Re: My trip to NARA (College Park)
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:14 am
Hi all,
Before I start writing about my latest trip to the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, I have to thank Tom P. for asking me to do so :-)
Thanks Tom :-)
Due to some reasons I had to plan my annual trip to Freiburg in 1 day, instead of the usual 5 days.
So, I had to prepare as good as I could and order folders and microfilms in advance.
There was one problem that I had to face: were there enough microfilmreaders to use?
Why was this a problem?
Well, since the reading room was moved to the 3rd floor of the flat holding the staff of the BA-MA (be aware Richard!) because of a major reconstruction which went from bad to worse in the usual building. The usual reading room has some large windows which needed to be replaced. The constructors who took the measurements made some mistakes ending up with incorrectly sized new windows. And so, the planned return to the usual reading room has been postponed for several times now. The latest date is 6 september, but I have my doubts that will be enough.
You have to leave your ID behind with the guard, and receive a note and an ID card.
Arriving on the 3rd floor, you will find a small space where you can leave your jacket, bags etc. in an even smaller locker.
There are 4 seats where you can enjoy from a drink. Don't expect too much, since it's only a temporary location.
Report to the ladies in charge of the reading room (either Frau Andrea Meier or Frau Helga Waibl), and you can start with the job!
Back to my trip.
I travelled to Freiburg on Wednesday 11 August, and slept at a private house. The opening hours of the temporary reading room are from 0900-1700, so on Thursday 12th I arrived at 0905h on the 3rd floor, with almost all places occupied.
Even one of the microfilmreader/printers was occupied, the other one had a note that the printer was out of order.
The machines used were Canon MS300-II, with the Fileprinter 250. Lousy machines, as each print takes forever. Personally I prefer the old Canon MP 90's which are more than enough available in the usual reading room.
Although I was prepared and had ordered too many folders in advance, I still was unlucky enough to find several folders being wrong, or not available.
It is my experience that unless you know the exact contents of a specific folder (because you have ordered it before), it is a wild guess on what's inside the folder. The desciption can be longer than the real contents.
I had 3 goals during my latest visit.
1) find Stellenbesetzungslisten for the Heeresgruppe Nord, the 18. and 16. Armee, A.A. Narwa, and the Korps belonging to them
2) find Zustandsberichte, Meldungen, Gliederungen, Iststärke- und Fehlstellen reports of units belonging to the Heeresgruppe Nord
3) search for KStN or KStN related things.
I know, more than enough work for only one day.
One of the folders I ordered was about trainingplans for the 2./ Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 341, a StuG-Brig forming in the West and organized as a 45 gun battalion. I have the KStN for the HQ and HQ Battery, but lack the KStN for the Gun Battery as of 1.2.1944. Too bad for me, the folder did not contain any kind of KStN related information, so I returned it.
Two other folders contained the war diary of the schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 655. Very interesting, but no information on gun deliveries etc. (I have the chassisnumbers for all armored vehicles).
Since I am visiting the BA-MA from 1997 onwards, the staff knows me. This gives me some advantages. I know my connections, know who to speak to, ask about how well the grandchildren are etc.
If I had more days to spend, I would have searched for some other things too, like Luftwaffe things, but now I had to keep myself on target.
Before I knew it, it was nearly 1700h. I had printed quite a few pages from the enormous amount of microfilms that I ordered, and at 0,15 Euro per page, this wasn't such a big deal.
My complaints this year were: wrong material, some folders completely missing. Printing with a Fileprint 250 which takes forever.
Otherwise, a pleasant trip.
Recommended to anyone, and if you can convince your better half to come along as well, she can have a nice holiday too, because Freiburg has more enough to offer for tourists!
Before I start writing about my latest trip to the Bundesarchiv-Militärarchiv, I have to thank Tom P. for asking me to do so :-)
Thanks Tom :-)
Due to some reasons I had to plan my annual trip to Freiburg in 1 day, instead of the usual 5 days.
So, I had to prepare as good as I could and order folders and microfilms in advance.
There was one problem that I had to face: were there enough microfilmreaders to use?
Why was this a problem?
Well, since the reading room was moved to the 3rd floor of the flat holding the staff of the BA-MA (be aware Richard!) because of a major reconstruction which went from bad to worse in the usual building. The usual reading room has some large windows which needed to be replaced. The constructors who took the measurements made some mistakes ending up with incorrectly sized new windows. And so, the planned return to the usual reading room has been postponed for several times now. The latest date is 6 september, but I have my doubts that will be enough.
You have to leave your ID behind with the guard, and receive a note and an ID card.
Arriving on the 3rd floor, you will find a small space where you can leave your jacket, bags etc. in an even smaller locker.
There are 4 seats where you can enjoy from a drink. Don't expect too much, since it's only a temporary location.
Report to the ladies in charge of the reading room (either Frau Andrea Meier or Frau Helga Waibl), and you can start with the job!
Back to my trip.
I travelled to Freiburg on Wednesday 11 August, and slept at a private house. The opening hours of the temporary reading room are from 0900-1700, so on Thursday 12th I arrived at 0905h on the 3rd floor, with almost all places occupied.
Even one of the microfilmreader/printers was occupied, the other one had a note that the printer was out of order.
The machines used were Canon MS300-II, with the Fileprinter 250. Lousy machines, as each print takes forever. Personally I prefer the old Canon MP 90's which are more than enough available in the usual reading room.
Although I was prepared and had ordered too many folders in advance, I still was unlucky enough to find several folders being wrong, or not available.
It is my experience that unless you know the exact contents of a specific folder (because you have ordered it before), it is a wild guess on what's inside the folder. The desciption can be longer than the real contents.
I had 3 goals during my latest visit.
1) find Stellenbesetzungslisten for the Heeresgruppe Nord, the 18. and 16. Armee, A.A. Narwa, and the Korps belonging to them
2) find Zustandsberichte, Meldungen, Gliederungen, Iststärke- und Fehlstellen reports of units belonging to the Heeresgruppe Nord
3) search for KStN or KStN related things.
I know, more than enough work for only one day.
One of the folders I ordered was about trainingplans for the 2./ Sturmgeschütz-Brigade 341, a StuG-Brig forming in the West and organized as a 45 gun battalion. I have the KStN for the HQ and HQ Battery, but lack the KStN for the Gun Battery as of 1.2.1944. Too bad for me, the folder did not contain any kind of KStN related information, so I returned it.
Two other folders contained the war diary of the schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 655. Very interesting, but no information on gun deliveries etc. (I have the chassisnumbers for all armored vehicles).
Since I am visiting the BA-MA from 1997 onwards, the staff knows me. This gives me some advantages. I know my connections, know who to speak to, ask about how well the grandchildren are etc.
If I had more days to spend, I would have searched for some other things too, like Luftwaffe things, but now I had to keep myself on target.
Before I knew it, it was nearly 1700h. I had printed quite a few pages from the enormous amount of microfilms that I ordered, and at 0,15 Euro per page, this wasn't such a big deal.
My complaints this year were: wrong material, some folders completely missing. Printing with a Fileprint 250 which takes forever.
Otherwise, a pleasant trip.
Recommended to anyone, and if you can convince your better half to come along as well, she can have a nice holiday too, because Freiburg has more enough to offer for tourists!