Historische Kommission

What Historische Kommission does

The Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (HiKo) is a non-profit scholarly research institution founded in 1858 by King Maximilian II of Bavaria and based in Munich. It operates as a Stiftung (foundation) under Bavarian law, with primary financing from the Free State of Bavaria and additional third-party project funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). HiKo's ~30 staff researchers (20 with permanent contracts) and 39 elected scholarly members from universities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland produce scholarly editions of historical source material, biographical reference works, and digital humanities outputs organized across 16 long-term departments covering German history from the Middle Ages to the contemporary period.

Its core product portfolio comprises print editions of the Deutsche Reichstagsakten (25+ volumes across four series), the Akten der Reichskanzlei, the Protokolle des Bayerischen Staatsrats, and the Protokolle des Bayerischen Ministerrats, alongside the Deutsche Biographie (NDB-online) — the largest academic biographical reference in the German-speaking world, operated jointly with the Bavarian State Library since 2012. Underlying technology includes the open-source Oxydition publication tool built on the Oxygen XML Editor, TEI-based digital edition platforms (reichstagsakten.de, aktenreichskanzlei.deutschesarchiv.de, karl-hegel-briefe.de), and structured historical databases. Notable 2025-2026 launches include the expanded online edition of Akten der Reichskanzlei 1919-1939 with 6,000+ annotated documents and the digital Karl Hegel correspondence edition.

HiKo does not operate a commercial pricing model. Its 'customers' are non-paying academic researchers, universities, libraries, and archives across the DACH region; distribution occurs via academic publishers (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, De Gruyter Oldenbourg), open-access digital portals, and the HiKo-Cast and 'Gesichter der Geschichte' podcasts. Strategic and editorial decisions are made at annual member meetings under the leadership of President Reinhard Stauber (since March 2022), Secretary Bernhard Löffler (since 2018), and Managing Director Karl-Ulrich Gelberg.

Name

Historische Kommission

Legal name

Historische Kommission bei der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften

Website

https://historischekommission-muenchen.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1858

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Historische Kommission (HiKo) is a Munich-based, state-funded scholarly research institution founded in 1858 that publishes historical source editions, maintains the Deutsche Biographie, and develops digital humanities tools for academic researchers across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Historical Research

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Book Publishers (513130), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Scholarly Societies & Conference Proceedings Publishing (MPAJABAK), Research Monographs & University Press Publishing (MPAJABAJ), Open Access Scholarly Journals & Monographs (EDAGAFAJ), Academic & Scholarly Journals Publishing (Peer-Reviewed) (MPAJABAC)

Keywords

• Historical source editions
• Biographical research
• Digital humanities
• Scholarly publications
• German history research

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Public Funding: Main financing provided by the Free State of Bavaria as the primary funding source for operations and core research activities.
2. Third-Party Project Funding: Additional project-based funding received from third-party sources including the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG/German Research Foundation) for specific research projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Historische Kommission is a scholarly research institution that publishes critical editions of historical source material covering German history from the Middle Ages to contemporary times, maintains the Deutsche Biographie digital biographical dictionary in cooperation with the Bavarian State Library, and develops digital humanities tools such as the open-source Oxydition publication framework for scholarly digital editions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Deutsche Biographie: The largest academic source of reliable biographical information in the German-speaking world, comparable to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, operated in cooperation with the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.
• NDB-online
• Akten der Reichskanzlei
• Deutsche Reichstagsakten

Products and services

• Deutsche Biographie (NDB-online) Digital biographical dictionary providing reliable biographical information on notable figures in German-speaking history; designed for academic researchers, historians, universities, and libraries.
• Deutsche Reichstagsakten (Critical Editions) Critical scholarly editions of documents from Imperial German Diets (Reichstagsakten) covering multiple series - Ältere Reihe, Mittlere Reihe, Jüngere Reihe, and Reichsversammlungen 1556-1662; for academic historians studying medieval and early modern German history.
• Akten der Reichskanzlei 1919-1939 Online Edition Online digital edition of documents from the German Reich Chancellery covering the Weimar Republic and the early Nazi regime; serves academic researchers in modern German history.
• Oxydition Open-source digital humanities publication tool providing programming frameworks for the Oxygen XML Editor used to produce digital scholarly editions; designed for digital humanities researchers and edition projects.
• HiKo-Cast Podcast Podcast series discussing historical research, biographical articles, and ongoing projects of the Historische Kommission; aimed at researchers and the educated general public.
• Gesichter der Geschichte Podcast

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Bavarian Academy of Sciences and HumanitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHiKo is institutionally embedded within the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. The Academy provides office space and institutional support. HiKo's administration is located together with the Academy at its Munich site.
• Bavarian State LibrarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHiKo cooperates with the Bavarian State Library to run Deutsche Biographie (www.deutsche-biographie.de), the largest academic source of reliable biographical information in the German-speaking world, comparable to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
• Bundesarchiv (German Federal Archives)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on the Akten der Reichskanzlei online edition covering documents from 1919-1939. The online presentation was created jointly by HiKo and the Bundesarchiv.
• Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesmajorTechnology or IntegrationTechnical infrastructure cooperation between Bundesarchiv and BBAW for the Akten der Reichskanzlei digital portal.
• Commission for History of Parliamentarism and Political PartiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDFG-funded cooperation project 'Abgeordnetenleben 1871-1918' on the social and cultural foundations of parliamentary representation.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/historische-kommission
• Instagraminstagram.com/historischekommission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Historische Kommission