In the section "Archives introduce themselves" we present the various data providers of the Archivportal-D and link to their holdings. The Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg makes the beginning in the new Archivportal-D.

The holdings of the Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg are divided into two large departments: The older one comprises the archives of the ecclesiastical authorities of the prince diocese of Bamberg until the establishment of the archbishopric (1818/21). It forms the basis of the archives. The oldest document is a deed dating from 1178. The file material (15th century - ca. 1821) contains, among other things, diocese descriptions, contracts, electoral capitulations, wills, parish and deanery files, files on monasteries, convents and charitable institutions as well as tax matters. The protocol volumes of the prince-bishop vicariate are completely preserved from 1548 onwards.

The younger section contains the archives and registries of the church authorities of the archbishopric of Bamberg. Today's diocese area covers almost the whole of Upper Franconia, about half of Middle Franconia and smaller parts of Lower Franconia and the Upper Palatinate (including the cities of Nuremberg, Fürth, Erlangen, Ansbach and Rothenburg in the south; Hof, Kulmbach, Bayreuth, Kronach and Coburg in the north as well as Ebrach in the west and Pegnitz in the east). In the course of the centuries the territory of the diocese changed several times, until the Reformation the imperial city of Nuremberg, the territories of the Hohenzollern in Upper Franconia and many imperial knightly territories belonged to the diocese. Until 1759 individual areas in Carinthia were in Bamberg possession.

The archive of the archbishopric of Bamberg is intensively maintained by the parish archives. In the meantime, more than 2/3 of the archives of the 367 parishes and curates are deposited in the diocesan archive, where they are arranged, listed and thus made accessible for research. In addition to pastoral care and church construction, parish archives offer sources on the care of the poor and welfare, on the school system, as well as on land ownership and pledge system. The parish registers have been centralized since the late 1970s and can now be viewed digitally in the reading room.

In the collection area, various items are grouped together, e.g. devotional pictures, postcards, posters, prayers and an extensive collection of photographs. Numerous bequests of clergymen, artists, architects, photographers and Catholic laymen often fill gaps in official records.

Since the beginning of 2020, the Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg has been present in the Archivportal-D with an overview and a small part of its holdings. Among other things, nearly 2000 photographs from the estate of Prof. Dr. Heinrich Mayer (1881-1957) can be viewed digitally. In addition to photographs of churches, small monuments or houses from the area of the archbishopric, pictures from his vacation trips to Germany, France, Austria, Poland and Bohemia are also preserved. They often document the original building substance before the destruction of the Second World War.

 

Holdings of the Archive of the Archdiocese of Bamberg in the Archivportal-D

 

Contact

Regensburger Ring 2, 96047 Bamberg

Tel.: +49 951/502-2520

Fax: +49 951/502-2559

Homepage: https://archiv.kirche-bamberg.de/

Email: archiv [at] erzbistum-bamberg.de (archiv[at]erzbistum-bamberg[dot]de)