Brno city archive (AMB) - About the archive
  About the archiveAbout the archive The Brno City Archive is an organisational component of the Statutory City of Brno. It is sited in the newly-reconstructed building at 2 Predni Street in Brno - Černovice.
Documents relating to the following are kept at the Brno City Archive:
In addition the Brno City Archive contains written documents pertaining to certain important Brno citizens, an extensive photographic collection and postcards with Brno themes and also a collection of maps and plans related to the territory of the city of Brno. The archive library forms a part of the Archive, in which there are more than 63,000 volumes, most of which consist of specialist historical literature and magazines. Those members of the general and specialist public interested in studying the history of Brno may study these documents in the research room at the Brno City Archive whilst adhering to the regulations governing research. Researchers may also order photocopies; prices are given in the current Brno City Archive price list. Background research also forms a part of these services - i.e. searching for data in archive documents. The most commonly-requested documents are official decrees relating to various civic matters and data referring to persons and their activities in the city of Brno (in particular right of domicile, police residential orders, census, school catalogues, inheritance, personal data and health documentation).
Following reconstruction work, the Brno City Archive building was opened on 12 September 2002 at 2 Přední Street in Brno - Černovice. This meant for the Brno City Archive an end to many years of interim homes, which was caused in particular by a lack of space both for an archive depository, and also for arranging work, not to mention the unsuitable conditions in specialist workshops (restoration, bookbinding and photographic). The Černovice site therefore once again gained an important position in the life of the city of Brno, although in a completely different sphere from that for which it was originally designed in 1912-13. At that time the city fathers were dealing with the important matter of electricity supply for the city. The original city electricity power station was insufficient for the city's needs and so the city signed a contract with the „Austrian Electricity Supply Company" to connect the city's network to the new power station in Oslavany. This required the construction of the Černovice transformer station whose huge building contained equipment that transformed 44000 volt electrical current from the Oslavany power station into 2000 volts suitable for the city network. The key role of the Černovice transformer station changed after 1930, because the city sourced a significant part of its energy requirements from the newly-built heating plant. Electrical current from the Oslavany power station was fed to the transformer until 1959, however, after which only a small part of the building was used for energy purposes, and the rest of the building was used by the Domácí potřeby Brno (Brno domestic appliances) company as storage space. After the closure of this company in 1993 the Brno City Council allocated the building to the Brno City Archive by decree. Due to the poor technical and structural condition of the building the archive was only able to use a small part of the storage space. Following minor building repairs, in 2001 the overall reconstruction of the building for archive purposes was undertaken. At a cost of 52 million Crowns, the new Brno City Archive site was constructed. The three-storey building and its internal equipment and spatial provision can now solve the most important working and storage problems previously faced by the archive. The depositories, which are located on the ground floor and on the first floor, are equipped with both compact and regular shelving with a total shelf space of 6000 running metres. Other archive space can be found in special cabinets (maps, plans, photographs). On the first floor, in addition to the depositories, are the book-binding and restoration workshops and also a research area with 24 research stations. There are also areas for the storage of reserve archive materials and also a changing room for researchers. On the second floor there are 12 offices and administrative rooms, a photographic workshop and a lecture hall for 25 persons. All three floors are interconnected by two stairways and two lifts - one for goods and one for personnel. There is also a data processing centre and an air conditioning and heating control centre. At present the depositories are 80% filled with archive materials - these are mainly documents relating to the activities of the city council and the surrounding communities, and in addition there are archives from e.g. guilds, societies, Czech and German schools, parish offices, the city court, personal documents, collections of maps and postcards. Part of the archive (mainly collections of papers and part of the hand-written document collection) are still stored at the original site of the Brno City Archive - at the New Town Hall on Dominikánské náměstí. In addition documents pertaining to closed municipal companies and other city facilities (including a large amount of "S" - type documents with unexpired destruction dates) have not been moved to Černovice, and for now they are stored at the interim archive in Kuřim. Since 2005 a new depository has been in operation, which was built on the land adjacent to the newly-reconstructed Černovice building. The completion of this building not only caters for the current storage capacity of the Brno City Archive, but also provides a sufficient reserve for future years.
The archive library was established in 1918, when Dr. Bohumil Navrátil headed the city archive. Because he was unable to devote enough time to it due to his other commitments (he was also employed by the Moravian regional archive and later also Professor at the Philosophical Faculty of Masaryk University), very few books were added to the archive library during the 1920s. The situation changed in 1929 - Dr. Jaroslav Dřímal, later to serve as the director of the archive for many years, took up a position as city archivist. The annual grant to the library rose in value considerably (from the original 1500 Crowns to 10000 Crowns), and in addition the archive also received one-off grants for occasional purchases. Numerous books were collected from the city, which had previously been stored at each municipal department; the library stock also rose with the donation of valuable gifts from various institutions and private citizens. One condition for this development was the sufficient provision of space, which the archive acquired in 1935 following a general reconstruction of the New Town Hall. Over the following fifteen years all the spatial reserves of the archive were gradually filled up, and so from the 1950s onwards some parts of the library stock were placed in temporary and not always suitable depositories. This problem was not solved until 1995 thanks to the adaptation of the archive buildings in Kuřim and Černovice. Despite the spatial problems in recent decades, the number of books and periodicals in the archive library has continued to rise. The library stock now consists of more than 63000 volumes, which are divided into twelve sections. When making these divisions two criteria, factual and format, were used. The factual sections consist of Brno-related materials, encyclopaedias and dictionaries, magazines, newspapers and old printed matter. Other publications are stored according to format. In its content the structure of the library is set by the activities of its mother institution, for whose staff it should serve first and foremost. It mainly contains specialist historical literature, with titles from related scientific fields. It has managed to obtain several important works that were published before 1930, i.e. prior to the commencement of the systematic purchase of contemporary production. Almost all of the collections of leading historical journals have been purchased. Also of value are the numerous newspapers, of which some, for example the Brünner Zeitung and Moravská Orlice, date back to the early 19th century. The only tool which makes searches possible in the relatively extensive library stock unfortunately currently only consists of a card index. There were attempts to create a systematic or subject catalogue in the past, but they were never implemented in a level that could be used. In order to verify the necessary signatures, each interested party must know the basic bibliographical data. In the near future, however, a computer database of the library is due to be put in place, which would make one's orientation around the library much easier. Of course, the books in the library are not for the sole use of the staff of the Brno City Archive, and they can also be used by external researchers, both professional and otherwise. The Library forms a part of the Department for Public Relations and study is therefore governed by the rules of research of the Brno City Archive. Researchers may also order photocopies - prices are given on the service price list.
|
|||||||||
