The Archive of Serbia ( sr, Архив Србије / Arhiv Srbije), is the national archive of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, located in Belgrade. It houses and protects documents and other archival materials produced by state bodies and organizations of

before 1918 (before Serbia became part of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 ...

) and documents produced during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

(when Serbia was federal subject within

Communist Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

and Serbia and Montenegro).Official Site of The National Archives of Serbia
Делатност Архива Србије (''Activities of the Archive of Serbia'')
Documents dating from the period when Serbia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and documents produced by the state bodies and organizations of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 2006 are kept in the Archives of Yugoslavia, also in Belgrade.

History

The first proposal to establish a national archive came in 1846, but the ''Law on National Archives'' was only adopted on . The Archive began operation in 1900, and the founding members of the National Archives were: J. N. Ivković, Dr. M. Gavrilović, M. Rančić and M. K. Borisavljević. Its first official name was National Archive of the Kingdom of Serbia. Historian and diplomat Mihailo Gavrilović was The President of Archive in the period 1900-1910. Gavrilović was chiefly responsible for early development and organisation of the Archive. In this period the Archive was located in residence of general

Sava Grujić Sava Grujić ( sr-cyr, Сава Грујић, ; 25 November 1840 – 3 November 1913) was a Serbian politician, statesman, general, army officer, and author, serving five times as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia under two different mona ...

. The name was changed several times. Between 1918 and 1945 it was called National Archive (during this time it was National Archive of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Between 1945 and 1948 the name was National Archive of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. Between 1948 and 1969 it was National Archive of the People's Republic of Serbia (the separate Archives of Yugoslavia were established in 1950). In 1969, the Archive was given its current name, the Archive of Serbia.Official Site of The National Archives of Serbia
Историјат (''History'')
Archive of Serbia founders

During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, a part of archive material was moved to

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names in other languages) is the third largest city in Serbia and the administrative center of the Nišava District. It is located in southern part of Serbia. , the city proper has a population of 183,164, while ...

and Kragujevac, but another part remained in Belgrade. During the retreat of the Serbian Army, some of the archives were destroyed, some lost, but much was preserved in a train car in the

Kruševac Kruševac ( sr-cyr, Крушевац, , tr, Alacahisar or Kruşevca) is a city and the administrative center of the Rasina District in central Serbia. It is located in the valley of West Morava, on Rasina river. According to the 2011 census, t ...

train station. After the war, the Archive became the National Archive of the newly formed

Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(Yugoslavia). The current building of the Archive was dedicated in 1928. During the

, some of the archive material was confiscated by the Nazi German authorities. In 1941 total of 519 boxes from the period of Kingdom of Serbia were taken, and in 1942 total of 579 crates full of documents and 88

acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

were transported to Vienna. German Army occupied the building in two periods, so much of the archive was moved to the Faculty of Technology and the Belgrade University Library and the most valuable items were placed in the

National Bank In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings: * a bank owned by the state * an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally) * in the United States, an ordinary p ...

's safes. After the war, the Archive became the National Archive of the newly formed

Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

, until 1 January 1948 when the separate Archives of Yugoslavia were formed.

Archive today

Serbia today operates an extensive network of archives that cover the whole of the country. Although the National Archive in Belgrade was heavily damaged during

, the archives still hold a large amount of information that dates back to early

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

times.

Archives and collections

Within its 972 archives and 51 collections, the Archives of Serbia houses 10 kilometers of historical records.Official Site of The National Archives of Serbia
Фондови и збирке (''Archives and Collections'')
When taking the time of origin into account, the archival materials are divided into two segments – the old and new period. The old period comprises the archival materials until the end of 1918, while the new period comprises the materials from World War II onward. The oldest historical records stored in the Archive of Serbia, which originate from Serbia, are the records of the ''Principal Office'' (Office of the

Prince of Serbia This is an archontological list of Serbian monarchs, containing monarchs of the medieval principalities, to heads of state of modern Serbia. The Serbian monarchy dates back to the Early Middle Ages. The Serbian royal titles used include Knyaz ...

) (documents from 1815-1839). Besides that, the Archives of Serbia also preserve private and family records and collections, as well as collections of statesmen, politicians, scientists, writers, cultural and public workers, and other important figures of Serbia.

Kept documents

Majority of old archival materials in the Archive date from the 19th century, but there are some which are even older. One historical record of great importance is the record of the ''Privileged Serbian municipality in Buda'' (documents from 1696 onward). The oldest document preserved in the Archive is the ''

Visoki Dečani The Visoki Dečani Monastery ( sr, Манастир Високи Дечани, Manastir Visoki Dečani, sq, Manastiri i Deçanit) is a medieval Serbian Orthodox Christian monastery located near Deçan, Kosovo. It was founded in the first half of ...

founding charter'' from 1330.Tourist organization of Belgrade
Arhiv Srbije
Other notable documents are also kept in the Archive, including: documents issues by

Karađorđe Đorđe Petrović ( sr-Cyrl, Ђорђе Петровић, ), better known by the sobriquet Karađorđe ( sr-Cyrl, Карађорђе, lit=Black George, ; – ), was a Serbian revolutionary who led the struggle for his country's independ ...

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia ( sr-Cyrl, Књажество Србија, Knjažestvo Srbija) was an autonomous state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation wa ...

, Law on Proclamation of Kingdom of Serbia, tanners guild law proclaimed by

Arsenije III Crnojević Arsenije III Crnojević ( sr-cyr, Арсеније III Црнојевић; 1633 – 27 October 1706) was the Archbishop of Peć and Serbian Patriarch from 1674 to his death in 1706. In 1689, during the Habsburg-Ottoman War (1683–1699), he side ...

and others.

Building of the Archive

The building was erected in 1928 according to a project by Nikolai Krasnov. He emigrated from Russian Empire and worked for the Ministry of Architecture in the

. It is a one floor monumental building, in the shape of the letter "T", which is set upside down.Official Site of The National Archives of Serbia
Архитектура зграде (''Building Architecture'')
The building is located at Karnegijeva Street No. 2.

References

External links

The National Archives of Serbia official site
{{authority control Archives in Serbia Historiography of Serbia Palilula, Belgrade