Szczecin/Stettin Archive

Stettin/Szczecin Archive Information by Sullivan Richardson, 1 May, 2011.

I visited the Archiwum Panstwowe (Staatsarchiv) in Szczecin, Poland in March, 2011 which I want to report about.

First of all, I want to thank all of you who made suggestions as I was planning my visit. Everything worked out great!

I was there the week of March 7th through March 11th.
Notwithstanding the published hours, here's when the archive was open:

Monday - 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM

Tuesday - 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM

Wednesday, Thursday & Friday - 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM.

I made an "appointment" by email before I arrived, which really helped them to be ready for me. The church books I wanted to look at were already pulled and waiting for me.

Here are my suggestions to anyone planning a visit:

1. First, search the database of "church books and civil records" at http://www.pommerndatenbank.de/. (Thank you, Gunthard, for this wonderful resource!) This should help you confirm that the records are at the Stettin archive. I'd print the results page out and take it with you! The reason is, the column called "signature" is actually the book number at the archive. It will help you to know which volumes (books) to request. (I referred to this page quite often during my visit, to request additional volumes.)

2. Next, check the archive's PRADZIAD database to confirm that they also show that they have the records. Here is the link:
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl/en/data-bases/388-vital-records-and-civil-registers-pradziad.html

I suggest you search for both the German name and the Polish name of the town you are interested in. (If you don't know the Polish name, check the www.kartenmeister.com database - Thanks, Uwe, for this resource!) Sometimes, items are listed under one name but not the other. The search results should be consistent with the pommerndatenbank results, but the book numbers are not listed. These results will also show whether the books are physically stored at the Szczecin location or whether the archive has to arrange for the books to be brought in from another location. (Apparently, the archive has some satellite offices.)

3. Send an email to the archive at: sekretariat@szczecin.ap.gov.pl, telling them when you'd like to visit and what records you'd like to look at. For this email, I actually "cut and pasted" the results of the PRADZIAD database search into my email, so they'd know exactly what I was looking for. If you know the book numbers you'd like to start with (from the pommerndatenbank search), include those in your email, so they can pull the books ahead of time. You can write the archive in either English or German. It took about a week for them to respond to me. If you get a response in Polish, use http://translate.google.com/ to translate it. If it appears to confirm your visit, print it out and bring it with you. Note: The man who responded to my email was Witold Mijal, who is in charge of the reading room where you will look at the records. If you don't get a response by writing to the "sekretariat" email address above, try writing Witold directly at wmijal@szczecin.ap.gov.pl.

4. I was at the archive at 8:30 the first morning. (It was an easy 4-block walk from my hotel. You don't need to rent a car to get around town.) After stepping inside the front door, I was greeted by a guard at a window in front of another locked door. I showed him the print-out of the email confirming my visit (step #3), and he not only let me in, but he escorted me to the reading room, which was up one flight of stairs (no elevator that I could see).

5. In the reading room office, I met Witold (who speaks Polish and German) and his younger assistant (who speaks Polish and English). I found them to be very helpful during my visit. After showing my passport and filling out a few papers, I was given access to the books so I was able to get right to work. There is technically a limit of 5 books at one time that you can have access to, but since I knew the book numbers from step #1, this was not a problem. Also, since they don't rush to refile the books, you may find that they'll keep the extra books you're interested in right there in their office.

6. Witold seemed genuinely interested in my work. Even if you don't really speak German, I suggest you learn a few phrases in German to explain why you're there, bring a pedigree chart to show what your family connection is, etc. Being a non-native German speaker himself, I found him to be very patient with my efforts to speak German with him.

7. It was easy to request additional books from the storage area, but they like to have a few hours notice. Also, although no photography is allowed in the reading room, it was easy to request photocopies, which cost about $1 or $2 each, depending on the size of the pages.* Again, you should plan ahead and allow them several hours to make the copies, since they like to plan their time and make all the copies at once. Other than the optional photocopying charges, there were no costs to use the archive.

8. The tables in the reading room had adjoining electrical outlets, in case you wish to plug in a charger for a computer. For my part, however, I found it faster to copy things down by hand on preprinted forms I had designed, and then input the data into my computer program later. Of course, how you do it is totally up to you!

9. There are a number of places to eat within easy walking distance of the archive. There is also a large, modern, indoor mall about 1/2 mile north of the archive (the Galaxy Centrum), which has anything and everything you might want, including a food court, Internet cafe, shopping, entertainment, or just a place to sit and relax other than your hotel room. Szczecin is undoubtedly a beautiful city to visit during the summertime, but in March, it got quite cold after the sun went down each day.

* Joyce Gardner note - in 2009 I was given a choice of having photocopies or having the records photographed and put on a CD. At this time the archive preferred to have the records photographed because it is more archival friendly to use a camera without flash than having them photocopied. The cost of several records on a CD was $3.00 in 2009. When Sullivan Richardson visited the Archive in March, 2011 putting his records on a CD was not mentioned to him. As he wrote in a follow-up e-mail to me, "They never did offer to
make me a CD,, but that doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't do it if you asked. Interestingly, I recently sent Witold a follow-up email and asked if he would look up a specific record for me. He responded by emailing me back and attaching some .jpg pictures of the record that were apparently taken with a digital camera. So I guess perhaps that is still an option if you request it, but I have no way of knowing for sure or what it would now cost." My advice is to ask if they will photograph your record/records and put it on a CD for you and be sure to ask the cost for this