Abstract
This contribution to Ab Imperio's forum on the archives of empires examines the history of central government archives in the Habsburg Monarchy of East Central Europe from the sixteenth through twentieth centuries. The court, financial, and military archives in the imperial capital at first only served official purposes, but by the nineteenth century also supported historical research. Later the provinces and emerging national states also developed archives and made them accessible to historians. The multinational empire dissolved in 1918 and its successor states competed for possession of the central archives. National archives were considered essential for the creation of national states and histories.