The search functions of the Deutsches Zeitungsportal
You can search in and for historical newspapers in the Deutsches Zeitungsportal (German Newspaper Portal). The search field on the homepage allows you to make a full-text search in the newspapers which have full-text indexing. If full texts are available you can also search a single newspaper or a single issue of a newspaper. Wildcards, spacing and phrase searches are also possible. At the launch of the Deutsches Zeitungsportal in October 2021, 84% of all newspaper pages in the newspaper portal had full-text indexing.
All newspapers in the Deutsches Zeitungsportal can be found via their title – “Browse newspapers by title”, their place of distribution – “Browse newspapers by place”, or their publication date – “Browse newspapers by year of publication”.
Full-text search in all newspapers
The full-text search is available for all newspapers which have full texts. Newspapers marked with the
symbol in the alphabetical list, in the list that sorts the newspapers according to their place of distribution and in the search result view have issues available with full texts. You can search these issues for words or numbers via the central search field. The search result lists all newspaper issues in which the words or numbers you are looking for occur.
In this way, information on historical events, topics and persons can be found in individual newspaper issues, and terms or names like “democracy” or “Bismarck” can be researched in the newspaper texts.
For this, enter the search terms, names of places or persons or dates into the central search field on the homepage (1) and click on the search symbol (2) or press the enter key.
You can find explanatory notes on the options when entering search terms as well as on special search functions here.
Displaying search results after the full-text search
The results list of a full-text search lists every newspaper issue containing the search term with title and publication date and shows the number of hits per issue (2).
If you click on “hits in this issue”, the respective reference from your search will be presented in a pop-up window. Then you can decide whether you would like to click on it and have the full text displayed.
Clicking on the title of the issue will send you directly to the first reference in the full-text display.
The number of hits (1) can be further limited via filters (3) in the left-hand column.
Filtering the search results after a full-text search
Filtering via publication time – time period filter (1)
Selecting the time period is possible by adjusting the timeline with the mouse as well as by entering a start and end date manually. After you have clicked on “Apply”, the results in the right-hand column will be adjusted to the filter. The list can be sorted according to the most recent or the oldest date as well as alphabetically, in ascending or descending order, via the drop down menu in the top right-hand corner.
The activated filter will be shown in the top of the filter column and can be deleted there again.
Filtering via the choice of newspaper – title filter (2)
After a full-text search, the newspapers in which there were search hits will be listed in the left-hand filter column. This list is not alphabetical, but is sorted according to the number of hits; this means that the newspapers in which the most hits were found will appear first in the newspaper list.
Click on “Show all” to show the complete newspaper list. Click on the plus symbol next to the newspaper title to show issues of an individual newspaper. Then all issues of this newspaper corresponding to your full-text search will be shown on the right-hand side of the results list.
The activated filter will be shown in the top of the filter column and can be deleted there again.
Filtering via place of distribution (3)
You can filter your search result according to the place of distribution. The place of distribution specifies the place or region where the newspaper was sold. The place of distribution is not always, but often, also the place of publication, which states the location of the publishing house. Example: place/region of distribution: Rhine-Main area, place of publication: Frankfurt am Main.
The list of places of distribution is not sorted alphabetically, but sorted according to the number of hits; this means that the places of distribution for which the most relevant newspaper issues were found will appear first in the location list.
Click on “Show all” to show the complete list. Click on the plus symbol next to the place of distribution to show issues from one place of distribution. Then all issues from this place of distribution in which hits corresponding to your full-text search were found will be shown on the right-hand side of the results list.
The activated filter will be shown in the top of the filter column and can be deleted there again.
Filtering via data providers (4)
You can filter your search result according to data providers. The data providers in whose newspapers there were hits after a full-text search are listed here. The list of data providers is sorted according to the number of hits; this means that the data providers who have made the most relevant newspaper issues for your search available will appear first.
Click on “Show all” to show the complete list. Click on the plus symbol next to the data provider to show issues from one data provider. Then all issues from this data provider in which hits corresponding to your full-text search were found will be shown on the right-hand side of the results list.
The activated filter will be shown in the top of the filter column and can be deleted there again.
Filtering via language (5)
The newspaper languages in which hits were found are listed here. Newspaper languages specify the language or languages in which the newspaper is written. The greater part of the newspapers is in German; at the newspaper portal’s launch in 2021, there were newspapers available in five languages. For newspapers written in several languages, every language is individually specified.
The list of languages is sorted according to the number of hits; this means that the languages in which the most newspaper issues relevant for your search are available will appear first in this list.
Click on “Show all” to show the complete list. Click on the plus symbol next to the language to show issues in a specific language. Then all issues in this language in which hits corresponding to your full-text search were found will be shown on the right-hand side of the results list.
The activated filter will be shown in the top of the filter column and can be deleted there again.
Combining filters in the full-text search
All filters which can be used to limit the results of the full-text search can be combined. So you can, for example, select all newspapers between 1900 and 1910 which were distributed in Berlin by entering the time span 1900-1910 in the time period filter and then click on “Berlin” in the place of distribution filter.
All activated filters will be shown in the top of the filter column and can also be deleted there again.
Full-text search in a specific newspaper
A full-text search in a specific newspaper can be performed on the newspaper’s overview page. You can access the overview page, for example, by clicking on “Select a title” on the homepage and then on the title of the newspaper required. All issues of the selected newspaper, which are in the newspaper portal and which have full text, can be searched via the search field on the overview page (1). You can enter one or more search terms here.
An overview page summarises information about the newspaper. The full title of the newspaper, its publication history, publication frequency, place of distribution, language and the newspaper’s identifier in the “Zeitschriftendatenbank” (“German Union Catalogue of Serials”) are shown here. Moreover, all of the issues in the newspaper portal can be accessed via the calendar function.
Full-text search in a newspaper issue
A full-text search can also be performed in an individual newspaper issue. For this, the required issue must first be selected, e.g. by clicking on a result of a full-text search. After clicking on the search symbol in the left-hand column (1), the search field for the full-text search in this issue will be shown (2).
Search for newspaper title and date
The central search field on the homepage allows you to search for a newspaper issue with a specific publication date. To do this, the newspaper title and the publication date must be entered in the search field. Search requests must be in dd.mm.yyyy format.
A search request like "Berliner Tageblatt 04.01.1910" would result in the corresponding newspaper issue as the first hit. Newspaper issues that do not have full text can thus also be found via the search field on the homepage by entering the title and publication date.
Browsing entry points
In addition to the full-text search via the central search field, the newspaper portal offers three so-called browsing entry points on the homepage: with these you can access all newspapers via title (1), place (2) or publication date (3).
Click on “Select a title” in the tile “Browse newspapers by title” to get to a list of all newspapers in the newspaper portal that is sorted alphabetically according to the newspaper title.
You can enter the title of a newspaper in the field “Refine results”. Alternatively, you can click on a letter in the menu bar to get to the newspaper required more quickly. If you click on the “A”, for example, a list will be shown containing all newspapers in the newspaper portal whose titles begin with an “A”.
“Browse newspapers by place” leads to a list in which the newspapers are sorted alphabetically according to their places of distribution. You can enter a place name in the field “Refine results”. Alternatively, you can click on a letter in the menu bar to get to the place of distribution required more quickly.
The tile “Browse newspapers by year of publication” offers an overview of all newspapers in the newspaper portal in order of date of publication. Click on “Select a year” to get to a complete overview of the centuries. After this, you can first select a year and then a day. All newspaper issues from the day selected which are available in the newspaper portal will then be shown on the results page.