Newspapers are becoming an ever more important tool in the family historian’s toolbox. There are numerous websites, both by subscription and free, that offer literally hundreds of U.S. historical newspapers in digital format online.

What about access to historic European newspapers? Given the millions of descendants of fairly recent immigrants – and by recent, I’m talking about the 1800s and later – finding links to European newspapers should be on the research list of many people.

So, where can these newspapers be found? Before I list even a single website, remember that if the newspaper is printed in a (to you) foreign language, you’ll need some help reading the news. 🙂

Here are a baker’s dozen of resources for locating historic newspapers online – some lead to pay links, but many are free.

1. Europeana Newspapers – This website has links to about 25 participating libraries. NOTE: Use the box at the top right to EXPLORE the newspapers. The prototype browser offered in the box allows search terms to be entered.
2. BGSU University Libraries – This library has links to worldwide newspaper collections. The European tab lists the newspapers by name under countries and also includes the time period of publication.
3. The Ancestor Hunt by Kenneth R. Marks has a 2016 post about European newspaper links, some free and some by subscription.
4. Wikipedia: List of Online Newspapers
5. Xooxle Answers: European Newspaper Archives – Some of these newspapers go back to the 1600s.
6. University of Illinois – Find Newspapers – Scroll down past the mainly U.S. links to Europe.
7. Elephind – Another site that includes historical newspapers worldwide, not just European
8. Google News Archive – more links to worldwide newspapers, but they are in ABC order by title, not grouped by country
9. Compact Memory – A collection of Jewish newspapers published in German speaking countries
10. Duke University Libraries: Russian and East European Historical Newspapers
11. The University of Western Australia – The library has links to worldwide historical newspapers.
12. University of Toronto Libraries – You’ll find links to modern newspapers, but scroll down to find the list of historical newspaper links
13. The European Library – Links to both current and historical newspapers