ArchivNet Österreichs Archive Online (Austria's Archives Online)

Overview

ArchivNet (Österreichs Archive Online) is Austria's national online archival portal, providing comprehensive online access to the inventories of participating Austrian archives. The platform is open to all Austrian archives and enables researchers, historians, and genealogists to search across the databases of numerous archives from a single online gateway.

Purpose and Scope

The platform exists to make the cultural heritage preserved in Austrian archives broadly accessible online. Austrian archives preserve a substantial part of the cultural heritage of the Central European region, spanning the records of the Habsburg monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the First and Second Republics, church archives, private collections, and municipal and regional government records. ArchivNet consolidates access to inventories from these diverse holding institutions.

European Connectivity

ArchivNet participates in the European Archival Portal (Archivportal Europa), a pan-European initiative that aggregates archival inventories from participating countries. Austrian archives were among the first to be integrated into the European portal, with participation announced in September 2013.

Collections and Access

Participating institutions on the ArchivNet portal include regional, municipal, ecclesiastical, and private archives across Austria. Inventories are searchable in German, the platform's primary language, with some English-language access available. New archives and new holdings are added to the platform on an ongoing basis.

Relationship to Other Austrian Archives

ArchivNet is distinct from the Austrian State Archives (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv), which maintains its own separate website and holdings. ArchivNet functions as an aggregator portal linking users to the inventories of the broader Austrian archival landscape.