The German parliamentary papers are the official records of the sessions of the German national parliament currently known as the Deutscher Bundestag. The papers comprise debates, proceedings, and documents related to the activities of the parliament.
This English language guide summarizes the holdings of many of the important collections of the German parliamentary papers in the Bloomington collection of the Indiana University Libraries.
What You Need To Know Before Getting Started:
For access to contemporary documents see the German Bundestag website: http://www.bundestag.de/
It is the primary source at IU Bloomington for documents from the German national parliament issued from 2002 until the present.
Documents produced by the Bundestag, which include printed papers, parliamentary documentation, official records, and research papers, can be accessed at http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/documents/index.jsp.
For historical collections, IUCAT provides the most detailed and accurate information on locations and extent of holdings for particular titles.
This guide can speed the reader's search in IUCAT by summarizing holdings and locations of major titles for particular historical periods. Some not yet cataloged titles are included in the guide. Check with the Government Information, Maps and Microform Services staff ( libgimms@indiana.edu ) for further information.
A brief list of sources of additional information is included as an appendix to this guide.
Important Collections in IU Libraries (listed by holdings and location summaries by period):
1815-1866 German Collection
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1815-1866 |
Debates |
Protokolle der Deutschen Bundesversammlung |
Microfishe |
1867-1933 (Represents 3 Periods of German History):
1867-1870: The German Wars of Unification
1871-1918: Imperial Germany (Second Reich)
1918-1933: The Weimar Republic
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1867-1933 |
Debates |
Verhandlungen des Reichstags, Stenographischen Bericht |
Microfiche |
J351.K2 G27 |
The Verhandlungen des Reichstags, Stenographischen Bericht (1919-1939) is a key source for both this period and the following.
1933-1945: Nazi Germany (Third Reich)
The institutions of this period include the Reichstag, above, and the Reichsrat (disbanded February 14, 1934). For further governmental papers in the IU Libraries relevant to this period search IUCAT for the subject: Germany—Politics and government—1933-1945—Sources.
1945-1949: Postwar Occupation and Division
For titles on this period, use IUCAT to search by these subjects:
Germany (Territory under Allied occupation, 1945-1955). Parlamentarischer Rat (1948-1949)
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1948-1949 |
Debates & Proceedings |
Parlamentarischer Rat. Verhandlungen des Hauptausschussess |
|
*Note: The Parliamentary Council's records were published in Parlamentarischer Rat. Stenographische Berichte. 1948-1949. IUB does not own this publication.
Indexes
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1948-1949 |
Index |
Sach-und Sprechregister zu den Verhandlungen des Parlamentarischen Rates und seines Hauptausschussess 1948 |
|
*Note: The subject and speaker index covers records of both the Parliamentary Council and its Central Committee
1949-1990: The German Democratic Republic (East Germany):
|
Date |
Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1949-50, 1963/64 |
Debates & Documents |
Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik: Sitzung Protokolle, Drucksachensammlung, Sonderdruck, Verzeichnis |
|
|
|
1955, 1967-1972 |
Debates & Documents |
Volkskammer der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik |
|
*Note: Volumes are arranged chronologically with debates first. Debates contain references to corresponding documents which are arranged numerically in the second section. Three indexes are located at the end of each volume. A subject index indexes debates and documents. Keyword and speaker indexes index only the debates.
1949 to the Present (Represents 2 Periods of German History):
1949-1990: The Federal Republic of germany (West Germany)
1990-Present: Germany
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1949-1989 |
Debates |
Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages, Stenographischen Bericht |
|
|
|
1949-1967 |
Documents |
Anagen zu den Stenographischen Berichten |
Microfilm |
JN3972.A7 D78 |
|
1965-2005 |
Debates & Documents |
Verhandlungen des Duetschen Bundestages und des Bundesrates: Protokolle, Drucksachen, Register |
Microfiche |
|
|
1976-Present |
Debates & Documents |
|
Electronic |
*Note: The Web version is searchable by keyword, speaker, session and document number, date, organization, and type of proceeding.
Indexes
|
Date |
Document Type |
Title |
Format |
Location |
|
1949/57-2002 |
Index to Paper Edition |
Register zu den Verhandlungen des Deutschen Bundestages und zu den Anlagen |
|
*Note, Indexes for parliamentary session 9 (1980-1983) are missing.
For the most current parliamentary documents from the German National Parliament, access their website at http://www.bundestag.de/ . You may select an English menu. If you select databases from the left hand column you can search the PARSFORS document server for the full text of specific documents.
Supplementary Materials:
Introductory Sources:
German Governmental Websites
Website for the German Government
Germany (Information)
Governments on the Web: Germany
Bundestag (Federal Diet)
Bundersat (Federal Council)
Types and formats of the German Parliamentary Papers:
- Proceedings (Protokolle Der Deutschen Bundesversammlung).
- The Protokolle is the proceedings and deliberations of the Bundesversammlung or Diet of the Bund (German Confederation). The Bund was a loosely constructed alliance of 38 member states and the Bundesversammlung had no real powers of enforcement over the member states.
- Proceedings (Verhandlungen des Reichstags, Stenographischen Bericht).
- The Verhandlungen are the proceedings of the Parliament (Reichstag) under the three German governments that succeeded the Bund (German Confederation), which ended with Bismarck’s defeat of Austria in 1866. The papers span the period 1866-1933 and include the North German Federation, Imperial Germany, and the Weimar Republic. They end with Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party’s accession to power in 1933.
For further study, Consult these Sources:
DeTemple, Siegfried. "Federal Republic of Germany." Official Publications of Western Europe. Volume 2. Ed. Eve Johansson. London: Mansell, 1988: 55-106
Hofheinz, Sylvia. Glossar, Parlamentarisch-Politische Terminologie: Deutsch-Englisch. Bonn: Deutscher Bundestag, Verwaltung Sprachendienst, 1992.
Holborn, Louise W. German Constitutional Documents since 1871: Selected Texts and Commentary. New York: Praeger, [1970].
Koch, H. W. A Constitutional History of Germany in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. London; New York: Longman, 1984.
HHC (2002), DB (2005), and AS 12/13/05
Updated: LH 2012
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