Person vor der Eingangstür des Landesarchivs NRW, Abteilung OWL
Landesarchiv NRW / Foto: Kristian Peters

The East Westphalia-Lippe Division in Detmold

The East Westphalia-Lippe Division of the Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen is the central point of contact for historical research in the East Westphalia-Lippe region and for genealogy throughout Westphalia and Lippe.

The division is responsible for the state authorities, courts, tax offices and other institutions in the Detmold administrative district. In addition, selected archive material from other sources is archived.

The Detmold branch of the Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen also houses the Detmold Stadtarchiv (city archive) and the Kreisarchiv Lippe (district archive).

How to find us:
From Detmold railway station: Take bus lines 702 (Meiersfeld), 772 (Barntrup or Blomberg) or 780 (Horn-Bad Meinberg) to the Leopoldinum stop.
Line 707 runs hourly directly to the Rosenstraße stop.
Access to the reading room in Detmold is barrier-free.

Please note: On 29 September 2025, we introduced new user software. You can find important information for your next visit here.

The East Westphalia-Lippe Division in Detmold

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Opening Times & Contact

Your Contact

Willi-Hofmann-Straße 2
32756 Detmold
Germany

Postal address

Bitte nutzen Sie für Anfragen per Post diese Adresse:
Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen
40208 Düsseldorf
Germany

Phone number
+49 5231 766-0
Fax
+49 5231 766-114
E-Mail
owl@lav.nrw.de
East Westphalia-Lippe Division
Opening hours
Monday 8:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. | Limited consultation available from 4:00 p.m. onwards.
Tuesday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Friday 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Please note that it can take up to four weeks for the Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen to respond to enquiries.
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Our holdings

The magazines of the East Westphalia-Lippe Division in Detmold contain over 30 kilometres of shelving filled with archive material. The holdings are divided into:

  • approx. 12,000 documents
  • approx. 27 km of files and official records
  • approx. 100,000 maps
  • approx. 40,000 photographs
  • approx. 400 (video) films and
  • approx. 12,000 posters
  • approx. 77,000 duplicate church records and civil status registers as well as 180,000 supplementary civil registry records

The collections cover approximately 800 years of East Westphalian-Lippe history, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day.

Here you will find more information about the collections of the East Westphalia-Lippe Division!

Eine lange Regalreihe voll alter Bücher mit Signatur. Dies sind die Grundakten im Magazin der Abteilung OWL. Klick auf das Bild vergrößert das Bild.
Landesarchiv NRW / Foto: Jochen Tack
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