German ID cards issued since 2010 have an eID function, allowing people to prove their identity over the Internet. You can find the requirements in the help article on how to link your user account with eID.

If you link your invenio account to your electronic ID card, you will be able to search for restricted cataloguing information outside the reading rooms of the Federal Archives, provided you have been authorised to do so by the Federal Archives.

Why is the eID function used in invenio?

You cannot freely search for all recorded information on archived items. Some information on archived items is subject to legal restrictions and therefore only displayed in invenio at the end of the respective term of protection (the same applies to the items themselves). For example, personnel files can only be found in invenio 10 years after the death of the person concerned. If certain legal requirements are met, you may be granted the right to have items displayed in invenio that are still subject to legal usage restrictions. Such legal requirements may be met, for example, if you work in research or academia and searching for certain items is essential for your research project. If you would like to be granted such rights, you must submit a request for a reduction in the term of protection and make a formal declaration of commitment. If your request is approved, the specifically required items will be unlocked for your search (and you may also be able to request them for use in the reading room).

Your access rights can only be extended for one specific usage topic at a time; you cannot be granted general usage rights for all restricted items in the archive.

If you would like to know whether a reduction in a term of protection is necessary / possible for your usage topic, please contact the responsible department at the Federal Archives. The contact details can be found on our website.

It was previously only possible to search for unlocked items in the reading rooms of the Federal Archives, as our users could only prove their identity on site by presenting their ID card. Since the introduction of the eID function in invenio, however, you can also use these rights outside reading rooms by signing in to invenio with your ID card instead of a username and password.

You can find more information on the following pages:

• What are the advantages of signing in with eID?

• How to link your user account with eID

• How to register with eID

• How to sign in with eID

eID use for EU citizens

In addition to the German ID card, the means of identification of various European countries can also be used via the eIDAS procedure. In principle, all citizens whose countries participate in the eIDAS procedure are entitled to use the ID card function. The participating countries can be taken from the selection list that invenio offers after selecting the button Anmelden mit Personalausweis on the start page.

Unfortunately, not all countries participating in the eIDAS procedure are currently compatible with the German authentication service. As a result, the means of identification from Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain cannot currently be used in invenio.

Unfortunately, we have no information as to when the means of identification for the aforementioned countries will be connected.