Files in the Stasi records archive, Source: BArch
This page provides an overview of the Federal Archives’ most important request forms.
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You can also send your enquiry directly to the department or office whose archive records you wish to use. However, we ask that you not send the same request to different departments of the Federal Archives. Our staff will coordinate the processing of your request internally. If your enquiry has a good chance of being successful, the Federal Archives will also provide information on further enquiry options at other institutions.
When you submit a research request to view documents, you must inform us of the subject of your enquiry and the purpose of your research. Please send us a completed and signed research request form by e-mail well before your visit. We need this to prepare for your visit to the archive.
Please do not send the research request form to the Federal Archives without enclosing a written enquiry describing your request as precisely as possible. This allows the staff of the Federal Archives to prepare for your visit, offer specific recommendations for your research and provide you with finding aids and files.
You will need this request form for:
The contact page (in German only) provides the contact addresses for where to send your enquiry.
Please note: If you are looking for information on a specific member of the armed forces, in addition to submitting the general research request form, you must also submit the ‘Request for a search of Federal Archives records on members of the armed forces’.
Request for Use (in English) (PDF, 252 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards): Just for your information. Please fill in the German version
Request for Use (in German) (PDF, 790 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards): Please use this form.
This form is used to request a search for documents in the Federal Archives that pertain to a specific member of the armed forces.
You will need this request form for:
You can find all relevant information (including the correct contact person at the Federal Archives) on the page ‘Personal documents of military origin up to 1945’.
Please note: If you would like to search for personal records, you must also complete the research request form and send it to us.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Department for Information on Persons, Tel.: +49 03018/7770 1158, E-mail: poststelle-pa@bundesarchiv.de
Military Archives Department, Tel.: +49 0761 47817 864, E-mail: militaerarchiv@bundesarchiv.de
PDF download (947 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards)
If you are looking for personal information on German civilians who lived in the former German Eastern or Eastern European settlement areas before 1946, you must complete the ‘Request for personal research in the archive records of the Equalisation of Burdens Archive’. The form is can be downloaded here. Please sign it and send it to the Bayreuth branch office (Equalisation of Burdens Archive) of the Federal Archives as an attachment to your research request form.
You will need this form for:
If you have any questions, please contact:
Bayreuth Branch Office (Equalisation of Burdens Archive), Tel.: +49 0261 505 5740, E-Mail: laa@bundesarchiv.de
Request form for research on civilians from the former German eastern and settlement areas (PDF, 163 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards) (in German only)
Request for Use (in English) (PDF, 252 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards): Just for your information. Please fill in the German version
Request for Use (in German) (PDF, 790 KB, File does not meet accessibility standards): Please use this form.
The Stasi Records Archive provides access to the records of the State Security Service of the former GDR. The legal basis for this is provided by the Stasi Records Act, which regulates, among other things, application requirements and access options.
You will need this form to:
If you have any questions, please call the Citizens Advisory Office at +49 030 18 665-7000 during the following office hours:
When you submit a request to use audiovisual media, you inform us of your research topic and the scope of publication of the audiovisual media that you intend to use.
You will need this form in the following cases:
If you have any questions, please contact:
Picture Archive, Tel: +49 0261 505-1152, E-Mail: bild@bundesarchiv.de
Film Archive: Tel: +49 030 18 7770-1172, E-Mail: filmbenutzung@bundesarchiv.de
Request form to use audiovisual media (PDF, 1.50 MB, File does not meet accessibility standards) (in German only)
