Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv State Archives of Styria

Overview

The Steiermärkisches Landesarchiv (State Archives of Styria) is the official provincial archive of the Austrian federal state of Styria (Steiermark). Located at Karmeliterplatz 3 in Graz, it is the largest of all provincial archives in Austria, with holdings exceeding 50,000 linear meters and collections dating back to the 9th century.

History and Founding

The archive's history mirrors the political development of Styria as a Habsburg crown land and later Austrian federal state. The Styrian central administration, based in Graz from medieval times, generated extensive archival records over many centuries. In 1959, following the return of archives displaced during World War II, a comprehensive inventory was published providing the first systematic overview of the collections. The archive has since undergone significant expansion to accommodate ongoing accessions of governmental records. The Styrian Place Name Commission is headquartered within the archive.

Collections and Holdings

The collections include state administrative archives (until 1925), court archives, finance and land registry archives, and records of the regional government and district commissions (Bezirkshauptmannschaften) since 1924. Other holdings encompass state building administration, hospitals, and railways. Family, community, religious, and private archives (Körperschafts- und Privatarchive) supplement the official records. Specialized collections include approximately 58,000 original documents (Urkunden), 15,000 regional topographic images, over 90,000 postcards of Styrian localities, about 2,000 manuscripts, and numerous map and plan collections. Some 2,000 municipal, market, community, monastic, manorial, and family archives, and over 100 individual estates, are held as special archives. The archive also holds land registers from all Styrian district courts up to approximately 1985, enabling property history research spanning 250 or more years.

Access and Usage

The reading room is open Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, 09:00–15:00; Wednesday, 09:00–18:00; Friday, 09:00–12:00. Materials less than 50 years old require written authorization from the relevant authority. Document requests should be submitted at least one day in advance.