German History Collections

Find out more about German History Collections in the IHR Wohl Library. We collect historical sources and guides to finding and using sources for both the individual German states and Germany as a whole.

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Introduction

We hold vast number of resources on German history ranging from the Middle Ages to the reunification, and the collection is still growing. Half the collection consists of material from the numerous German states, making this library an outstanding place to locate research material for both general and regional German History. Our focus is on primary sources with supplementary guides, bibliographies, reference works and periodicals. For instance we hold several complete sets of series published by national and local record societies such as Archive for Reformation History and the Findbücher zu Beständen des Bundesarchivs going back from 1903 and 1970. The holdings are particular strong in medieval history, religious and reformation history, as well as in 19th century history. Not at least sources for nineteenth-century political history are very extensive including nearly 80 volumes of Otto von Bismarck’s collected works of political writing. Moreover, the library holds an almost complete set of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica (MGH) on open access, which is the most significant collection of medieval sources for German and European history.

Classmark EG.0

For example:

Classmark EG.1

For example:

Organised chronologically as follows:

Each period is then organized by type of source material:

General
Constitutional & Legal
Government & Administration
Foreign relations (between German States)
Religious
Economic & Social & Cultural
Miscellaneous

The general material is at the beginning (EG.20) followed by Constitutional & Legal works (EG.21) etc.

The journals cover both general and specific local subjects. German History and Deutsches Archiv für Erforschung des Mittelalters are examples of the former and for the latter we find Hansische Geschichtsblätter.

Journals on German history will also be in other sections such as E.9 (general European history) examples include Historische Zeitschrift and Zeitschrift für Historische Forschungand in ER.9 (Religious history) Revue d’Histoire ecclésiastique.

Within the local collection the material is also subdivided by the topic of the material: General, Constitutional & Legal, Government/administration & Political, Religious, Economic & Social History and Miscellaneous.

EGL.1 General works
EGL.10 Brandenburg/Prussia to 1701
EGL.11 Prussia 1701-1947
EGL.12 Brandenburg from 1947
EGL.13-EGL.134 Berlin
EGL.135-EGL.141 Potsdam, incl. neighbouring towns
EGL.15-EGL.17 East & West Prussia to 1920 [afterwards Poland]
EGL.18-EGL.20 Pomerania to 1945 [afterwards Mecklenburg Poland]
EGL.21-EGL.23 Mecklenburg [for Rostock see also EGL.42]
EGL.24 Posen 968-1316 [afterwards Poland]
EGL.25 Posen 1815-1918 [afterwards Poland]
EGL.26-EGL.28 Silesia 1137-1920 [afterwards Poland]
EGL.29-EGL.32 Saxony
EGL.33-EGL.36 Anhalt [Saxony-Anhalt from 1952]
EGL.37-EGL.39 Thuringia
EGL.40-EGL.41 Schleswig and Holstein [see also Denmark]
EGL.42-EGL.44 Hansa Towns (incl. Bremen, Hamburg, Lübeck, for Rostock see also EGL.22)
EGL.45 Braunschweig: Duchy, etc., to 1946 [see EGL.50 for local history]
EGL.46 Hanover: Duchy/Electorate/Kingdom to 1946 [see EGL.52 for local history]
EGL.47 Oldenburg to 1946
EGL.48 Schaumburg-Lippe to 1946
EGL.49-EGL.55 Lower Saxony from 1946
EGL.56-EGL.626 (Prussian) North Rhine to 1946
EGL.627-EGL.632 Westphalia to 1946, incl. Lippe-Detmold
EGL.633-EGL.69 North Rhine-Westphalia from 1946
EGL.70-EGL.741 Hesse, incl. Hesse-Marburg, Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Hesse-Nassau, Waldeck
EGL.742-EGL.747 Palatinate to 1815
EGL.748-EGL.753 Rhineland-Palatinate (Bavaria) from 1815 to 1945
EGL.754-EGL.791 Rhineland-Palatinate from 1945
EGL.792-EGL.799 Saarland
EGL.80-EGL.841 Baden to 1951
EGL.842-EGL.847 Württemberg to 1951
EGL.848-EGL.853 Hohenzollern
EGL.854-EGL.891 Swabia, Duchy/Kreis to 1805
EGL.892-EGL.897 Baden-Württemberg from 1952
EGL.90-EGL.97 Bavaria

The MGH is the most significant collection of medieval sources for German and European history. It is shelved at classkmark EGM, organized by series:

Further information can be found on the Monumenta Germaniae Historica guide.

The sections on diplomatic history within this collection have been divided into four chronological groups: pre-1870 (IR.4), 1870-1919 (IR.5), 1919-1945 (IR.6-IR.7) and post-1945 (IR.8). Major parts of the collection relate to debates on the origins of the wars, peace negotiations or the Nuremberg trials.

Subsections within the International Relations collection explicitly devoted to Germany:

IR.41/Ger Diplomatic History: General Collected Sources: Germany
IR.42/Ger Diplomatic History: General Secondary Works: Germany
IR.513 Diplomatic History: 1870 – 1919: Collections of Diplomatic Papers: Germany
IR.523 Diplomatic History: 1870 – 1919: Autobiographies, Memoirs, Speeches, etc.: Germany
IR.548 Diplomatic History: 1870 – 1919: Immediate Origins of World War One
IR.549 Diplomatic History: 1870 – 1919: 1914 – 1918
IR.64 Diplomatic History: From 1919 to Present Day: War Guilt Controversy
IR.65 Diplomatic History: From 1919 to Present Day: Peace Conference & Treaties
IR.712 Diplomatic History: 1919 – 1945: Collections of Diplomatic Papers: Germany
IR.722 Diplomatic History: 1919 – 1945: Autobiographies, Memoirs, Speeches, etc.: Germany
IR.81/Ger Diplomatic History: Since 1945: Collections of Diplomatic Papers: Germany
IR.82/Ger Diplomatic History: Since 1945: Autobiographies, Memoirs, Speeches, etc.
IR.84 Diplomatic History: Since 1945: Nuremburg Trials

See International Relations collections guide for further information.

Related IHR collections

Due to the interdependency of German history with the histories of other countries the holdings cross over with several other collections in the IHR:

Carolingian & Holy Roman Empire collection (classmark E.4)
International Relations collection (classmark IR) see above for further information.
Military collection (classmark W)
Colonial Africa collection (for German territories see classmark CLB.5)
European Jewish history collection (classmark EY)
Crusades collection (classmark EU)
Monumenta Germaniae Historica

Other libraries and institutions

Contact us if you would like help on finding or using our collections, or if you have any comments or suggestions about the content of this guide. We are happy to help.

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