FAQs Private individuals, businesses and associations
No. The Burgerbibliothek Bern is a public archives and is open to anyone who is interested, not just members of the Burgergemeinde.
No. Using the collections in the reading room is free of charge.
No. The Burgerbibliothek Bern offers its work stations exclusively to persons using its collections. The work stations must be cleared every evening and may only be reserved in connection with an order of documents. You will find work stations where you can study next door in the Bibliothek Münstergasse of the University Library.
No. The Burgerbibliothek Bern has a reference library and some historical libraries. These books can be consulted in the reading room and searched for using swisscovery. Books may be ordered for consultation by sending the relevant reference by email.
The Burgerbibliothek Bern is the archives for the Burgergemeinde Bern and the Bernburger societies and guilds. It also holds private archives, manuscripts and visual documents relating to Bern.
You can search in the archives catalogue for documents and order them to be brought to the reading room, where they can be viewed. Archival materials cannot be borrowed.
You can normally visit the Burgerbibliothek without making an appointment. Ideally though, you should order the documents that you want in advance for a specific date using the archives catalogue. By doing so, you reserve a place in the reading room, and your documents will be ready and waiting for you on the day you wish to visit.
Please note: For access to items in the Bongarsiana / Codices and the Graphics Collection, Photographic Archives and Paintings divisions, an advance order via the archives catalogue is mandatory.
Certain collections are not yet publicly accessible. Information about these restrictions is provided in the archives catalogue. In the case of collections that are still subject to a term of protection or whose use requires permission, you can apply for access by email. For access to documents whose contents may affect the privacy of third parties, the Burgerbibliothek Bern may also require you to sign an additional declaration (cf. User Rules and Regulations) that you will respect these rights to privacy.
As long as no third-party rights are infringed, documents that are publicly accessible and safe in terms of conservation may be photographed by prior arrangement with the reading room staff. The documents must not be affected by taking a photograph any more than would be the case with normal handling. The use of a flash is not allowed. Authorisation is required to use auxiliary equipment (e.g. a tripod). Please use a silent camera.
Some of our collections, in particular very many images from the Graphics Collection, Photographic Archives and Paintings division have been digitised and can be viewed in the archives catalogue and, provided there are no legal restrictions, downloaded.
- Instructions on searching for images.
Here you will find a summary of the most important and most extensive digitised collections in the Burgerbibliothek.
You can take your own photographs of items from the non-digitised holdings in the reading room, or you can order digital copies for a fee.
Digital copies made available by the Burgerbibliothek in its archives catalogue and on online platforms are subject to the terms of use specified. Digital copies that are ordered from the Burgerbibliothek may only be used for the agreed purpose and may not be passed on without the written consent of the Burgerbibliothek. Users are responsible for complying with copyright requirements in every case.
The use of holdings from the Burgerbibliothek Bern must be documented with references. The recommended minimum form of citation is: Burgerbibliothek Bern, [reference in accordance with archives catalogue]
Some examples of citations:
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, Cod. A 91, f. 3r
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, Mss.h.h.XVI.23, pp. 112–120
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, N Theodor Kocher 21 (9)
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, FA Zeerleder 23
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, FI Fischer 145
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, GA SAC 33
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, ES 78
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, AK.140
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, Gr.A.108
- Burgerbibliothek Bern, F.Dag.30
From the second citation onwards, the abbreviation «BBB» can be used, e.g. BBB, FI Fischer 145. If you want to link a URL to the reference, we recommend using our persistent ARK links available under «Persistent Identifiers (PIDs)» in the detail view of the unit of description in the archives catalogue.
When searching for manuscripts in the Bongarsiana / Codices division, you should be aware of the hierarchical structure of the entries: the highest level describes the current item as a whole (cover, provenance); the second level contains the codicological description of the manuscripts (or part thereof) and the fragments; at the lowest level you will find details of the content as well as text references.
In the Graphics Collection, Photographic Archives and Paintings division, you will find historical views of Bern and of properties owned by the Burgergemeinde and country mansions, portraits of Bernese citizens and the personal archives of photographers and artists. All the images are indexed with keywords.
Photographs and other images can also be found in the archives of families, businesses, associations and in personal archives or in the administrative and guild archives. A large proportion of these images can be viewed in the archives catalogue and can be downloaded. You will find a guide to searching for images here.
Documents on Bernese history can primarily be found in three institutions: sources on the history of the city state and Canton of Bern, its authorities and administration are held in the State Archive of the Canton of Bern and sources on the Einwohnergemeinde (City, municipality) of Bern in the City Archives.
The Burgerbibliothek Bern is the archives of the Burgergemeinde Bern and of the Bernburger societies and guilds. However, it also holds private archives, manuscripts and visual documents that have a connection to Bern.
Below you will find some further websites that may assist with your research, providing digital images, editions of documents and other resources.
Archives portals
- Archives Online: Swiss archives portal for conducting a general search in the databases of participating archives
- arCHeco: Overview of business and economy archives in Switzerland and Liechtenstein
- swisscollections: For conducting a general search in collections held by participating Swiss libraries and archives
- Archives Portal Europe: For conducting a general search in participating European archives
Platforms offering digitised documents
- DigiBern: Bern culture and history on the internet
- e-manuscripta: manuscript material from Swiss libraries and archives
- e-newspaperarchives: Swiss newspapers
- E-Periodica: Swiss periodicals
- e-rara: rare books from Swiss institutions
- Viaticalpes: illustrated travelogues relating to the Swiss Alps
- Europeana: Europe’s digital cultural heritage
- DPLA: Digital Public Library of America
Source editions and collections
- SSRQ: Collection of Swiss Law Sources
- Dodis: Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
- Codices.ch: mediaeval manuscripts in Switzerland
Historical research aids
- Ad fontes: An Introduction to Working with Sources in the Archive
- Grotefend: Chronology resource
- HLS: Swiss Historical Dictionary
- HFLS: Swiss Historical Family Dictionary (genealogy)
- HBLS: Swiss Historical Biographical Dictionary
- Metagrid: enables networked searches for people in numerous online resources.
- Idiotikon: Swiss German dictionary
Until the first half of the 20th century, the German cursive script was widely used in handwritten texts in German-speaking countries. This means that you have to be able to read this script in order to work with German sources. Regular practice in reading old scripts is recommended. The Ad fontes program from the University of Zurich offers an introduction. The reading room staff can provide you with an alphabet in old script on request.
The Burgerbibliothek team will be happy to provide you with addresses on request.
The Burgerbibliothek team will be happy to provide you with addresses on request.
Yes. You can visit the reading room during our opening hours. Please show consideration for the other users by avoiding loud conversations and not photographing anyone.
A brochure is available with information on the reading room and the Institution.
The Burgerbibliothek offers a public guided tour of its current exhibition every month. The tour is free of charge and advance booking is not required. You will find the upcoming dates for public guided tours on the page or at Museen Bern.
We also offer tours of our exhibition to groups (Monday to Friday). These guided tours must be arranged at least three weeks before the desired date. The size of the group is limited to 20 persons, and an administrative fee of CHF 120 is charged. Guided tours for Bernburger institutions (Burgergemeinde, societies and guilds) and educational institutions are free of charge.
You can request a guided tour by email (bbb@clutterburgerbib.ch) or by telephone.