Archives

The divisional archives and the Turku City Archives are responsible for the records of the City of Turku. The Turku City Archives also acts as the municipal central archives and attends to the city’s oldest permanently stored records. New documents are stored mainly in the divisional archives.

Turku City Archives

Documents from the past 400 years are being stored in the Turku City Archives. The collections include:

  • over 20-year-old and permanently stored documents of city organizations
  • documents of the city’s divisions, offices, and institutions that have been abolished
  • archives of municipalities that have been connected to the City of Turku: Kakskerta, Maaria, and Paattinen
  • documents of the local register office of Turku and the City Court 1624–1977
  • archives of private persons and communities in Turku

Exploring the archives

Customers of the City Archives can study public documents in the research hall. Documents cannot be borrowed or taken outside the archives. Ordering the documents to the research hall and reading them is free of charge, but a fee will be charged for document copies.

Documents of authorities are not classified, unless stipulated by the law. The documents of the Health and Social Services are mainly classified, or unclassified only for the party whom the documents concern. It is possible for researchers to apply for a research permit and access also for the classified documents. The City Archives can help you with the research permit application.

The City Archives looks up information from documents only for official use. Private persons can come and study the documents on their own. The personnel will guide you with the use of archive records and the handling of documents.