Collections Relevant for Family Research
Researchers in family and local history will find relevant materials in our archive as well as in our library. We have listed for you holdings particulary interesting for you.
The materials from the "Reviewing Office for German Schools and Studies in the Berlin Institute for Initial and Further Teacher Training and School Development" (Gutachterstelle für deutsches Schul- und Studienwesen im Berliner Institut für Lehrerfort- und -weiterbildung und Schulentwicklung) contain a comprehensive collection of records of Prussan elementary teachers and scondary school teachers.
For instance, this collection contains:
- Records of elementary teachers (Volksschullehrer*innen) in Prussia, begun in 1932 and comprising ca. 137,000 file cards,
- Personal record sheets relating to secondary school teachers (Lehrer/-innen höherer Schulen) in Prussia with ca. 52,000 sheets of personal records (each between two and four sides) relating to the period between 1800 and 1925 (emphasis on the period after around 1850),
- record of personnel maintained by the Prussian Ministry of Culture, indexing secondary school teachers in Prussia and comprising 70,000 file cards.
All of these records have been digitized and they can be accessed on the Internet via the archive database.
Further relevant stocks include the school files of private schools that were closed in 1927/28 (GUT PRIVAT), mostly originating from the Prussian provinces and dating from 1874 to 1942, notifications from secondary schools in Prussia regarding changes in teaching staff and salaries (GUT PERS), statistical data relating to all of the school types in the multi-track system (GUT SAMML), enabling deep insights into the history of schools.
Users who are interested in researching particular teachers might also find the examination papers for pedagogical assessment (Assessorenarbeiten) interesting, dating from 1925 to 1937 (GUT ASS).
The database of personnel records of teachers in Prussia, which used to be accessible from the BBF homepage, has now been integrated into the archive database. In addition to searching for names, dates of birth and administrative districts, it is now also possible to search for places of birth and death and places of action. However, this latter search is still limited. So far, all the places of action relating to persons whose last name begins with an “S“ to "Wi" have been recorded. Indexing of records is continued.
Besides the archivalia mentioned above, relevant material concerning individual teachers and schools can also be found in the library holdings. Particulary helpful are:
- School festschrifts
- Directories of teachers (the Berlin teachers' directories have been digitized)
All printed publications you will find in the library catalog.
Where to Find the Different Materials:
| Festschrifts from schools, teacher associations etc. (printed) | Library |
| Directories of teachers (printed) | Library |
| Personnel record sheets | Archive |
| Personnel reports | Archive |
| Records from private schools | Archive |
| Examination papers for the pedagogical assessment | Archive |
| Annual school reports | Library |
| Records of elementary education teachers | Archive |
| Journals | Library |