and provincial archive of Vienna – Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv – might be a useful source. On its website, genealogists can find helpful tips specific to Vienna.

With the exception of the 'Militärkirchenbücher' (military parish records, 17th to 20th centuries), the Austrian State Archives do not hold any 'Pfarrmatriken' (parish records, i.e., registers of baptisms, marriages, and burials, until 1938) or 'Personenstandsbücher', i.e., registers of births, deaths, and marriages (as from 1939, occasionally also found in areas under French rule for a brief period in the early 19th century).

Parish records and registers of births, deaths, and marriages can be found in parishes, diocesan archives, officially recognized religious communities, and the Registry Offices. In Vienna, the authority in charge is MA 35, the Municipal Department for Immigration, Citizenship, and Registry Offices ('Magistratsabteilung für Staatsbürgerschafts- und Personenstandsangelegenheiten'). In other successor states of the Habsburg empire, the parish records were often transferred to state-run archives.

See Geyer, Rudolf: Handbuch der Wiener Matriken. Ein Hilfswerk für Matrikenführer und Familienforscher. Vienna 1928–1929, or Beimrohr, Wilfried: Die Matriken (Personenstandsbücher) der Diözese Innsbruck und des Tiroler Anteils der Erzdiözese Salzburg. Innsbruck 1987 (Tiroler Geschichtsquellen 17). A complete overview of the former Habsburg territories and useful hints can be found at www.ihff.at.

Documentation pertaining to residence certificates or certificates of domicile is held in the archives of the communities with jurisdiction or in the residents' registers; in Vienna, the Stadt- und Landesarchiv is in charge of these records (1911 to 1975).

Advance notice

In any event, if you plan to visit the Austrian State Archives, please provide us with advance notice in writing in a timely manner and send a brief description of your research project.

This will allow us to inform you in advance about specific research options or to indicate that the research you intend to conduct is unlikely to be successful.

Further useful contacts

For further useful Internet addresses, please refer to our collection of (Internetressourcen für Genealogen - Linksammlung).