Mailing address: Landsarkivet i Vadstena, P. O. Box 126, SE-592 23 Vadstena, Sweden
Visiting address:
Vadstena Castle (Slottet)
Telephone:
+ 46 10 476 86 00
Fax:
+ 46 10 476 86 20
E-mail:
landsarkivet.vala@riksarkivet.se
Opening hours:
SEPTEMBER – MAY
Monday, Wednesday – Friday 09.00 – 16.00
Tuesday 09.00 – 21.00
JULY – AUGUST
Monday – Friday 09.00 - 16.00
Every year, around 10.000 researchers head to Vadstena to botanize among this immense collection lining 40.000 shelf meters. Access to the archives is free of charge, and we welcome visitors of all nationalities.
The Regional Archives in Vadstena are one of seven district organizations under the umbrella of the National Archives in Stockholm. Our principal task is to take care of the archival material of local government authorities, including church records. We also store records from private donors or organizations, and educate local authorities in archiving methods. Our district covers the counties of Östergötland, Jönköping, Kronoberg and Kalmar.
In search of your family roots? There is a simple rule of thumb when you want to trace a particular person or family: the more you know, the better. To make the most out of your visit to the archives, come armed with your ancestor's name, parish of origin and date of birth.
There are many excellent resources about Swedish genealogy. Did you know, for example, that Swedes were required to register in Gothenburg before emigration? These passenger lists now form a complete, easy-to-search computer database.For invaluable advice on common terms, methods and reading material, we recommend a visit to
www.genealogi.se. Remember: the more you know about your forebears, the more you'll find at the Regional Archives.
Sweden is known for its extremely liberal policy regarding public records. Basically, all the information stored in the archives is freely available, including parish registers, school registers, car ownership lists, records from authorities and private donated archives. Written enquiries may be submitted to the Regional Archives. Questions which cannot be answered without research are subject to a fee. The fee is 400 SEK per hour.
