The National Archives is an organisational unit of the state established by Act No. 499/2004 Coll. It is the central archive of the Czech Republic and ensures the care of archival records originating from the central authorities of the Czech and Czechoslovak state, created from the Middle Ages to the present, as well as records of other creators [1]. The archival collections it administers extend to more than 130 linear kilometres [1].
History
The origins of the central archive of the Czech state go back to the 12th century, and its development followed two lines [2]. The first line is the archive of charters of the Přemyslid ruling dynasty, today called Archiv České koruny, whose oldest surviving charter dates from 1158 [2]. In the middle of the 18th century this archive was divided into a Viennese and a Prague part. The Prague part was incorporated into Archiv země České in 1884, and the Viennese part returned to Prague in 1920 as part of the archival separation from Austria [2]. The Archiv České koruny fonds contains 2,824 charters from the years 1158 to 1935. In 1977 it was declared a cultural monument, and in 1988 the government declared it a National Cultural Monument by Decree No. 132 of 17 August 1988 [2].
The second line of development is connected with the existence of central administrative institutions, beginning with the Czech royal chancellery, attested as early as the 12th century. The chancellery's own archive, formerly called the old registry, is attested for 1567 [2]. The archive was successively named after the institution that administered it: from the 16th century the archive of the Czech chancellery and the Czech chamber, from the early 1620s the archive of the old Czech governorship, from 1749 the archive of the representation and chamber, from 1763 the archive of the Czech gubernium, from 1850 the archive of the Czech governorship, and from 1919 the archive of the Ministry of the Interior [2].
Until 1918 the organisation of archival affairs received little attention, and the Austrian archival reform of 1894 to 1895 was carried out only in part before the First World War [2]. On 20 November 1918 the cultural department of the Národní výbor in Prague convened a so-called archival enquiry, a consultation of leading Czech archivists on the organisation of Czechoslovak archives [2]. The consultation produced a proposal to create a general state archive in Prague by merging Archiv země České, the governorship archive and the archive of the National Museum, but because of disputes over competence between the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministerstvo školství a národní osvěty it was not carried through during the First Republic [2]. After 1918 only a number of departmental archives therefore arose, among them the Archiv ministerstva vnitra, established in 1919 from the governorship archive and renamed in 1950 Ústřední archiv Ministerstva vnitra, and the Československý státní archiv zemědělský, founded in 1919 at the Ministry of Agriculture and called Ústřední zemědělsko-lesnický archiv from 1952 [2].
Tasks and activities
The National Archives deposits, administers and processes the archival fonds and collections entrusted to it and makes them accessible, allowing records to be consulted under the conditions set by law [1]. It selects archival records in records disposal proceedings and outside them from public-law creators such as the Úřad vlády České republiky or the ministries, and cooperates with private-law entities in systematic acquisition [1]. Through its reading rooms it provides access to records and expert information services, and it handles the sale of its own publications [1]. By its own description it holds the largest specialised archival library in the Czech Republic, which is open to the public [1]. It supervises the performance of records management at public-law creators with nationwide competence and keeps records of the segment of the national archival heritage entrusted to it [1].
The archive has the status of a research organisation and carries out research under a development programme, as well as conservation and restoration of records and microbiological surveys [1]. It performs the tasks of a central scientific research institution in the area of preventive care, conservation and restoration of records, and in the area of preserving and providing access to new forms of information carriers, including documents in digital form [1]. It establishes the Národní digitální archiv, operates the Národní archivní portál, and operates a disinfection line intended for the decontamination of affected documents and records [1].
It publishes the professional periodicals Historická fotografie, Sborník archivních prací, Paginae historiae and Informační list pro otázky elektronické spisové služby a dokumentů v digitální podobě [1]. It organises exhibitions, lectures, conferences and excursions, and in cooperation with universities takes part in educating new generations of specialists [1]. It cooperates with domestic and foreign archives and other memory institutions and is a member of professional international platforms, including EBNA, DLM Forum, Dilcis Board, AUdS and ICARUS [1].