The provincial archive of Styria preserves the records of the Austrian province of Styria (Archive des Landes) and Austrian central authorities (Staatliche Archive). Its collections date back to the 9th Century. It has over 50,000 metres of records and is the largest of all provincial archives in Austria.
According to the archive the Nazi provincial and district administration destroyed many records at the end of the regime. The archive nevertheless holds some Nazi period and post-war records valuable for research on looted property. These include:
Records of the Property Registration Office (Vermögensverkehrsstelle) Graz:
On the basis of a decree of 26 April 1938 (enforced in June 1938), persons considered 'Jewish' under the racist Nuremberg Laws were required to register all property over RM 5,000 at the Vermögensverkehrsstelle (Property Registration Office), an authority created on 18 May 1938. The collection includes records of property registered by private individuals, records on confiscated real property and businesses, and records of Nazi-appointed managers. Property registrations were made by province. Burgenland was dissolved by the Nazis in 1938 and the southern part was incorporated into Styria. It was reinstated in 1945. This is why the Styrian Provincial Archive also holds property registrations for southern Burgenland.
"Aryanisation" records of the Higher Governor of Finance (Oberfinanzpräsident) Graz: Records created in connection with confiscations following the 11th by-law of the 1941 Reich Citizen Law. This mainly concerned assets such as insurance policies, savings books and cash. The Oberfinanzpräsident Graz was responsible for Styria and Carinthia, and hence the collection also includes records of "aryanisations" in Carinthia. The Provincial Archives of Styria and Carinthia exchange information on their respective resources.
Restitution records of the Provincial Finance Office (Finanzlandesdirektion) Graz:
Records of post-war restitution cases in Styria (incl. to churches). The records are not complete. The records of the Oberfinanzpräsident and the restitution records were handed to the archives by the Finanzlandesdirektion Graz in 2000 and 2001
Records of the Restitution Commission at the Provincial Court (Landesgericht) Graz:
Records of restitution cases filed at the Provincial Court in Graz from 1948 onwards (the 1947 records were destroyed by the Finanzlandesdirektion). The records of restitution cases filed at Loeben Provincial Court and the Higher Provincial Court (Oberlandesgericht) were also destroyed.
Manual and computerised finding aids exist for the four sets of records above. They can only be consulted by the archive's staff for reasons of data protection. Queries can be addressed to the archive in writing (by post, e-mail, fax) or in person.
District Court Records (Bezirksgerichtsakten):
These include seignorial records up to c. 1850, including old land registers and title deeds, probate records, testaments and marriage records. For the period after c.1850, they include land registers, probate proceedings and other records up to c. 1950. Not all district courts in Styria have handed their collections to the provincial archive. Because the stock changes continually as new materials are handed over by courts or evaluated by the archive, the archive should be contacted directly for further details.
The archive's collection includes records from the Provincial Civil Court (including probate records); the City Administration (Magistrat) Graz (testaments, probate records); and the Police Headquarters (Polizeidirektion) Graz (incl. household registration books). Please contact the archives directly for further information on genealogical resources.
The archive also holds "Zivilarbeiterkarteien", i.e. forced labourer indexes for the Murau, Judenburg and Knittelfeld districts. The archive cooperates with the Styrian provincial government, which processes the compensation claims of former forced labourers in the province.
To consult material in the archive's reading room, it should be ordered at least one day before visiting. The records may be copied. Access to all records less than 50 years old is restricted. Written authorisation from the relevant authority is necessary in order to view such material (e.g. to access the post-war records of the Provincial Finance Office, written permission from that body is needed).
A - 8010 Graz
Tel.: +43 (0)316 877 2361
Fax: +43 (0)316 877 2954
Dr. Gernot Obersteiner (Asset registrations)
Tel.: +43 (0)316 877 3010
Dr. Elisabeth Schöggl-Ernst (Finance Office and Court Records)
Tel.: +43 (0)316 877 3011
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 9:00-17:00
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday: 9:00-12:00
Wednesday: 9:00-12:00 & 14:00-18:00
Central Registry Archives, Correspondence, 2 April 2003.
Das Steiermärkische Landesarchiv, Graz 2001, pp. 58-60, 67-72
<http://www.verwaltung.steiermark.at/cms/ziel/8581/DE>, accessed 21 July 2003.
<http://www.nationalfonds.org/aef/english/rechRech.htm>, accessed 21 July 2003.