German biographical reference work
Neue Deutsche Biographie (NDB; literally New German Biography) is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 27 volumes published thus far cover more than 23,000 individuals and families who lived in the German language area (Sprachraum).
NDB is published in German by the Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities and printed by Duncker & Humblot in Berlin. The index and full-text articles of the first 26 volumes are freely available online via the website German Biography (Deutsche Biographie) and the Biographical Portal.
Scope
NDB is a comprehensive reference work, similar to Dictionary of National Biography, Dictionary of American Biography, American National Biography, Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Dictionary of Australian Biography, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Diccionario Biográfico Español, Dictionary of Irish Biography, Svenskt biografiskt lexikon, and Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 (ÖBL) (Austrian Biographical Dictionary 1815–1950).
Its first volume, alphabetically covering names from "Aachen" to "Behaim", was published in 1953. As of 2016, the most recent volume is the 27th, covering names from "Vockerodt" to "Wettiner", which was published in February 2020. So far, more than 23,000 biographies of individuals and families, who lived in the German language area, have been published. Some 600 further articles will be added in one further volume, with completion expected in 2024.[needs update]
An NDB article usually contains genealogical information such as date and place of birth, date and place of death, tomb, parents, grandparents, marriages, divorces, number of children, alternate and birth names, academic degrees, a curriculum vitae in whole sentences, a valuation of the subject's political, economic, social, scientific, technical or artistic achievements, a bibliography and references to portraits. Only deceased persons with a close relation to the German language area are recorded. Each article is signed by its author.
Access
An index cataloguing all articles and the full text of articles in the first 26 volumes, covering names from "Aachen" to "Vocke", is freely available online. The index is also part of the Biographie-Portal (Biographical Portal). This cooperative project of the Bavarian State Library (Bayerische Staatsbibliothek), the Historical Commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften), the Austrian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften) the Foundation Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, and Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts also makes available data of Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB), Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815-1950 (ÖBL) (Austrian Biographical Dictionary 1815–1950), Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz / Dictionnaire Historique de la Suisse / Dizionario Storico della Svizzera (HLS / DHS / DSS), Slovenska Biografija [sl], Rheinland-Pfälzische Personendatenbank (RPPB), Sächsische Biografie (Saxon Biography), and Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon (OeML).
