The Staatsarchiv Würzburg

The Staatsarchiv Würzburg (Würzburg State Archive) is the government authority for all matters related to archive studies in the government district of Lower Franconia. It dates back to the archives of the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, a religious state that became part of the Bavarian electorate's archives in 1802/03 due to the political changes which secularization had brought along. In 1806 it became a branch of the archives of the Grand Duke of Würzburg and after 1814 it was once again a branch of the – now royal – Bavarian archives. The archive soon occupied most of the Northern wing of the Residence. It was raised to the status of an "archive conservatory" in 1852 and in 1875 it was renamed "Kreisarchiv" (District Archive) together with all the other regional state archives, until in 1921 it became the "Staatsarchiv Würzburg".

The Staatsarchiv Würzburg maintains historic records from the times before the region was part of Bavaria. These are the documents of the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg and its institutions and of other authorities of the Imperial administrative district of Franconia within the borders of today's Lower Franconia. Furthermore the archive maintains records of the Electorate of Mainz that have remained in the possession of the Free State of Bavaria, and of the parts of the former Prince-Bishopric of Fulda that passed under Bavarian administration in 1816.

With the reforms of the Napoleonic era, the Würzburg Archive became responsible for the heritage of the Bavarian middle and lower-level authorities of the administrative district of Lower Franconia and the preceding river districts. Furthermore it maintains the registries of the subordinate authorities of the imperial and federal civil administration and a considerable volume of written material collected by both private and official archivists. As for the heritage of notarial instruments after 1862, the responsibility comprises the regions under the authority of the district supreme court (Oberlandesgericht) of Bamberg (Administrative districts of Upper and Lower Franconia).

For public use, the current terms of the general regulations for the use of the Bavarian State Archives from 16 January 1990 (GVBl p. 6) apply.

The Staatsarchiv Würzburg is subordinate to the Generaldirektion der Staatlichen Archive Bayerns (Directorate General of the Bavarian State Archives)

• The objects of the Staatsarchiv Würzburg available on bavarikon

Exhibitions of the Staatsarchiv Würzburg available on bavarikon

• The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria 1818–1918