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Libraries, Archives and Museums

Military History Libraries, Archives and Museums

 

 

 

Austrian State Archives, War Archives

With around 180,000 file boxes and 60,000 account books on approximately 50 kilometers of shelves, the Vienna War Archives can lay claim to being by far the most important military archive in Central Europe. Its map collection with over 600,000 maps and plans is the largest in Austria. There is also a collection of around 400,000 images.

 

Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt

The Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt is one of the largest military history museums in Europe. The collections focus on Bavaria in its European context. They range from the late Middle Ages to the present day. The museum also contains a library. The holdings of its library have been successively fed into the Bavarian Library Network since 2010. Currently, over 25,000 volumes relating to military science, military history, general history, art history and works on the Bavarian Army are already listed.

 

Defense Historical Service (Service historique de la défense, SHD)

In France, the Defence Historical Service is the archives centre of Ministry of Defence and its armed forces. The SHD was set up by decree in 2005. It consists of the “Centre historique des archives – Vincennes, the “Centre des Archives de l’Armement et du Personnel Civil” (CAAPC) at Châtellerault and a number of smaller repositories. In total, the archives contain about 300 km of records of which 100 km are at Vincennes and 70 km at Châtellerault. The SHD also harbors a research lab in War Studies, the “Division Recherches, Études et Enseignement” (DREE), staffed by ca. 20 professional historians, including both military officers and academic scholars. It deals prominently with French military history (17th-20th century) but some of its members also research broader issues of European, North American or global history.

 

Federal Archives in Freiburg/Breisgau

The Federal Archives in Freiburg/Breisgau have the legal mandate to permanently preserve the archives of the Federal Government and make them available for use. This includes documents such as files, maps, images, posters, films and sound recordings in analog and digital form. These documents originated at central offices of the Holy Roman Empire (1495-1806), the German Confederation (1815-1866), the German Reich (1867/71-1945), the occupation zones (1945-1949), the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990) and the Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949). The Federal Archives also collect written estates of important persons, documents of parties, associations and societies of supra-regional importance as well as journalistic sources. In principle, every person has the right to use federal archive material on request. The Federal Archives provide information about the archive material on several research platforms.

 

Garrison Museum Ludwigsburg / Military History Society Ludwigsburg e.V.

The Garrison Museum in the Asperger Torhaus in Ludwigsburg shows the military past of the “Swabian Potsdam” from 1736 to 1994. In the permanent exhibition “Soldiers, Regiments and Barracks”, uniforms, equipment, weapons and other relics recall the troops once stationed in Ludwigsburg. The military development of Ludwigsburg is explained using plans, pictures and models. Changing special exhibitions, mainly on the history of the garrison, provide a deeper insight into the former importance of the military for the city of Ludwigsburg. In addition, the military history society offers historical lectures and guided tours through the city’s garrison history. This museum has a military history library which is open to the public interested in national, international and Württemberg military history.

 

Imperial War Museum London (IWM)

Since its foundation in 1917, the IWM has built up its collections to illustrate and record all aspects of 20th and 21st century conflict. The IWM’s collection covers all aspects of conflicts involving Britain, its former Empire and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present day. It includes not only objects but also a range of media, from art, film and photographs to printed matter, documents and sound recordings. There are over 1 million objects to discover, which tell the story of modern wars and conflicts and which the museum has collected.

 

Library and Collection of the Military History Museum Dresden

The library is part of the museum’s collection and at the same time a place of knowledge transfer, research and scientific work. The collection comprises 49,000 volumes of monographs from 1851 to the latest literature, documents, including 1,000 particularly valuable historical books and periodicals from the 16th century to 1850, 15,000 service regulations, etc. The library’s holdings are primarily available to employees of the museum and all members of the Bundeswehr. Non-members of the German Armed Forces can use the library by prior appointment by telephone or in writing, as the number of places in the reading room is limited. An online catalog is not available.

 

Library of the Bundeswehr Center for Military History and Social Sciences (ZMSBw)

The library and specialist information center of the Center for Military History and Social Sciences of the Bundeswehr offers a unique special collection of relevant military-historical literature. The library of the ZMSBw offers its users a special collection of relevant military history literature that is unique in Germany. It is aimed at members of both the Center and the entire Bundeswehr, students of the Chair of Military History – Cultural History of Violence and the War and Conflict Studies course at the University of Potsdam, as well as anyone in Germany or abroad who is interested in military history either professionally or for personal reasons. With currently around 250,000 volumes, 3,000 new additions each year and around 200 current journals, the library covers the entire spectrum of modern military history and military-related social science research.

 

Museum of Military History Vienna (HGM)

Military and war history, technology and science, art and architecture merge into a unique whole at the Museum of Military History in Vienna. With over 1.2 million objects, the HGM has a collection that makes it one of the most important military history museums in the world. It thematises more than four centuries of the Austrian armed forces, and thus also the history of the Habsburg monarchy. Its online catalogue contains a total of over 77,000 objects, including various documents, prints, leaflets, paintings, photos and posters.