Published on 27 November 2025

Other search portals

This page offers you a list of links to various search portals.

The following links will take you to publicly accessible search portals for national and international institutions.

 

Library and archives search portals (individual institutions and associations)

a)       Individual library and library association search tools

• swisscovery (Swiss Library Service Platform/SLSP)
• KVK - Karlsruher Virtueller Katalog
• Helveticat (National Library)
• Parliament Library catalogue
• RERO (libraries of Western Switzerland)
• WorldCat (global search)
• Recherche Patrimoniale (swisscovery and Swiss National Library)

b)      Archive catalogues

• Swiss Federal Archive
• Archives Online (Metacatalogue of several Swiss archives)
• Gosteli Foundation (Archive on the history of the Swiss women’s movement)
• Archives of Contemporary History (ETH)
• Swiss Social Archive

Freely accessible databases

a)       Reference works

• Swiss Historical Dictionary
• lexicon istoric retic : e-LIR / Lexicon:: (e-lir.ch)
• Register of Swiss Surnames
• GLOSSARIUM HELVETIAE HISTORICUM
• SIKART Lexicon on art in Switzerland
• foto.CH
• Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce SOGC
• Zefix - Central Business Name Index

b)      Legal sources and diplomatic documents

• Curia Vista - database of parliamentary proceedings (1995- )
• Official Compilation of Federal Legilsation (1998- )
• Classified Compilation of Federal Legislation (1848-2015)
• Swiss online official publications (DE, IT, FR) (including archives from the Helvetic Republic 1798-1803)
• Military official publications
• Official compilation of Swiss legislative publications 1245-1798
• Official compilation of Swiss legislative publications 1803-1848 (thematic)
• Legislative publications of the Swiss Diet 1814-1848 (chronological)
• Decisions of the Federal Supreme Court (1875- )
• Military justice decisions (1914-2011)/ Military justice decisions (2006- )
• DODIS - Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland (1848- )

c)       Newspapers, periodicals and old publications

• e-periodica (Swiss periodicals online)
• e-newspaperarchives.ch
• e-rara (digitised publications from Swiss libraries)
• e-codices
• Europeana
• letempsarchives.ch

d)      Photos

• DDPS current mediathek
• DDPS historical mediathek
• Memobase (Memoriav)
• e-pics (ETH historical photographs)

e)      Maps

• SWISSTOPO historical maps
• Kartenportal.ch
• Old Maps Online