Get Answers
Finding Primary Sources
Some hints on how to find primary sources:
- Start with the Guide to Primary Sources.
- Use HoyaSearch to find published primary sources.
- Try Georgetown's Booth Family Center for Special Collections.
Literary Texts
- Goethes Werke This link opens in a new windowIn this database, every word of Goethe's literary and scientific works, his diaries, and his letters from the Weimar Edition is included, as are all illustrations, notes, variants, and indexes from the published volumes. Also included are Goethes Gespräche, edited by Woldemar Freiherr von Biedermann, Leipzig, 1889-96, and Goethes Werke, Nachträge zur Weimarer Ausgabe, edited by Paul Raabe, Munich, 1990.
- Schillers Werke This link opens in a new windowSchillers Werke comprises the whole of the Nationalausgabe, the finest and most complete critical edition of his works, letters, and conversations. The critical apparatus includes notes on sources as well as on the genesis of the works and their subsequent influence on German literature.
Primary Sources
- 18th Century German Literature Online This link opens in a new windowThrough 18th Century German Literature Online, first editions and first published complete editions by more than 600 German-speaking authors of the 18th century are now available online. The approximately 2,700 works with almost 4,500 volumes reflect the broad spectrum of German literature from the early stages of the age of Enlightenment to the later part of the period.
- Das KlosterA collection of magical and occult texts, chapbooks, folklore, popular superstition and fairy tales of the German Renaissance compiled by Stuttgart antiquarian Johann Scheible in 12 volumes, 1845-1849.
- East Germany from Stalinization to the New Economic Policy, 1950-1963 This link opens in a new windowOriginally microfilmed as Records of the U.S. Department of State Relating to the Internal Affairs of East Germany, this digital collection provides an in-depth look into the creation of the East German state, living conditions, and its people. Documents included in this collection are predominantly instructions to and despatches from U.S. diplomatic, and consular personnel regarding political, military, economic, social, industrial, and other internal conditions and events in East Germany. Part of Archives Unbound.
- Economy and War in the Third ReichThis official statistical source provides rare, detailed data on the German economic situation during the Third Reich up to and throughout World War II.
- Europeana This link opens in a new windowOnline access to paintings, music, films and books from Europe's galleries, libraries, archives and museums.
- Witchcraft in Europe and America This link opens in a new windowThe earliest texts in this comprehensive collection on witchcraft date from the 15th century and the latest are from the early 20th century. The majority of the material concerns the 16th to 18th centuries, the so-called "classic period." In addition to these classic texts, the collection includes anti-persecution writings, works by penologists, legal and church documents, exposés of persecutions, and philosophical writings and transcripts of trials and exorcisms. Part of Archives Unbound.
- ZEFUS: ZeitungsinformationssystemThe Newspaper Information System of the State Library of Berlin is a portal for discovery and access to current and historical newspapers from Germany and around the world.
- Zeitschriften der AufklärungA digital project sponsored by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and run by the Universität Bielefeld. Includes the full text of journals from the German Enlightenment and subsequent literary periods.
