Generallandesarchiv, Karlsruhe

The Generallandesarchiv in Karlsruhe has the task of safeguarding the local official archives of past eras for the Karlsruhe administrative district. These are court records, documents of the state authorities, deeds, archives of monasteries and knightly orders, church records and the like. In addition, there are many archives of the nobility and private archives that are kept in the General State Archives.

The Baden General State Archive was the main archive of the former state of Baden and was founded in 1803. The GLAK - as the official abbreviation was - is housed in its original archive purpose-built building on the Nördliche Hildapromenade in Karlsruhe.

Today, the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe, rich in tradition, is responsible for the records of the state authorities and courts in the Karlsruhe administrative district and the regional federal authorities located there. However, the historical core of this department, which is housed in a purpose-built building completed in 1905, consists of the records of the margraves of Baden, the Electoral Palatinate and Anterior Austria, the archives of the bishops of Speyer and Constance, parts of the episcopal archives from Strasbourg and Basel, archives of the knightly orders and, above all, many archives of abolished monasteries such as Salem, Reichenau, St. Blasien, St. Peter on the Black Forest, Schwarzach or Frauenalb. Most of the approximately 130,000 documents come from these monasteries.

With the mediatization, the cantonal archives of the imperial knighthood and parts of the archives of the imperial cities were transferred here, as well as parts of the archives of the Electorate of Palatinate and the archival records of Lower Austria. Of great importance is also the archival tradition of the highest administrative level of the Grand Duchy of Baden from the 19th and 20th centuries. This includes the records of the Baden Parliament and the ministries, the records of the Grand Ducal court authorities, but also of the Baden army corps in the Prussian army, as well as the records of the Baden middle and lower authorities from the northern Baden area as an inexhaustible source for regional and local research. The Grand Ducal Family Archives are located in the building, and there are also numerous archives of the nobility and private individuals, as well as the estates of important public figures. The rich collections include maps and plans as well as posters, portraits and photographs.

The Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe has been a department of the Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg since 2005. In 2011, the extension building was opened.