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Spines of early prints at Thurn und Taxis Hofbibliothek Regensburg (Foto: A. Genest)

Published annually from 1785 onwards until 1944 by Justus Perthes Publishing House in Gotha the Almanach de Gotha (Gothaischer genealogischer Hofkalender) was regarded as an authority in the classification of monarchies, ducal houses, families of former rulers, and royalty. The serial was revived in 1951 by Starke Publishing in Limburg (Western Germany) as Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (GHdA). Rambow Genealogie provides a well-structured overview of digitized volumes that are available online free of charge: http://www.rambow.de/adelslexika.html

Biography, Nobility, Dictionary, Europe, Genealogy, Reference

The “Biographical Portal” is a cooperative project of the Bavarian State Library, the Historical Committee at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and the Foundation Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. A joint index makes available the following biographical dictionaries:

• Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) and Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB) [Universal and New German Biography]
• Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 (ÖBL) [Austrian Dictionary of Biography 1815–1950]
• Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz (HLS) [Historical Dictionary of Switzerland],

In this way, more than 100,000 scholarly biographies of persons from all social backgrounds and nearly all periods of German, Austrian, and Swiss history may be accessed. Further national and regional biographical works of reference are planned for future inclusion in the portal.

Germany, Autria, Switzerland, biography, reference