Oxford LibGuides: Early modern history (British & W European c. 1500-c. 1800): German sources

Martin Luther

Luther in 1533 by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Using German archives?

Visiting archives in Germany: a guide to discovering and using them

The German archival infrastructure is rather varied - and not always completely logical, but, as has been said before, historical! Thus, research can turn into a little challenge.

Newly bookmarked websites

German sources

Luthers Werke (Weimarer Edition)
Martin Luther (1483-1546) is one of the central figures in German and European history, a theologian whose work changed the course of world history and contributed to the development of a unified German language. Luthers Werke reproduces the Weimar Edition (Weimarer Ausgabe) of his works in electronic form.

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The Weimar Edition, which is regarded as a monumental work in the field of theology and the German language, was first published in 1883 and includes 127 volumes.
The Works of Martin Luther (via Past Masters)
Digital edn of Luther's Works (in English translation). General Editor, Vols. 1-30, Jaroslav Pelikan. General Editor, Vols. 31-55, Helmut T. Lehmann. 55 vols. (Philadelphia : Fortress Press; and Saint Louis : Concordia Publishing House, 1955-86)
Flugschriften des frühen 16. Jahrhunderts [on microfiche]
Ed. by H-J. Köhler et al. (Zug: IDC, 1978-87) [BOD Microfiches 400]. Contains 5,000 pamphlets in German and Latin, printed 1501-1530 within the Holy Roman Empire.
Flugschriften des späteren 16. Jahrhunderts [1531-1600]. [on microfiche]
Series I and II, hrsg. H-J. Köhler et al. (Leiden: IDC, 1990-) [BOD Microfiches 870]. Continues the previous collection and contains 3,666 pamphlets. Particularly good for events such as anti-papist movement, persecution of Jews and Witches and religious and political upheaval following the Reformation.
The German Political Broadsheet, 1600-1700, by John Roger Paas [print]
(Wiesbaden : O. Harrassowitz, 1985-)

Quellensammlung zur deutschen Geschichte. [Search SOLO.] Includes e.g. Quellen zur Geschichte der deutschen Königswahl und des Kurfürstenkollegs; herausgegeben von Mario Krammer. 2. Aufl. 2 vols. (Leipzig: B.G. Teubner, 1925-1932).

Publicationen aus den königlichen preussischen Staatsarchiven. [URR K.9.2] [Search SOLO.] Includes e.g. Briefwechsel Friedrichs des Grossen mit Grumbkow und Maupertuis (1731-1759); hrsg. von Reinhold Koser. Veranlasst und unterstützt durch die K. Archiv-verwaltung. (Leipzig, 1898).

Deutsche Reichstagsakten
Access to the digitised records of the Holy Roman Empire's Reichstag, covering Ältere Reihe (1376–1485); Mittlere Reihe – Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Maximilian I.; Jüngere Reihe – Deutsche Reichstagsakten unter Kaiser Karl V.; Reichsversammlungen 1556–1662. The resource provides parallel view of text and extensive commentary. Search functions include browsing (by person, place, etc.) and full-text searching. Search SOLO for printed copies.
Akten des Reichskammergerichts im Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart [print]
ed. by Alexander Brunotte und Raimund J. Weber. 8 vols. (Stuttgart : W. Kohlhammer, 1998-2008)

Catalogues of German early printed books

Zentrales Verzeichnis Digitalisierter Drucke (zvdd)
A metasearch tool to locate digitised early printed German books.
VD16 (Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachbereich erschienenen Drucke des 16. Jahrhunderts)
This Bibliography of German imprints in the 16th century, is a site hosted by the Bavarian State Library. It offers archival location and bibliographic data for each imprint. In addition, the database has digitized images of the key opening pages of each source.
VD17 (Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachbereich erschienenen Drucke des 17. Jahrhunderts)
This Bibliography of German imprints in the 17th century, is a site hosted by the Bavarian State Library. It offers archival location and bibliographic data for each imprint. In addition, the database has digitized images of the key opening pages of each source.
VD18 (Verzeichnis der im deutschen Sprachraum erschienenen Drucke des 18. Jahrhunderts)
Catalogue and digital library capturing German and German language imprints published between 1701 and 1800. Unlike the VD16 and VD18, this project will also link to digitised copies. The pilot phase will catalogue and digitise c 75,000 titles.

Historical bibliography (Germany)

Jahresberichte der Geschichtswissenschaft, 1880-1916
Bodleian Library copy scanned by Google Books.
Jahresberichte der deutschen Geschichte, 1918-1924 [print]
Order physical copy to Bodleian reading rooms from offsite storage.
Jahresberichte für deutsche Geschichte (Leipzig, 1927-) [print]
Jahresberichte für deutsche Geschichte Online (1949-2015)
Indexes German- and foreign-language academic publications on German history published between 1949 and 2015. It captures details of monographs, edited volumes (including individual contributions), periodical articles, source editions, reference works and bibliographies. Where possible, literature that is not distributed via the publication market is also included.
Historische Bibliographie [print]
1987 onwards
Historische Bibliographie Online (HBO)
Contains 358.551 bibliographical entries on historical research literature that was published between 1990 and 2013: monographs as well as papers in journals and essay collections. Additionally, it contains 8.758 entries on historical works that were unpublished until 2013. For earlier publications use Jahresberichte für deutsche Geschichte.
Österreichische historische Bibliographie = Austrian historical bibliography
Covers Austrian historical research from 1945, including monographs, serial works, articles from commemorative publications, anthologies, journals and periodicals, catalogues, congress and conference proceedings, university publications, as well as subject bibliographies on historical topics.

German newspapers

Check out Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries > Germany, Austria and Switzerland (LibGuide)