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The Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv (Bavarian Main State Archive) was formed in 1921 by merging three key archives which had been founded in Munich in 1799 - namely the General Imperial Archive (Allgemeines Reichsarchiv), the Secret State Archive (Geheimes Staatsarchiv), and the Secret Family Archive (Geheimes Hausarchiv) - and the former District Archive of Munich (today’s Munich State Archive). After the end of World War II the records of the War Archive maintaining the heritage of the Bavarian army were affiliated to the Bavarian Main State Archive. The administrative decree on the structure of State Archives in Bavaria issued on May 28, 1990 (GVBl, p. 175) states that the Bavarian Main State Archive is responsible for “maintaining the records of state authorities concerned with state wide affairs.” The Bavarian Main State Archive is the centralized archive for the Duchy, Electorate, Kingdom, and Free State of Bavaria.

The Staatsarchiv Landshut (Landshut State Archive) is the government authority for all matters related to archive studies in the administrative district of Lower Bavaria. Already under the Dukes of the dynasty that assumed regency after the line of Bavaria-Landshut had split in 1392, there are records of archives ("letter vaults") on Trausnitz Castle and in the secondary residence at Burghausen that date back to the fifteenth century. These also maintained the written material of the partial Duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt that was transferred from Ingolstadt and Neuburg on the Danube, when it came under the rule of Bavaria-Landshut in 1447. In the nineteenth century, the stock of various special registries was turned into a comprehensive "invoicing archive" and registry on Trausnitz Castle. This was raised to the status of an archive conservatory in 1812, and in 1875 it was renamed "Kreisarchiv" (District Archive) together with all the other regional state archives, until in 1921 it became the "Staatsarchiv Landshut".

The Staatsarchiv München (Munich State Archive) is the government authority for all matters related to archive studies in the government district of Upper Bavaria. It dates back to the registry of the Bavarian Electorate’s Court Chamber, which was taken over by the General State Administration (Generallandesdirektion) in 1799 and subsequently by the "State Administration of Bavaria" ("Landesdirektion von Baiern") in 1803. The written material was expanded by documents from dissoluted authorities. Later on, this archive turned into an archive conservatory, was renamed "Kreisarchiv" (District Archive) and "Staatsarchiv für Oberbayern" (State Archive of Upper Bavaria), until in 1971 it became an independent authority by the name of "Staatsarchiv München" and was separated from the central authority of the Bavarian State Archives.

The Staatsarchiv Nürnberg (Nuremberg State Archive) is the government authority for all matters related to archive studies in the administrative district of Middle Franconia. It dates back to the archives of the Imperial City of Nuremberg, to which was added the heritage of other mediatized and secularized administrators and institutions. The Nuremberg Archive 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 Nürnberg".

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 Münchner Stadtmuseum (Munich City Museum) opened in 1888 following an initiative of city archivist Ernst von Destouches (1843–1916). The Munich City Museum is Germany's largest municipal museum, not only due to its spaciousness, but also to the extent of its collections. The fields of the collections range from graphic art, posters and paintings – mostly with motives connected to Munich –, to fashion, textile and objects of ethnological interest to statuary art and artisan craftwork as well as a substantial collection of furniture, including the period of Art Nouveau. The department of music provides access to a comprehensive collection of musical instruments spanning all continents.

The Archäologische Staatssammlung München (Archaeological Collection of the Bavarian State) was founded in 1885. With its five departments (Prehistoric, Roman Period, Middle Ages, the Mediterranean, Numismatics), its permanent exhibition, conservation studios and depots it forms the central state museum. Its rich holdings of archaeological finds provide comprehensive insights into the diversity of early human existence.

The Historische Lexikon Bayerns (Historical Encyclopaedia of Bavaria) is an exclusively online, constantly expanding encyclopaedia on the history of Bavaria and is regarded as the central scholarly reference work on all questions of Bavarian, Franconian, Swabian and Palatine regional history from the beginnings to the present day.

The location database contains over 90,000 entries on towns, municipalities, districts and other administrative units as well as forests, bodies of water and mountains in Bavaria, where not only Bavaria’s current topography and administrative divisions are mapped, but also its historical relationships between 1875 and 1978.

The Universitätsbibliothek München (University Library of the Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich) is the central media and information supplier of the Ludwig Maximilian University. Its holdings of almost five million volumes is one of the largest of the university library systems in Germany. The Universitätsbibliothek München comprises also over 3,300 manuscripts, 3,600 incunabula, over 180 decedents' estates, numerous special collections and c.475,000 prints, published between 1501 and 1900, and thus a highly notable historical book inventory, the second largest in the free state of Bavaria.

The Universitätsbibliothek Augsburg (University Library Augsburg) is a central institution of the university of Augsburg and the greatest academic library in the Swabian district of Bavaria. Its largest audience consists of the students, scholars and teachers of the University of Augsburg. All other users interested in the books, journals and additional media are welcome.

The Institut für Volkskunde (Institute of Folklore Studies) conducts research into the everyday culture of the population at large from a historical and contemporary perspective, with a regional focus on Bavaria. Like today’s Bayerischer Landesverein für Heimatpflege (Bavarian State Association for the Preservation of Local History), it has its roots in the "Verein für Volkskunst und Volkskunde" (Association for Folk Art and Folklore) founded in Munich in 1902. It has been affiliated with the Commission for Bavarian Regional History at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in its capacity as a non-university research institution for folklore since 1962.

The Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg (Art Collections of the Fortress of Coburg) are an institute belonging to the Landesstiftung Coburg (regional foundation at Coburg), founded in 1919. In 1920, the ownership of the real estate of the Veste Coburg passed to the free state of Bavaria, which bears the cost of all renovation and construction work but grants the Coburger Landesstiftung the free use of the premises. The Landesstiftung is responsible for running the museum.

The Germanisches Nationalmuseum (German National Museum) in Nuremberg is the largest museum of cultural history in the German-speaking countries and counts among the most important museums of the world. The museum exists since 1852. The range of collections stretches from prehistory to contemporary art and culture.

The Stadtmuseum Lindau (Civic Museum Lindau) is one of the central institutions within the cultural programme of the eastern region of Lake Constance. The museum building dominating the market square is called "Zum Cavazzen" and counts as one of the most beautiful baroque townhouse of the region near Lake Constance.

The Stadtarchiv Regensburg (City Archive Ratisbon) as "memory" of the municipal administration of Regensburg is one of the large communal archives in Bavaria. Not least because of its historical importance, it disposes of notable archival material to an extent of c. 9,500 running meters from the thirteenth century to the present. The holdings are ordered roughly chronologically and not without overlaps: the time as imperial city (up to 1803), Regensburg as part of the principality of the last arch chancellor Carl Theodor von Dalberg (1803–1810), Regensburg as Bavarian territorial city (nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) and as an independent city. In addition, there is also the section of "decedents' estates and collections".

The Kantonsbibliothek Vadiana St. Gallen (Cantonal Library Vadiana St. Gallen), which originates with the donation of books by the reformer, mayor and municipal physician Joachim Vadian (1484–1551), collects since its adoption by the Canton of Saint Gallen in 1979 all media relating to the Canton in order to document thereby its history and present. The collection of Sangallensia includes books, newspapers, journals as well as business reports and official pamphlets. The Sangallensia comprise all media composed by authors from the Canton, published by publishing houses from Saint Gallen or dealing with themes that refer to Saint Gallen. By means of this unique collection, the library preserves and takes care of a part of the regional historical heritage and of its cultural identity.

During the twentieth century, the city's numerous cultural, historical and archaeological resources acted as multiple incentives for the institution of museums dedicated to the collecting and preservation of such cultural assets in Regensburg. For this reason, the city of Regensburg decided in 1931 to transform the former Minorite monastery into a museum of cultural history.