AGAD — Central Archive of Historical Records, Warsaw

AGAD — the Central Archive of Historical Records in Warsaw — is the single most important Polish archive for everything pre-1795 (the Third Partition). Serious Polish nobility research is impossible without it.

Its holdings include, among others:

• Metryka Koronna (Crown Chancellery Register) — the registers of the royal chancellery (office appointments, grants, privileges) from the 15th century onwards;
• Metryka Litewska — the equivalent register for the Grand Duchy of Lithuania;
• Castle and Land Court Books (Księgi grodzkie i ziemskie) — the nobility’s own courts; property and litigation records, 15th–18th centuries;
• Crown Treasury archives (tax registers, lustrations);
• Sigillata — registers of royal seals and grants;
• Nobility legitimization records after the Partitions;
• Cartographic and iconographic collections.

Archival signatures begin with the number 1.

We work in the reading room on ul. Długa in Warsaw regularly for research on the Polish nobility and the royal cities. We order specific units through the online catalogue szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl; a growing share of the key fonds is digitised and available online.

Get in touch: office@mypolishgenealogy.com