Contact address

Archiv Pražského hradu (Archives of Prague Castle)
119 08 Prague 1, Hrad I. nádvoří č. p. 1, Hradčany
tel.: +420 224 373 657
fax: +420 224 373 257
e-mail: zc.darh@hpvihcra

Web pages of the Archive of the Prague Castle

The Archives of Prague Castle came into being in 1920. The workplace concentrates written materials and documentation concerning the Castle, its history, research projects, building activities, repairs and maintenance. The core consists of historical documents resulted from the activities of offices administering Prague Castle since the 16th century. These offices were the Court Building Office, the Castle Inspection and, from 1860, the Castle District Office. Besides the archival documents which were physically present in Prague, there were also written materials, which belonged to Prague Castle by provenance and were brought from Austria within the framework of the separation of documents between the Czechoslovak Republic and the Austrian Republic (1920-1923).

In the year 2003 the Archives of Prague Castle were administering 53 archive funds and collections, some of them of worldwide importance (archives and manuscripts of the Metropolitan Chapter of St Vitus). In terms of time period, the extent of the funds and collections is roughly from the 6th century AD to the fifties of the 20th century. The Archives have carried out processing and conservation of physical condition of these materials. A research program within the public activities of the archives formed an integral part thereof. Since 2001 the Archives have provided information on their activity in the form of Annual Reports.

Within the archival network of the Czech Republic the Archives of Prague Castle are included among the archives of special importance. Study in the Archives of Prague Castle is regulated by the Research Rules and the Statute of the Archives and Library of the Metropolitan Chapter of St Vitus, the provisions of which are based on the Archives Act No. 97/1974 Coll., as amended by Act No. 343/1992 Coll. and Act No. 27/2000 Coll.