News

On May 8, 2026, the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and the World Red Cross Day, the German Red Cross Tracing Service Munich Office will open its new premises at Grillparzerstraße 8, 81675 Munich for interested visitors. Take this opportunity to learn about our work and gain insights into the tracing of missing persons from World War II. 

For decades, we trace and clarify the fates of those missing from World War II, the post-war period, and the former division of Germany. The Central Name Index, containing around 50 million digitized index cards, provides information on the whereabouts of over 20 million people. Newly accessed information from the archives of the successor states of the former Soviet Union often gives relatives long-awaited clarity for the first time. 

During guided tours, we will present our unique historical archival collections, show how tracing investigations are carried out, and explain our work using concrete individual cases. Visitors will gain insights into the various stages of a tracing case, the research methods used, and potential sources of information - from the Central Name Index and databases, to the historical archive, to personal papers of former prisoners of war and missing persons files from our records.