Archival funds
City Archive has more than 350 archival funds and collections in its care.
The most extensive and for scientific research the most valuable is City Fund. Its oldest document is the scroll written in 1245 by Belo IV.
Medieval scrolls and written materials make a collection of 6,584 items in total. The scroll of Ondrej III from the 2 December 1291 stands out as it deals with the granting of city privileges to the city. Modern documentary and leaf material kept in City Archive from 1551 until the 20th century contains more than 20 000 pieces.
The most valuable and detailed source of urban life knowledge from the Middle Ages until today provide town books as well as other scroll material. The Bratislava Guilds Funds and Guilds of Extramural Bratislava also deserve your attention. The oldest known guild, the Brotherhood of the Body of God, was founded in 1349.
Funds mapping cultural and social life in the city include associations, with the Church Music Society standing out. Among other documents, it contains mainly the extensive collection of musical works by important authors such as Beethoven, F. Liszt, J. L. Bella.
Of no less interest are the funds of more than 60 Bratislava personalities and families, including traders, diplomats, philanthropists, artists, as well as personal funds of Slovak national personalities such as M.M. Hodža or J.M. Hurban.
Nobilitaria – collection of crest and yeoman documents, heraldic and genealogical collection (1434 - 1901) – are also significant. Very valuable material is contained in the Collection of Maps and Plans (1552 - 1998). Currently it contains more than 1800 inventory items.
Other interesting documents include a collection of posters and small prints, as well as other documentary material, such as the chronicles or the extensive collection of periodical press leading by the Pressburger Zeitung newspaper, which began to be published in Bratislava in 1764. This newspaper belongs to the first series of digitized documents in our archive and is currently available online.
From the funds of the 20th century, the most important place is occupied by the funds of the Municipal Notarial Office, Investing, Department of the Chief Architect and especially the National Committee of the city, which is the largest modern age fund of City Archive. Just the filing materials from years 1945 - 1968 are stored in 3509 archive boxes. These archival funds are currently also most used by researchers, mainly in connection with privatization, judicial rehabilitation, restitution, construction or property proceedings.
A large group of funds are nurseries, primary and secondary schools and other schools and educational facilities, as well as the Fund of Municipal Administration for Schools and Cultural Facilities. These are mainly used for purposes of providing data for the completion of education and employment, or for the needs of pension provision.
City Archive is obliged to take over new registrations from originators and their legal successors after the discharge proceedings, which are then transformed into new funds. The funds of the National Committee of Bratislava, the District National Committees, schools and other institutions are on the waiting list. Once processed, they will be made available to the public in the same way as our historical archive funds.