Use and stocks

Many archive records are recorded in a database that can currently only be viewed in the reading room. However, there are also extensive holdings that are not yet recorded in this way but can still be used. Please ask us if this is the case. Our reading room is open on Tuesdays from 13:00 - 17:00, Wednesdays from 9:00 - 17:00 and Thursdays from 9:00 - 13:00. Prior registration(stadtarchiv@mail.aachen.de) is not mandatory, but is recommended.

Please order the archive materials and books you wish to view at least two working days before your visit by sending an e-mail to stadtarchiv@mail.aachen.de.

Please only order as much as you can process during your visit. Archival materials and books cannot be borrowed. A colleague is always present in the reading room to advise you. Please speak to the advisory service if you are visiting us for the first time or if you have any questions or problems. Certain rules apply to the reading room. The rules serve to protect the archive material and to show mutual respect. Like us, you must handle the archive items with care and attention and must not alter them in any way. We have gloves and tools available for particularly sensitive items. You should be quiet so as not to disturb other users. Please lock jackets, umbrellas, bags and other items in the checkroom (deposit coin: €2). There is no canteen or drinks vending machine in our building. You are not allowed to take food into the reading room.

You can order reproductions and photocopies. All reproductions are subject to a charge. In addition, any third-party copyrights and rights of use must be taken into account. For practical reasons, we can only deliver reproductions with a time delay. You can also order reproductions in the reading room during consultation. You may photograph individual archive items if there are no legal or conservation reasons for not doing so. It is not possible to photograph archive items in their entirety or to work with tripods and desktop scanners. Photography is subject to a charge. The license for an opening week costs €10 (students and pupils: €5). Please contact the advisory service before you start taking photographs. If you would like to publish reproductions or photos of archive items, you will need permission from our archive. Please indicate the planned publication in advance.

All publications that incorporate research from our archive should also be made available to other people. Therefore, please provide our archive library with a copy or offprint of your publication. We are also happy to include unpublished works in our collection if they contain new information or open up new perspectives.

Please cite all documents used according to the following scheme:
Stadtarchiv Aachen, Signatur (e.g. Stadtarchiv Aachen, PRZ 30-105)

or in short form:
StAAc, signature (e.g. StAAc, BAU 1-250).

Family research

The holdings of the Aachen City Archive include the civil and personal status registers of the City of Aachen and the registry offices of the formerly independent municipalities of Burtscheid, Forst, Brand, Eilendorf, Haaren, Kornelimünster, Walheim, Laurensberg and Richterich in accordance with the statutory retention period (i.e. birth certificates older than 110 years, marriage certificates older than 80 years and death certificates older than 30 years). All more recent certificates are still held by the Aachen registry office.

If you would like information or a scan from the civil status registers, please contact the Stadtarchiv Aachen in writing by letter or email(stadtarchiv@mail.aachen.de) or order the documents from the reading room advisory service on site. The processing of your request is subject to a fee in accordance with the Aachen City Archive fee schedule. The more precise the information you provide, the easier and cheaper it will be for us to process your request. Please note that processing may take several weeks depending on the volume of requests.

For conservation reasons, it is not possible to show the civil registers in the reading room. However, there are decennial tables for the civil registers for the period 1798-1872, which can be viewed in the reading room of the municipal archive.

Please note: It is not possible to issue international certificates or Hague Postilles. Please contact the relevant departments for this.

The Aachen City Archive holds a number of Catholic and Protestant church registers from Aachen and the surrounding communities, most of which have lists of names. These can also be viewed in the reading room. More recent church records can generally be found at the Catholic Diocesan Archive in Aachen or the Archive of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland.

Archive library

The library of the city archive is a specialized library for city and regional history. Most of the approx. 50,000 volumes are freely accessible in the reading room, but cannot be borrowed. Half of the books can be searched in our database on site, the older holdings are indexed via a card catalog.

Starting with incunabula and historical coronation literature, the collection now includes current research literature, historical literature about Aachen and the region, children's and youth literature on the subjects of history and migration, including graphic novels and so-called gray literature from Aachen institutions, companies and associations.

Since January 2026, the city archive has also been storing the historical book collections, which previously belonged to the city library and comprised around 115,000 volumes. The historical newspapers, bequests and manuscripts of the city library were also taken over. The city archive has thus become the center of the city's historical heritage of written and library materials.

Digitized sources

In cooperation with the University and State Library (ULB) Bonn, the Aachen City Archive has digitized its address book collection (1838-1991). It is available to you free of charge via the pages of the ULB Bonn. If you are just starting out with family research or are looking for comprehensive information on family research in the Aachen City Archive, you can download the handout "Family research in the Aachen City Archive. Sources and possibilities for genealogists" in the reading room of the City Archive. The handout costs 3 euros (20 pages, in color, A5 format). We also recommend the online resource for family research in the Aachen area, Familienbuch Euregio.