• Image Gallery

The Republic of Croatia counts 13 historical state archives with about 70 000 lm. of archival material covering the period from the tenth to the twentieth century. In addition to the 13 state archives, there are numerous record centres, private archives, ecclesiastical archives, school archives and other institutions such as museums and libraries, holding valuable collections.

The armed conflicts in the Balkans have produced severe damage and destruction in the countries of former Yugoslavia, particularly in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In Croatia, numerous cultural institutions and monuments were destroyed or damaged. Archival buildings and many archival holdings in Dubrovnik, Osijek, Slavonski Brod, Vinkovci, Petrinja, Karlovac, Zagreb and of Eastern Croatia have particularly suffered.

It is estimated that about 500 000 sheets of archival material have been more or less damaged. These documents are now being restored. A special plan for preserving archival buildings and precious archival holdings was put into effect during the armed conflict. This plan has prevented more severe damage or destruction. It included a priority list containing the most valuable archival holdings. The collections included in this list were transferred to safe locations, e.g. underground depositories or evacuated to remote secure places providing protection. These places were selected according to the necessity of preserving the documents from humidity, molds, fire, vandalism and other possible threats.

However, many documents, including precious medieval parchments, have been damaged, particularly by humidity. Many records and record offices have been damaged by vandalism, humidity and other influences because of the lack of professional staff, especially in small cities or villages. The Image Gallery shows various examples of damages on archival buildings, record offices and documents.

A detailed list of archives in Croatia damaged or destroyed during the recent conflict was published by Joan van Albada in his "Report on destroyed and damaged archives", also published in Archivum, (Vol. XLII/ International Council on Archives. - München, New Providence; London ; Paris : Saur, 1996, pp 67-78). The main characteristics of war damaged archives both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a chronology of events have been published by Josip Kolanovic, Director of the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb, under the title "Archives en temps de guerre : l'expérience de la Croatie" and "War damage suffered by the State Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo." in Archivum, vol.XLII, pp 173-180 and pp 181-186).