The Croatian State Archives is central archival institution in Croatia and perform archival services relating to archival and current records created by state bodies, state and public institutions and enterprises, and by corporate bodies, families and individuals whose activity covers the whole or a greater part of the Croatian territory, or is of State interest. In order to make the memories of Croatian nation available to public as much as possible, Croatian State Archives provide access to its documents under equal conditions for all researchers:

     
 
Where to find us?
    CROATIAN STATE ARCHIVES
Marulić square 21
10 000 Zagreb
Croatia		  
       
 
 
The building of the CSA is one of the most beautiful sites of the art nouveau architecture in Croatia, built in 1913 by the architect Rudolf Lubynski.
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  History
   
  Development of Croatian State Archives as a central Croatian archival institution went along with the development of the system of preservation of the national archival heritage. In the middle ages instruments and documents of the Croatian Kingdom were kept by different officials - governors, vice-governors and the Zagreb capitulary. Since the 17th century Croatian Parliament has been more systematically making inventories and preserving the most valuable records of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia. On the basis of the Parliament resolution of 1643 terrestrial treasurer Ivan Zakmardi de Diankovec gives orders to make a special chest of Kingdom privileges financed by the state. Terrestrial acts, charters, laws and privileges, accompanied with the inventory, were kept in there, so it established the foundation of the present CSA. Since the governors, vice-governors and the protonators used to keep the official documents with them, the Parliament eventually brings series of regulations about the delivery of official documents to the Kingdom Archives and also in 1744 a resolution of Ladislav Kiraly’s nomination as the first terrestrial archivist. In 1745 the Parliament gives him a special instruction, the first known in our country, concerning arranging, disposing, cataloguing, listing and preserving of the Kingdom records. Since the Chest of privileges was kept in the sacristy of the Zagreb cathedral, the Parliament in 1752 demands that it should be removed and placed in the Parliament chamber on the Saint Marko square, which was done in 1764. In 1770. Croatian parliament inaugurates special protection measures for those rooms, in which together with Chest and Kingdom Archives, County of Zagreb and the Judicial Table documents were kept. In the time of the Croatian Royal Council (1767-1779) in Civil Croatia begins a systematic separation of current office records from those having a historical significance. Archives of the most important branches of administration, capitulary archives and the Kingdom Archives were being arranged and listed. During 1791-1797 period the first elenchus and repertories of the particular series of documents (Parliament, Governor’s documents, Protonator’s documents, Conferences) were composed. Ivan Zrnčić was the first permanent archivist of the Royal archives, established 1800.
       
 
 
The Chest of Privileges - the chest of privileges of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia made by notary and treasurer Ivan Zakmardi de Diankovec in accordance with the Parliament resolution from the 27-28 August 1641 session (art. 14)
Governors key - one of the tree keys (governors, vice-governors and protonotars) which opened the Chest of Privileges of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia (1643)
   
  From the middle of the 19th century begins a process of the Royal archives developing into an autonomous institution for keeping and processing archival records. Governor Josip Jelačić has appointed Ivan Kukuljević Sakcinski administrator of the Archives in 1848. Thanks to the new approach to the archives as an integral part of the cultural legacy of a certain state by the first restitution of the archival records from abroad (1849-1853) some documents of Croatian provenance were returned to the Archives from Budapest. Among them were documents of Croatian nobiliary families (Zrinski, Frankopani), proceedings of the destroyed Jesuit, Paulist and other monasteries in Croatia, which were treasured in Hungarian Chamber, proceedings of the Croatian Royal Council and also Croatian proceedings of the Royal Hungarian Regent Council etc. By orders of the Hungarian Government, governor Khuen-Hédervary returned once again older and more important mentioned documents in Budapest in 1885. In the time of Ivan Kukuljević systematic publishing of the archival records as a historic source started.
       
 
       
 

After the Croatian-Hungarian settlement (1868) Royal territorial archives became an auxiliary office to the Royal Croatian-Slavonian-Dalmatian territorial Government which in 1870 carries out the Law about Territorial archives in Zagreb with ordinances about the use of the records. By that, the Archives became open to the public, especially scholars. Historian Tadija Smičiklas received from the Territorial Government a licence for the students to work in the Archives. In 1899 the Archives also began issuing its paper – Bulletin the archives. In the same period important records of the military foundation and several counties were transferred to the Archives. In 1913 the building designated for University Library and the Territorial archives, where the Archives is presently situated, was built. In December 1918. proceedings of the Croatian Minister, together with materials of the Croatian Royal Chamber and Croatian documents from Austrian ministries were brought from Budapest. Proceedings which were moved to Budapest by the governor Khuen-Hédervary in 1885, were returned to the Archives in 1958 and 1960. The status of the Archives as an autonomous institution has been formally certified in the period between the two world wars when it was in 1923 under the name Royal State Archives separated from administration. In the second half of the 20th century it became Croatian central archive and has gradually been developing by founding separate units which take over specific roles of the archival service (laboratory, film archives etc.)
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  Activities
   
 

CSA, as any other state archives:

- carry out measures for the protection and security of archival material in its custody
- arrange, publish and enable use of archival records
- perform professional supervision over preservation and selection of records outside the Archives
- perform close supervision over the work of the archives and other records-owners outside the state archives system
- take over public and collect private archival records through acquisition, donations or deposit;
- perform security and preservation microfilming and restoration and conservation of archival material
- provide information, extracts from documents and certified transcripts at the users’ request
- create and publish finding aids for particular funds and collections etc.

Along with this, Croatian State Archives as central and national archives:

-keep Register of archival fonds and collections in the Republic of Croatia
-keep Register of owners and holders of private archival records and Register of owners of private archives in the Republic of Croatia
- keep records concerning archives stored in foreign archival institutions being of importance for the Republic of Croatia, as well as concerning archives of Croatian emigrants
- keep Register of archives proclaiming cultural goods
- keep Register of all archives of the Republic of Croatia
- offer its opinion to the Minister of culture about plans and programs of state archives
- composes education plans and other forms of professional training of archival staff.
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  Organisation structure
   
 

• Department for protection and processing archival records
      • Section for older archival records (until 1868) and family and individual records
      • Section for newer archival records (1868-1945)
      • Section for contemporary archival records
      • Section for military archival records
      • Section for political parties and NGO archival records
      • Section for state geodesic archival records
      • Section for information, documentation and reading room (Reference Service)
      • Section for supervision of agency records centres
   • Department for development and central service    
• Zagreb archbishopric deposit:
   • Capitular’s and Archbishopric Archives
   • Metropolitana library
• Croatian Film Archives
• Central Laboratory for Photography, Microphotography and Reprography
• Central Laboratory for the Conservation and Restoration of Archives
• Institute for Archival Sciences, Auxiliary Historical Sciences and Filmology
• Department of comprehensive services with maintenance division
• Department of finances and accountancy

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  The building of CSA
       
  The construction of the Royal University Library and Royal State Archives began on February 21st 1911 based on the competition winning project by the architect Rudolf Lubynski. The building was delivered to use on November 29th 1913. Rudolf Lubynski (1873-1935) was a student of the well-known architect J. Durm on the High Technical School in Karlsruhe, and his co-operator on the construction of the University Library in Heidelberg. He worked in Offenberg, Köln and Freiburg, and was one of the most productive Zagreb architects.
 
       
  This, to the present day leading mansion of the Croatian art nouveau, a successful junction of the early Viennese art nouveau and modern European, especially German architecture from the beginning of the 20th century. It was planned as a substantive building in the park (80 m long and 46 m wide, of reinforced concrete and iron construction), well incorporated in the town-planning model of the Lower city (Zagreb green horseshoe). The high dome above the central large reading room in the axis of the mansion, with four pillars where four owls carrying globes are situated, perfectly presents library identity. The facades with allegories of four collegiate sciences (philosophy, medicine, law and theology) by Robert Frangeš and the pediment of the south façade with bookselling allegory by Rudolf Valdec, are harmoniously integrated in complete, though simple, and at the same time monumental vision of architecture.
       
 
On the south wall of the main reading-room (above the gallery where, since 1997, some of the oldest library holdings from CSA Library have been placed) is a large painting Evolution of the Croatian culture by Vlaho Bukovac (Prague 1913). Above the main exit after the renovation there will be reposted paintings by Mirko Rački (which were put away during the Croatian War of Independence) Science in Antiquity, Science in the Middle Ages and Science in the Modern age. Thirty-two ornamental decanted relieves by Mila Vodsedalekova in wooden lining with motive variation of a boy with a book and four images of philosophers shall also be put after the renovation of the hall.
       
 

Alongside with 51 art nouveau chandeliers in the line below the gallery and 130 desks lamps, two central magnificent art nouveau chandeliers dominate the room, each about 3 m wide, with 16 small chandeliers, both needing restoration and cleaning.

The Hall is glazed with 25 bigger and 10 smaller windows with stained-glass windows in the north, west and east sides and with stained-glass windows on the ceiling, which were taken off during the Croatian War of Independence. After the renovation, the main reading room (closed for public since the February 17th 1996.) will be reopened for the use of the archival records as well as the rich historic library holdings. That will significantly upgrade the entire activity of the Archives and open the Archives to the general public.
       
 
The professor’s reading room is ornamented with metallic lockets with vignette, mosaic on the walls by Koch and Marinković, ornamental metallic trellis on the radiators, stained-glass windows (C. Geyling from Vienna) and oval glazed ceiling (the stained-glass wings are currently taken off). It is worth to point out 4 art nouveau chandeliers and 8 desk lamps as well as two cloths by I. Tišov Scientiae Naturales/Scientiae Scholasticae, (Paris 1913) and Artes Liberales (Paris 1914) and also one cloth by R. Auer Pallas Athena (Zagreb 1913). This reading room also urgently needs serious restoring intervention.
       
  It is necessary to restore the vestibules and the atrium of the building which ennoble the six wing festal gate glazed in flint-glass, 9 large and 14 small abundantly ornamented ornamental copper flower-stands and also the artistic pictures of cities, which are now stored and wait for the restoration and to be reinstalled: Menci Klement Crnčić Sen (above the entrance in the small reading-room), Oton Iveković Dubrovnik (above the entrance in the big reading-room), Oton Iveković Dubrovnik, Ferdo Kovačić Đakovo (above the entrance in the room for issuing books) and
Gabrijel Jurkić Jajce (above the entrance in the catalogue room).

Until 1996 the Croatian State Archives has been located in the eastern wing of the building. By executing the Law on transfer of ownership and founder’s privileges over the National and University Library in Zagreb to Republic of Croatia (NN 21/1995) the whole building was given to the Archives “until the construction of the new building for the CSA”. Representative interior intended for users (main and professor’s reading rooms, catalogues and book loan) is being restored and preserved in phases. The restoration and preservation of the catalogues hall and book loan hall has been completed, and now follows the renovation of professor’s and great reading rooms. The heating system in the dome of the great reading room has been restored and incorporated in the updated system of heating of the entire building. Since 1996 there were some improvements made in the mansard, in repositories, the basement and shelves for archival records. The asbestos floors in repositories were replaced in accordance with modern international standards. The Central laboratory for conservation and restoration is placed to the basement of the building. By renovations of basement and attics obtained further about 3000 meters of space for placement of archival records were obtained, sewage has been renovated and the interior yards have been repaired.
       
 
       
 

According to the expert’s estimation, the residence of the Croatian State Archives is an inspired and unique example of the permeation of creative architecture, decorative symbolism and functionality. In recent survey by magazine Man and space several respectable architects proclaimed this very building “the realization of the 20th century” in Croatia. It is often a subject of expertly visits by architects, building constructors and art historians from all over Europe. It is also a great responsibility to protect the building as a part of Croatian cultural heritage. By systematic actions (restoration, preservation and renovation as well a promotion pf public user’s roles) its former shine will completely be restore and a humanistic message will be kept for further generations

 

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