Your visit
We look forward to welcoming you to Bad Arolsen. Visits are by appointment only, so please contact us in advance to make arrangements. Scroll down for more information.
Although we are always expanding our online services to provide more options for digital research, some questions are best answered in person. We look forward to welcoming you as guests of the Arolsen Archives. But please remember – you must use our inquiry form to arrange your visit in advance.
Be prepared
We look forward to meeting you in person! To get the most out of your visit, please read this information carefully.
The reading room of the Arolsen Archives is equipped with workstations where you can search our database and study resources from our library of over 10,000 works.
It is important that you notify us of your visit in good time and provide basic information about the subject of your research – only then can we give you the best possible service. Please use our inquiry form to arrange your visit at least one week in advance.
Our reading room is open to visitors during these times:
Monday to Thursday 8:00am – 5:00pm
Friday 8:00am – 1:00pm (by prior arrangement also from 1:00pm – 3:30pm)
Please use our inquiry form to register your visit in good time so we can provide you with the best possible service while you are with us.
You are welcome to visit us in Bad Arolsen to view original documents about members of your family. Sometimes our documents contain poignant reminders – photos or signatures, for example. We are happy to set aside time to talk to you about the documents, explain their origins and their historical context, and answer any questions you may have. Please use our inquiry form to arrange your visit, giving us four weeks advance notice so we can make the necessary preparations.
If you are traveling by car, the journey from Kassel to Bad Arolsen will take about 45 minutes. There is a parking lot with designated parking spaces for visitors just behind the building. (Directions from Google Maps)
If you are traveling by train, you can take a high-speed ICE train to Kassel and then a regional train to Bad Arolsen. The journey time from Kassel to Bad Arolsen is one hour. It takes about 25 minutes to walk from the train station to the Arolsen Archives (1.8 km), and the route is relatively flat. By taxi, you will need about 5 minutes.
The nearest international airports are Frankfurt am Main (180 km) and Dortmund (120 km).
The reading room is located on the ground floor of the main building and is barrier-free. From the parking lot behind the building, a short asphalt path leads to the entrance. However, there are three steps up to the doors. A wheelchair ramp will be installed in the near future. We will be very happy to assist you if you need help entering the building.
Location
The Arolsen Archives are located in Bad Arolsen, a town in northern Hesse, not far from Kassel in Germany.