Online search aid of the Document Collection at the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe

The online search aid of the Document Collection (DSHI) at the Marburg Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe is the starting point for research in the holdings of the most important archive on the history of the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia in the German-speaking world.
The holdings of the Document Collection (DSHI) primarily consist of unprinted sources on the history and culture of East Central Europe. Almost ninety percent of the approximately 1,300 linear meters of shelved documents have a Baltic connection and include many unique sources relating to the cultural, social, economic and political history of the Baltic regions of 
Livonia
deu. Livland, est. Liivimaa, lav. Livonija, dan. Lyffland, swe. Livland, eng. Livland, deu. Vidzeme, lat. Livonia, rus. Lifliandiia, rus. Lifljandija, rus. Liflândiâ, rus. Лифляндия, rus. Livonija, rus. Livoniâ, rus. Ливония, rus. Vidzeme, rus. Видземе, pol. Liwlandia, lat. Terra Mariana, rus. Livoniia, rus. Livonya, rus. Liwonija, deu. Eifland, deu. Liefland, dan. Livland

Livonia (Livonija in Latvian, Liivimaa in Estonian) is a historical landscape in the Baltic States. It comprises the southern part of present-day Estonia and the part of present-day Latvia north of the Daugava River. The landscape was named after the Livonians, a population group that hardly exists today.

Historically, the name Livonia can refer to other, different contexts. The governorate of the same name, which was one of the three Baltic Sea governorates of the Russian Empire, is particularly influential for today's understanding of the historical region. It existed from the beginning of the 18th century until 1918 and its capital was Riga, located at the mouth of the Duna.

Livonia had previously given its name to other states and confederations, most notably the Livonian Confederation, which had existed since the High Middle Ages. The Livonian part of the Teutonic Order as well as regional ecclesiastical states belonged to the confederation. The confederation also included large parts of the present-day states of Latvia and Estonia. After the dissolution of the confederation and the Teutonic Order state in the 16th century, sovereignty changed several times. Without the southern and northern areas, Livonia initially came under Polish-Lithuanian rule, later also under Swedish suzerainty, before coming under Russian rule in the course of the Great Northern War (1700-1721). Until the beginning of the 20th century, the central role of the landowning German-speaking nobility was particularly influential in the internal social organization of the rural area.

Estland
eng. Eestimaa, est. Eestimaa, lat. Hestonia, swe. Aistland, deu. Iste, lat. Aisti, lat. Aesti, dan. Estland, eng. Esthonia, lat. Estia, lat. Hestia, swe. Eistland, swe. Estlatum, swe. Estland, deu. Esthland, rus. Estljandija, rus. Ėstljandija, rus. Èstlândiâ, rus. Эстляндия, deu. Aestii

The historical landscape of Estonia is located in north-eastern Europe. It comprises the northern part of the present-day Estonian state. The region is largely congruent with the same-named Baltic governorate in the Russian Empire which existed until 1918 and was one of three Baltic governorates alongside Livonia and Courland. In the High and Late Middle Ages and in the early modern period, parts of the region were also under the rule of Finnish princes, the Rus, Sweden, Denmark and the Teutonic Order. It was not until the Great Northern War (1700-1721) that Estonia came under Russian rule. Its urban population was in particular German-speaking, while the vast majority of people lived in the countryside, where Russian and Swedish minorities existed alongside the Estonian majority.

 and 
Courland
deu. Kurland, lav. Kurzeme, rus. Kurljandja, rus. Курляндия, lat. Curonia, lat. Couronia, swe. Kurland, dan. Kurland, lat. Curlandia, pol. Kurlandia, rus. Kuronija, rus. Kuroniâ, rus. Курония, rus. Kurzeme, rus. Курземе, rus. Kurlândiâ, rus. Kurliandii︠a︡

Kurland is a historical landscape in present-day Latvia. It extends between the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga, the Daugava River in the northeast and Lithuania in the south. Its name is derived from the Baltic Curonians, who lived here alongside the Ugro-Finnish Livonians. The largest cities in Kurland include Liepāja, Jelgava and Ventspils.

Today's understanding of the region is partly shaped by the Russian Baltic Sea Governorate of Courland, which existed from 1795 and formally until 1918. This actually included the smaller regions of Semigallia and Upper Latvia, which formed the central and eastern parts of the governorate. Today, they are often included when Courland is mentioned in a historical context. In the High Middle Ages, the influences of the Ugro-Finnish and Baltic peoples on the one hand and the Vikings on the other intersected here. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period, the region was also under the rule of Sweden, Denmark and, in particular, the Teutonic Order. Due to pressure from Russia and Sweden, the Order eventually withdrew from the area. Smaller parts of Courland were subsequently incorporated into Poland-Lithuania. The largest part remained a fiefdom of Poland-Lithuania until 1795 as the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. Although Russian influence gradually increased, Courland did not become part of the Russian Empire until the Third Partition of Poland-Lithuania in 1795 – significantly later than the other two Baltic Sea provinces of Estonia and Livonia, which had already come under Russian rule during the Great Northern War (1700–1721).

. The oldest documents date back to the Middle Ages. 
The bulk of the collection consists of family, company and association archives, as well as collections related to local or ecclesiastical administration. Particularly extensive and important are, for example, the archives of the Baltic knighthoods, which are kept as a deposit, or the holdings of the Baltic archive films, which were produced in 1940 in connection with the resettlement of the Baltic Germans in 
Rīga
deu. Riga, lat. Riga, lit. Ryga, dan. Riga, swe. Riga, yid. rygʿ, yid. ryga, yid. ריגע, pol. Ryga, rus. Riga, rus. Рига

Riga is the capital of Latvia (population 2023: 605,273) and by far the largest city in the country. It is located in the southwest of the historical landscape of Livonia near the mouth of the Daugava River in the Gulf of Riga. Riga was an important trading and Hanseatic city with a multi-ethnic, but largely German-speaking population for centuries, whose political supremacy changed repeatedly. Until the end of the Middle Ages, it was mainly spiritual rulers (Archbishopric of Riga, Teutonic Order) who claimed the city and surrounding area for themselves, but after a brief period of Polish-Lithuanian rule, the city came under Swedish control in 1621. A century later, Riga became part of the Russian Empire and the capital of the Baltic governorate of Livonia.

In 1918, Riga became the capital of an independent Latvian state. After the German occupation during the Second World War in 1941, the Jewish population of Riga (8% of the total population) was mainly imprisoned in the ghetto, where numerous Jewish people from the territory of the German Reich at the time were also deported. In the same year, the Wehrmacht organized mass shootings of the Jewish population in the area of today's city. After the Second World War, the ethnic structure of Riga changed - the Jewish, German and Polish populations disappeared and were replaced by Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian populations. The Latvian population lost its majority in the city and fell to almost a third by the time the Soviet Union collapsed. They now make up 47% of the total population.

Tartu-Jaama, mk. Tartumaa

Tartu is the second-largest city in Estonia with just under 92,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the southeast of the country and is the seat of the county of the same name. The city' s former German name is Dorpat.

 and 
Tallinn
deu. Reval

Tallinn (until 1918 Reval) is the capital of Estonia. It is located in the Harju County, right on the Baltic Sea and is home to about 434,000 people.

, and are now, in some cases, unikal themselves, as some of the originals were lost due to the war. In addition, there are numerous personal bequests, mainly from the scientific community. The Document Collection also houses the Herder Institute's own house archive.
The software and technical basis of the online index is the archive information system ACTApro. On the one hand, it can be searched via the tectonics, which allows the inventory structure to be traced – depending on the degree of indexing, down to the file level. In addition, the holdings can be searched using a full text search. Short descriptive texts provide information on the degree of indexing and processing, duration, content or provenance of most sub-collections and collections.

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