Deutsches Zeitungsportal: How to search here

Full text search

The most important search function in the Deutsches Zeitungsportal is the so-called full-text search. This allows you to search directly in the newspaper texts. This works in a similar way to Google and Co. You can enter one or more terms in the search slot on the homepage. As a result, you will receive all newspaper issues that contain the search term.

In order for the newspapers to be searched in this way, the computer must recognise the letters in the newspaper correctly. This is an automatic process that can sometimes go wrong. For example, it can happen that the computer confuses the letters ‘rn’ with ‘m’.

Most of the time, however, the search works well. For example, if you search for the word ‘Kriegsschäden’, you will get a lot of results. However, since you are interested in a specific time and a specific region, you can narrow down the results. You can do this using the filters on the left-hand side, similar to online shops. Here you can select a period from the post-war period in the time filter, for example enter 10/11/1945 to 29/06/1946 in the drop-down menu. Then select ‘Olpe’, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, as the place of distribution. Your hits will then have been significantly reduced.

Each hit has a bit of text around the word you are looking for. This gives you a better idea of whether you are interested in this issue. The issue of the ‘Olper Kreisblatt’ from 12 January 1946, for example, reports on how many buildings in Olpe were destroyed or severely damaged by the war. Click on the search result to open the newspaper. 

On the page that then opens, you can see the newspaper. The word ‘Kriegsschäden’ is highlighted in blue on the picture of the newspaper, so you can find the article that interests you directly. You can then read the article directly in the original newspaper. Or you can click on the ‘Show full text' button. You will then see the full text of the newspaper generated by the computer. You can also copy out parts of the text. If you want to search in the issue, you can click on the magnifying glass symbol and enter your new search term. The best way to download the whole issue is via the download button. Here you can download several versions.

Search by title, place and year

In addition to the full text search, you can also use three other searches. You can search for newspapers by title, place or year.

Suche über Titel, Ort und Jahr

Neben der Volltextsuche könnt ihr noch drei andere Suchen benutzen. Nämlich indem ihr euch die Zeitungen nach Titel, Ort oder Jahr aussucht.