The Public regional archive in Třeboň, one of the oldest, richest and most extensive archives in the Czech republic, cares for the unified archive fund of the area of a former South Bohemian region. The collection of archives in Třeboň, which date from the 13th century to the present, are the central archives for the region, others being deposited at a branch in Český Krumlov and at workplaces in Jindřichův Hradec and in České Budějovice. Apart from the workplacse in České Budějovice, which share a new modern archive building along with the public regional archive, all the others are situated in state owned chateaus and castles.
The fame of the South Bohemian archive office began wih the Rožmberk archive, compiled and written at the end of the 16th century by the historian and archivist Václav Březan. In 1602, this unique archive unit was transffered, together with the library from Český Krumlov, to Třeboň where it constitutes the historical core of today's archive. The period after 1660 was an important period for the archive, when the Třeboň estate, and later other South Bohemian dominions, were gained by the Swarzenbergs. They gave this archive a new impulse and order. On all of the Swarzenberg estates nobility archives were founded although, regarding the actual archive work, the dominant role belonged to Třeboň, Český Krumlov, and Orlík nad Vltavou.
It was the local officers who earned most merit in the succesful course of archive reform, which took place at the turn of the 18th and the 19th centuries on all of the Swarzenberg estates. Though the main goal was to make the archives accesible mainly for administration purposes, the basic compiling of the archives also opened new posibilities for its scientific use.
Thanks to František Palacký, it was the Třeboň archive which was introduced to scholars of the time in all its glory and richness, even though the process had already started with occasional visits of the Jezuit Bohuslav Balbín in the 1760's. However, only through the visits and studies of František Palacký was it shown what was actually hidden in the Třeboň archive. In 1868, whilst he was presenting his life's historical work, František Palacký acknowledged the archive's value with these words, " Třeboň is the holy Mecca for me, and it will stay so for future generations of Czech historicians as well". And indeed, a whole procession of scienists and researchers have visited Třeboň since that time. Palacký's first visits provided a great impulse for the Swarzenbergs own archivists, who became more involved in scientific work. In this way the Czech historiography was enriched with the studies of the following Třeboň and Krumlov archivists: T. Wagner, A. Berger, M. Pangerle, A. Mörath, H.Gross and, more lately, with the works of F. Mareš, A. Markus, V. Hašek and F. Navrátil.
After World War II, the Swarzenberg archives in Třeboň, and those in Český Krumlov and Orlík nad Vltavou, were taken over by the state and were affiliated to the state forests as agricultural-forestry archives. Furthermore, in 1948, a depository of the Archives of the Home office was set up which, in 1949, became a Regional archive for České Budějovice. According to the statutes for the keeping of archives (1954) all of these archives were compounded into one public archive on the 1st of january 1956, keeping that name until January 1st 1975.
The Rožmberk archive is undoubtedly one of the most important collections in the archive. In the first half of the 19th century it was divided into seperate collections entitled 'Historica (1216 -1669)', 'Foreign Houses (1286-1826)', 'Foreign properties (1207-1869)' and 'Foreigh Mines (1305-1785)'. The Historica collection is unique, the archives of which confirm the priviliged position of the Rožmberks in Bohemia. There is no important period in old Bohemian history which is not reflected in the contents of this collection, no matter whether we speak about the Hussites, about the time of the fights for power during the reign of Jiří from Poděbrady, or an illustration of political ambitions of the last Rožmberks. Most of the documents in this collection reach beyond the borders of Bohemia and in this sense they are an important source of history, both for Europe and the whole world.
The collection of manuscripts (1369-1860) is also a valuable set which originated from the fragments of the Rožmberk library and from the libraries of abolished monasteries in Třeboň and Borovany. This collection also contains the second part of the Litoměřicko-Třeboňská bible (of Zmrzlík), dating from 1412-1414, the oldest complete translation of the Holy word in the Czech Republic, as well as the manuscripts of Oldřich Kříž of Telč, with transcripts of various literary productions of the 15th century (e.g. the fragments of old Bohemian chronicles, the Hus scripts, religious tracts, and old Czech song lyrics).
The family archives, amongst which the archives of the Swarzenberg 'second genitory' (Orlická branch) and the family archives of the Buquoys are counted as most superior, both in their volume and content, also include the results of the special interest collections of members of the House. Part of the Swarzenberg second genitory includes a map collection by marshal Karel Swarzenberg, as well as a collection of graphic works.
Archive funds of former estates and manors, with their documentation of property rights and the development of economic administration, contain much valuable information, not only for the study of the history of agriculture, forestry, fish pond cultivation, mining, and glass making, but also of the history of places and regions. One of the oldest documents of this sort, edited before 1205, can be found in the archives of the manor of Orlík nad Vltavou. In this document Daniel II, a bishop of Prague, confirms the exchange contract of villages between Jindřich, the bishop of the monastery of Milevsko. In another document belonging to the same archive there can be found an adjusted seal of Vítek from Prčice, the oldest preserved seal of the Vítkovec family. However, books and files represent the most numerous objects in the fund. These, together with other types of documents, allow a detailed research of the everyday life of all aspects of life in past centuries.
Other important sources in the archive contain documents from regional offices between the years 1695 to 1850. However, the most utilised and historically valuable funds are a collection of registers of the Českobudějovická diocese (which cover the whole of the former South Bohemian region), the archives of the office of the Bishop of České Budějovice, the District mining office, the Chamber of commerce, 'Národohospodářský sbor jihočeský' (the South Bohemian commitee for the nation's economy), and others. A very interesting source is also the Josefínský (1715-1789) and stable (1862-1879) triplicates of the land register. Research workers also find very attractive the archives of the various instutions of holy orders, which were compiled in recent years. These include 'the Minorites of Český Krumlov' (1350-1948), 'the Premonstratensians of Želiv' (1233-1950), and particularly the 'Cistercians of Vyšší Brod' (1212-1946). The latter archive has had a detailed inventory made and has now been returned to the Order.
The richness of the archive fund is complemented by a rich library. It serves both the employees of the archive and the public, who often visit the archive reading rooms. The Public Regional Archive cooperates, both during its research and when presenting its material, with Universities and scientific institutions, both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The archivists publish the results of their studies in scientific literature and in the periodical 'Archivum Trebonese', which has been published by the archive since 1971.
PhDr. Václav Rameš, P.R.A. Třeboň
Contact:
Phone: 384 721 128, e-mail: soat@tiscali.cz