Research at the bavarian archives...

[Chris Boonzaier]

Has anyone tried this? I would like to research a few officers and men, as well as taking a look at various unit diaries (as opposed to published histories)... has anyone done this and how easy/difficult is it?

Thanks

Chris

[Glenn J]

Chris,

I am going to give it a try myself in August for a couple of Days. I understand from a friend in Munich they are pretty helpful down there.

Regards

Glenn

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

any idea if they become difficult when you request the papers of a certain soldier? The Germans are sometimes strict when it comes to Datenschutz.

All the best

Chris

[Glenn J]

Chris,

I just received an email from Andy regarding the Archives. He says you can get any Personalbogen you want- Datensch?tz does not come in to play at all! If you are not there before us in August let me know who you are looking for and we will dig out the documentation.

Regards

Glenn

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

thanks for the offer... I will whip up a list of the most important and try not to abuse of the offer (I have maaaaaany , maaaaany things to look at....).

best

Chris

[Glenn J]

Having now returned from my trip to M?nchen I can offer a few pointers regarding the Kriegsarchiv on Leonrod Stra?e.

The staff are indeed very helpful and friendly and the holdings there are considerable. The immediate drawbacks however are a lack of a computerised catalogue and very limited reproduction possibilities.

All the Personalbogen and other files relating to commissioned officers of the Bavarian Army are there to see and these can be easily found using the card-index system there. I also understand there are similar documents for all the members of the Weimar era Landespolizei. These can then easily be ordered from a member of the archives staff and will be supplied within about ten-fifteen minutes. Of course then the problem is getting what you want reproduced. They will copy for you but it will probably take a couple to three weeks and I believe it is relatively expensive. These documents can also be a bit intimidating if you can not decipher the S?tterlin handwriting! Also available and searchable through the card indices are all the unit war diaries, Kriegsstammrollen and documentation from WW1.

The second drawback: As there is no real catalogue of the huge holdings of books, one must have an idea of what you are looking for in the first place. If you have a title they will look for it and produce it if available. I also understand that an online catalogue may be in the process of being produced. There is a small library which contains all the Bavarian Milit?r-Handb?cher and Verordnungsbl?tter etc which are immediately available for use.

If you are in that part of the World and you want to know about a Bavarian Officer then it is definitely the place to visit.

Regards

Glenn