Record Atlas
4 eras · 1600–2026 · 212 places

Hesse-Darmstadt

Darmstadt, Giessen, Offenbach, Friedberg, Michelstadt. Which empire held this ground in which years — and, the part that matters, which archive that means.

Whose archive this ground was

YearsWho held itWhose archive that means
1600–1806 Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (Holy Roman Empire) FamilySearch

Before 1806 the territory was the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt, part of the Holy Roman Empire.
1806–1918 Grand Duchy of Hesse Archion · Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv · FamilySearch

Raised to a grand duchy on 13 August 1806 in Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine; it joined the German Confederation in 1815, took the name Hesse and by Rhine in 1816, lost the territory north of the Main in 1866 and joined the German Empire in 1871.
1918–1945 People's State of Hesse Archion · Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv · Bundesarchiv

Replaced the grand duchy on 9 November 1918.
1945–2026 Germany — Hesse Archion · Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv

The rings are approximate — deliberately. They exist to shade which filing system a place fell under, not to adjudicate a border. A place near a ring's edge should be checked against both neighbours.

See the whole span, 1600–2026, on the map →

The map takes a range, and a range that crosses one of the rows above is where records get lost: the family never moved, and the archive on the far side of the handover will tell you it holds nothing.

212 places on this ground

The 200 carrying the most collections are listed; 12 more stand on this ground. Every place has them all.

88 FamilySearch collections reach this ground

Ranked with the regional ones first — a collection for a province is usually a better lead than a national index, though the national index is often where a name is actually written down. A free account opens the images.

…and 28 more.

All record regions · The map