In connection with opening of Noora, our new main building, and the extensive move of collections, the former prefixes for the separate archives (EAA, ERA, ERAF, LAMA; SAMA etc) are no longer indicative of the physical location of the items, nor do they convey other significant information. This is only a part of the collection code and it is coupled with the collection number (e.g. EAA.854, ERA.31, ERAF.1). For example, as of 2017, a collection with the ERAF code is located in Tartu, while the ERA-coded items can be found in Tallinn and Tartu, and so on. Information on the locations of each collection can be found in AIS, the archive information system. Addresses and other contact details of the archives can be found on the website of VAU.
National Archives in Tartu keeps records originating from the middle of the 13th century until 1917 as a rule. From the period of the Republic of Estonia (1918-1940) there are the fonds of land registries, the University of Tartu, some of the Apostolic Orthodox churches, insurance companies and a couple of other institutions and organisations, as well as some private records created by families. National Archives in Tallinn holds newer documents (beginning from the 20th century): the permanent records created on the territory of the Republic of Estonia by central institutions, local government offices, businesses and other corporate bodies (with the exception of the local institutions established after 1944) in the course of their activities, mainly starting with the birth of Estonian nationhood, as well as the documents of the institutions and organisations connected with Estonia and several private fonds.
Regional departments (Kuressaare, Valga, Rakvere and Haapsalu) of the State Archives are collecting and preserving the records created or obtained by the public and government offices of the respective region and the state institutions subordinated to them, as well as the documents of local governments and the legal and natural persons in private law carrying out public duties, beginning from 1944.
Also all visitors of the reading rooms of the Estonian National Archives are asked to register themselves. By studying Saaga, you are in the same way a user of the archives.
Some pages have already been filmed twice due to the demands of the quality standard for microfilming: in case the information is better readable in some part of the page with one resolution and in another part with another resolution, then two frames of the page will be produced with different light-parameters. The aim is to bring the entire text to the reader with the help of two or more frames. Therefore the scanning of these double-frames is also necessary, as one frame supports the other. If variation of the scanning conditions (lighter or darker) results in better legible images, then frames will be scanned twice.
Double-frames are thus inserted into Saaga on purpose, in order to guarantee that the information is complete. This does not mean that some pages have been left out.
We are here dealing with a scanned picture or image, where all the text that can be seen, is actually a set of dots from a grey-scale. In order to enable this scanned set of dots to render all the information found in an old and often damaged parish register, there have to be as many dots as possible, which makes the resulting file very large. To display the scanned images on the Internet, their size has been reduced as much as possible by using special software. None-the-less every file is about 800-900 kB large. Downloading this into a computer takes time, especially with a slow Internet connection.
We recommend to switch on the respective preference for faster pre-loading. You can do it in the Saaga environment, when you choose "Preferences" in the upper right corner and put a checkmark in front of the third choice (in Estonian: "Kasuta piltide ettelaadimist"). You should save the preferences when you have logged in.
Saaga has been created for viewing images, not for downloading them in large numbers. These days one cannot be sure that the downloaded images will only be used for finding data about one's ancestors.
It is not possible as long as the development of software has not reached a level which would allow to transform old handwriting from often damaged manuscripts into machine-readable text.
Handling the parish member lists in Saaga has although already become more comfortable thanks to the database Personal name indexes of Lutheran parish member lists created in cooperation with the Estonian Genealogical Society. It allows to search the so-far indexed parish member lists by surnames and to go directly to the referred page in Saaga from there.
As a general rule, all church records held by the National Archives of Estonia are digitized and available in Saaga. You can check whether the missing years are absent only from the Saaga collection or they have not been preserved at all or not yet handed over to the archives, through the information system of the National Archives – AIS.
Yes, the National Archives of Estonia produces also digital copies. Scanning is possible maximally from A0 format. From the bigger records one can order digital photos. You can submit copy requests directly via your VAU account.
File is a record or a collection of records preserved because of its value to the society, state, owner or another person. It can comprise only few pages, but it can also be a volume, a minute book or an account book of hundreds of pages. It can be a seal, a map, a photo or a big photo-album.
The Archival Information System (AIS) is the database of the National Archives of Estonia which allows users to search for documents preserved in the archives. Generally, AIS is similar to the electronic databases used in libraries which enable users to find books in the library's collection quickly and easily. Previously the existence of a record could be checked only by coming to the archives. AIS enables everyone to get information about a record on the Internet.
Since picture files are several times larger than text files, forming one digital book would result in so large a file that downloading it would take several hours. Most computers, even very new ones, could not manage to open such a file. Neither would it be possible to move quickly between pages. A several hundred pages large text file might be about as large as a single Saaga frame.
No. One of the aims of digitalising the collections is the creation of a usage fond to spare the originals and to guarantee their preservation for as long as possible.
The old, Julian calender, was valid in present-day Estonia until February, 1918. January 31, 1918 was followed by February 14, according to the new, Gregorian calender. Therefore you will have to add 12 days to the date which you found from the parish register when recalculating the dates. To an old calender date from the beginning of the 20th century (from 1 March 1900), you should add 13 days.
For finding the right congregation you need to know where your ancestors lived. If you know only the village (in Estonian "küla"), you can find out the parish ("kihelkond") with the help of the Place Names Database of the Institute of the Estonian Language. If you know the rural municipality ("vald"), you can find the parish also with the help of the Register of rural municipalities on the Estonian territory and if you know the manor ("mõis"), you can find the parish via the Register of estates on the Estonian territory. But if you don’t have a clue of your ancestors’ place of residence and have no-one to ask, you might find the database of Estonian surnames Onomastika and the Personal name indexes of Lutheran parish member lists helpful.
When you know the parish, you also know the congregation, because there used to be one church in each parish as a rule. There were also sub-congregations in some larger parishes which kept separate registers but also these can be found in the fonds of the main congregations. For instance if you were interested in the parish registers of the Kõpu sub-congregation you should look into the fonds of the Viljandi Pauluse congregation, and in the case of the Alatskivi sub-congregation you should look into the fonds of the Kodavere congregation. All this is applicable to the Lutheran congregations.
Since the 1840s, in connection with the extensive religious conversion movement you should also count with the possibility that your ancestors might have converted to Orthodoxy. In this case you should look for their birth, marriage and death entries in the parish registers of the Orthodox congregations of the respective region.
Most of the biographical data starting with 1 July 1926 when the Family Law Act entered into force and the maintenance of vital statistics registration became detached from the Church in Estonia. These materials from 1926 until today you can find in the archival fonds of the county governments and in the archival fond ERA.5201 "Population Facts Department of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior". The church records of Tallinn and the family lists (from ca 1926–1944) of Tallinn are being preserved in the Tallinn City Archives but many of the parish registers of Tallinn are also already digitally available in the Saaga collection.
The National Archives has to defend a persons right to the protection of his/her private life and do it even if the record creator has not imposed such restrictions or if they have not been mentioned in the instrument of delivery and receipt or in the contract.
As a rule, no restrictions on access are imposed on ordinary personal data (i. e. name, birth, death, marriage, baptism, husband or wife, children, parents, address, personal identity code, etc.).
Consideration is a process of ascertainment whether the public profit that would be gained from using the data with restricted access in research outweighs the invadement of rights or interests of a private person which might follow from using this data.
There are accidental and unsystematic personal data in the records of the National Archives which may be sensitive and private and should be with restricted access according to the law. Due to the amount of records and limited resources it is practically impossible to ascertain all those scattered information units.
Therefore also each researcher has to acknowledge a person's right to intergity of her/his family and private life and take responsibility according to the valid legislation for using the sensitive and private personal data which has come to her/his knowledge.
VAU is a virtual reading room of the National Archives of Estonia centralising all web resources and essential information aimed at archives users. VAU unites the information concerning the holdings, services and clients of the archives belonging to the system of the National Archives of Estonia and in part also the Tallinn City Archives.
No, the VAU only comprises e-services and web resources of the archives and enables access to the information, regardless of the subject of interest, location of an archive offering the service or the opening hours of a real reading room. The records can be ordered to the respective reading room in Tartu or in Tallinn directly via your VAU account (tab "Orders"). There you can also see the status and history of your orders.The VAU portal does not replace physical archives, and in many cases – as for studying the undigitalised records andl as for consultations with archivists – it is still necessary to visit the archives.
You can pay either in cash on spot in the archives or by bank transfer on the basis of an invoice (which will be sent to your e-mail address as a PDF-attachment) or with credit card / bank link (in the VAU environment).
The archives stamps the first and last page of the copies from one record. If you wish to receive stamps with reference codes behind each copy sheet, you will have to pay a stamp fee 0,10 € for each stamp.
The deadline of paper copies is usually within a week and the deadline of digital copies within two weeks. This is due to the singularities of the work. As there are many orders and one has to follow demands for quality when producing the copies, it is not possible to receive the copies at once.
No, the archives issue copies also by post, but in this case you will have to pay a postage in addition to the cost of copies. It is possible to download digital copies through the archives' ftp-server.
Yes, you can. Nevertheless, we suggest to always take a look at the records with your own eyes if possible. In addition to the necessary information for the researcher, the records often contain also less important documents which may not always be essential for copying. In order to avoid later misunderstandings it would be good if the researcher himself/herself selected the material for copying.
If you know full references, you can order records of other archives directly via your VAU account (–> tab "Orders")! There you can also see the status and history of your orders.
The National Archives of Estonia (like all public archives) enables access to the records preserved in the archives. Access to the public information is every man's right. Exceptions to this are made on only two occasions: to defend important public interests, and to protect persons from making the details of their private lives public. For that reason some of the public records have restricted access (the Archives Act § 42). In order to decide whether the researcher is justified to use a record with restricted access, the archives ask to fill in a special request form.
The digitised records that are available in the Saaga environment are not issued to the reading rooms.
Yes, it is. For maximum quality, open the image in pdf-format. You can either print out the whole image
or a part of it (if you want to print out a part, you have to mark it first).
Use a pdf reading program on your computer to mark the part that interests
you and copy the selected area by clicking the right mouse button. Open e.g. a
word processing programme and paste the image there and then print. When printing the entire
image we recommend setting the page margins to zero for best results.
Session is an hourlong working period, during which a logged-on Saaga-user can move around in the Saaga environment. It is necessary for freeing the server from expired information and avoiding overload. When a session ends, the logon window opens. After re-entering your user name and password you can continue viewing the record right where you were left off when the session ended.
Yes, you can, if you have enough interest and patience. You may want to borrow a manual teaching Gothic script from your public library. Reading exercises can also been done on the homepage of paleography learning environment of the National Archives of Estonia.
In this case it would be best to start with parish member lists, where you might find the dates for birth and death. With the help of these it will be easier to find the respective entries from the parish registers.
No (except for some Baltic German families), the research on one's family is to be carried out by oneself. This presumes an extensive research with different sources which might take months, even years to complete.
There is a text "Genealogy" at the homepage of virtual reading room where our archivists have written down a detailed guide for everyone who would like to find out more about their roots in Estonia.
To get information from AIS you can choose between the buttons "Search" (in Estonian "Otsi") and "Advanced Search" ("Detailotsing"). Both of them have their advantages depending on what you are searching for and what information you already have.
The "Search" screen makes AIS as easy to use as possible. The form gives you only one box for your keyword(s). Simply type in the keyword(s) you are interested in and press the "Search" button. As a result, you will get all the titles of the records that have been described using your keyword. If you click on a record's title, you can also see which fonds does it belong to (where has it once been created, i.e. its provenance). Please notice that most of the titles of records are in Estonian, but also in Russian, German and Swedish. There are only a few records titled in English, French or some other language on AIS.
Sometimes it is better to use the "Advanced Search". For example, when you need a record from a long list of similar ones or you know that a record dates earlier than a certain date, or you know the exact archival reference of a record.
Further instructions can be found on the website of AIS.
The records cannot be borrowed home, they can be viewed only in the archives or through the web portal of digitised resources Saaga which comprises the most usable records of the National Archives.
In connection with opening of Noora, our new main building, and the extensive move of collections, the former prefixes
for the separate archives (EAA, ERA, ERAF, LAMA; SAMA etc) are no longer
indicative of the physical location of the items, nor do they convey other
significant information. This is only a part of the collection code and it is
coupled with the collection number (e.g. EAA.854, ERA.31, ERAF.1). For example,
as of 2017, a collection with the ERAF code is located in Tartu, while the ERA-coded
items can be found in Tallinn and Tartu, and so on. Information on the
locations of each collection can be found in AIS, the archive information system.
The records can be ordered to the respective reading rooms
in Tartu, Tallinn, Valga or Rakvere directly via your VAU
account ("Order", in Estonian: "Telli"). Please
notice the location of the reading room! If a record is already available digitally on the web (Saaga), there is a direct link "View the document" (in Estonian: "Vaata dokumenti") in its entry on AIS.
The Archives Act § 41 forbids to issue records outside the public archives. Each document is unique, irreplaceable and in most cases manuscriptal. There is only one of each document and therefore quite strict demands have been imposed in order to ensure their longest possible preservation.
For placing a copy order, please login to your VAU account (or register yourself as a user if you do not have a user account yet), then click on the tab "Orders", enter the reference code of the record you are interested in (e.g. EAA.1187.1.100), choose "Copy order" in the field "Order Type".
This is forbidden by the Archives Act § 41. The reason lies above all in the protection of records. Each copying damages the record – the light, heat, folding, etc cause irreversible changes in the paper and ink structure. Therefore it should be done in the most conscious and professional way.
No, it is not. Each copying damages the record. In the archives the scanning is made by specialists in order to minimise the physical and optical damage.
The interarchival loan service is a temporary exchange of records between the archives belonging to the National Archives of Estonia in Tallinn (except for the Estonian Film Archives) and Tartu. It allows reading room visitors to use the records of other archives. The procedure of interarchival loan service is regulated by the Reading Room Rules of the Estonian National Archives. In summer, from June 20th until September 1st we do not offer interarchival loan services.
The following records are generally not issued via the interarchival loan service:
a) records in poor physical condition; b) photos and glass negatives, maps, plans, vellums and parchment bindings, documents with wax seals;
c) records of large size and objects;
d) card catalogues;
e) fully published, microfilmed or digitised records;
f) records with restricted access;
g) the most requested records on the spot;
h) records of special importance from the historical and cultural point of view of Estonia (e.g. the peace treaty of Tartu, the capitulation act of the Estonian Knighthood from 1710, etc).
The records will be delivered to the other archive with the transport of the National Archives. Orders will be completed by the 10th and 25th day of the month. During summer period (from 20 June until 1 September) there is no interarchival loan service.
You can order up to 15 records at a time and use them for a month as a rule. The deadline for the most requested records is two weeks. You can prolong your order for another month if necessary. The deadline will be calculated from the day of arrival of the records to the destination.
According to the Archives Act § 42 the general right of access to public records has to be restricted only for two reasons: first, in order to keep the details of a person's private life from becoming public, and secondly, in order to protect important public interests. Public archives have to deal above all with the first reason.
There may occur three sorts of access restrictions in the National Archives:
1. Sensitive or private personal data can be found both among public and private records.
NB! These restrictions are imposed in part with the Personal Data Protection Act, in part with specific laws such as the Family Law Act, the Notaries Act, etc.
2. Data for internal use may occur only in the newer records delivered over to the National Archives because these restrictions are imposed with the Public Information Act.
3. Restrictions on access imposed by the transferor may occur only among private records.
Access to sensitive or private personal data has to be enabled in case:
a) the researcher's need for access arises from legislation; this becomes evident if there is a decision allowing access to a competent official who carries out an investigation or supervision or defines accident circumstances; an application for access submitted by the police, court, prosecutor's offices or other authorities;
b) the researcher has a momentous reason; this becomes apparent in the course of consideration.
Mediation of archival information takes place according to the Archives Act and the Archival Rules. Archival notice is a document certified by an archivist with a signature, based on the data found in the archival materials concerning some event, subject or person. The aim of an archival notice is to establish and certify the rights of a person or an institution on the basis of the information in the records.
According to the laws of the Republic of Estonia there are no hindrances to publish images or parts of images from Saaga. The only demand is that the published text or picture would be equipped with the archival reference (e. g. EAA.1248.1.38, p. 6).
According to § 3461 of the State Fees Act one has to pay a state fee in the amount of 15 euros for an archival notice if it is needed for certification of one's rights or transactions in public offices.
The following institutions are exempt from payment of the state fee (according to the State Fees Act): - investigative bodies, courts and prosecutor's offices; - notaries; - Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a foreign representation of Estonia (if they mediate applications); - Ministry of Justice (in case they mediate applications based on the International Agreement of Legal Assistance); - tax authorities; - bailiffs.
Archive notice for attestation of rights and transaction must be paid for by the request bearer in accordance with the Law on State Fee (§ 3461), the state fee in this case is 15 euros. A state fee payment notice will be sent to you after review of your enquiry. The state fee or fee can be payed on the basis of this to the account of the Ministry of Finance with the reference numbers indicated on the payment notice or, by request, in cash on the spot in any of the archives belonging to the Estonian National Archives' system. You will receive an answer within 30 days after receipt of payment.
The fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory. Please include as much detail as possible. The more initial data an archivist has at her/his disposal the simpler and often also the more possible it is to draft an archival notice.
Enquiries will be answered as soon as possible but not later than within 30 days.
Archival notice will be issued either to the immediate applicant or to the person appointed by the applicant, in the suitable archives belonging to the Estonian National Archives or sent to the post address given in the application form.
The state fee or fee and charge for copies have to be payed prior to the issue of archival notice or information letter.
Within the VAU you will find databases that are made by either organisations or persons outside the National Archives. The contributor is responsible for the content in the databases, (s)he holds the copyright to the data and may withdraw his/her databases at any time. This is a collection of databases. Currently there is no way to run search against all databases at once. To search within the database, you first have to select database from the list. However, you can filter the list of databases by metadata (author, title, description, subject, time and place).
With Linkbook, you can add, browse and organize bookmarks in a single online location that's accessible from any computer.
Linkbook has been integrated with several web based database services of The National Archives of Estonia in a way that makes adding and browsing bookmarks easy.
Yes, it is possible. It is the most convenient way to receive an archival notice and we spare so paper and preserve nature at the same time. When you fill in the enquiry form, please specify that you would like to receive the archival notice electronically. When the archival notice is ready, an invoice will be sent to your email address. And after the state fee payment has been received, we will send the digitally signed archival notice to your email address.
NB! Please make certain that the necessary software has been installed to your computer which enables to open digitally signed documents.
For this you should fill in a request form in which you ground your need for access, the aim and expected output of your research and submit it directly in Saaga. It will then be looked through by the archive and the decision will be made in the course of consideration. If your request is satisfied you will gain access to the digitised record(s) via Internet. You will get a permission for one year.
If the archival information is necessary for personal use or research the archives issue an information letter. The fee of the query is 15 euros. Please note, however, that the archives cannot undertake any extensive research on behalf of enquirers.
The register of maps contains descriptions of the maps that are stored in the Estonian National Archives and the images
of the digitised maps. Not all maps have yet been described in the register,
and it is therefore recommended to use also AIS in parallel when searching for
a map. Please find more information about the map collections in the
introduction on the front page of the register.
The register of maps is equipped with many help texts. We recommend to read the general introduction and to acquaint yourself with the search possibilities (on the front page) before you start making enquiries. There are separate help texts available also next to the Simple Search and the Advanced Search.
• If a digital image of a map is already available in the register of maps then it is possible to order only a digital copy of this map. When ordering a copy you should keep in mind that one of the most important parameters is the map format, price lists of copies can be found in VAU under the section „Copying services“. A digital copy can be saved onto a memory stick (USB Flash Drive) or downloaded from the ftp-server. NB! The archives do not offer the service of printing out digital copies.
• You can also order a paper copy of a map if its size and condition allows to copy it with the copying machine and if it has not yet been digitised. Each order for copies requires separate handling and the archivists always inform the customers about different possibilities and conditions. Orders for copies should placed via VAU (tab "Orders").
In this case you can order the original map by its reference code to the respective reading room. You can order up to 10 maps at one time. But we kindly ask to take into consideration that due to the massive digitalisation of maps it is not possible to order many maps to the reading room at the present moment. The preparation of maps (flattening, cleaning, repairing, conservation) and digitalisation is very labour-intensive and it may take several months in case of each single map.
The archives digitise the maps primarily to ensure their maintenance and to make them easier accessible for researchers. The originals of the digitised maps will therefore no more be brought to the reading room.
The register of maps enables to download a file with the size 1748 x 2480 (A5). Otherwise you should turn to the reading room of the respective archive and order a copy.
Yes. The linkbook in VAU is integrated with the register of maps, so that it would be easy and convenient to save references. The icons and in the upper right corner enable to add a reference of a page to the linkbook and to browse the previously-added links.
and 
in the upper right corner enable to add a reference of a page to the linkbook and to browse the previously-added links.