The new building will provide optimal conditions for the storage and public access of historical documents. It will also become a venue for exhibitions, educational activities and scholarly work related to the history of the city and the region.

The Wrocław archive branch in Bolesławiec was established on December 1, 2014, replacing the branch in Lubań, whose infrastructure proved insufficient to ensure appropriate conditions for storing and providing access to the collections. Renovation and construction work began in 2013 in the historic building at Bankowa Street, transferred by the local authorities of Bolesławiec County. The investment, costing PLN 2.85 million, was financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Although the Bolesławiec facility is the smallest of the Wrocław archive’s branches—alongside those in Jelenia Góra, Kamieniec Ząbkowicki and Legnica—its collections, assembled over nearly seven centuries, constitute an exceptionally valuable and unique source for the history of Upper Lusatia.

Among the most valuable are documents concerning the League of the Six Lusatian Cities, the fate of Polish citizens who arrived in Bolesławiec County from Yugoslavia in 1946, and the “pioneer” period of developing the Western Territories after World War II. The facility’s holdings also include documentation produced through the activities of local-government institutions operating in Bolesławiec, Lubań and Zgorzelec counties. The collections, particularly old city records and civil-status records, are being systematically digitized and made available online at: www.archeion.net and www.ap.wroc.pl.

The archive’s new headquarters has storage space equivalent to 4.5 km of shelving, enabling the facility to systematically take over documents from local-government institutions, the justice system and business institutions, as well as materials donated by associations and private individuals in the form of personal archives.
It also contains a reading room equipped with a Wi-Fi connection and a large hall with its original Baroque vault preserved, where exhibitions, conferences and meetings for residents of Bolesławiec and the region will be held, including educational activities for young people.

The new headquarters will also create better conditions for cooperation with foreign institutions, including Saxon and Czech archives, supporting the scholarly and cultural activities of the Nysa Euroregion. A meeting of the League of the Six Lusatian Cities is planned for the near future.

The opening ceremony of the Archive in Bolesławiec will also feature an exhibition presenting the most valuable materials from its holdings, including registration books and civil-status records, which attract the greatest interest from researchers. Visitors will also be able to see genuine treasures of archival heritage:

  • the granting of a coat of arms to the city of Lubań by Ferdinand, King of Bohemia and Hungary, on December 17, 1541
  • The Chronicle of the City of Lubań, whose entries cover the years 992–1630
  • The book of commercial records of the city of Zgorzelec from 1315–1416
  • The ledger of the municipal treasury in Bolesławiec from 1766–1768
  • The main population register of Bolesławiec from 1945–1946
  • many other unique archival materials.

The exhibition will be open to visitors from October 20 this year—Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; admission is free.

The Archive branch in Bolesławiec will make unique archival sources more accessible to residents of Bolesławiec and the entire region, giving them the opportunity to develop an interest in the rich history of their home areas. The younger generation in particular will have the chance to learn about events that took place in past centuries, as well as in more recent times.

The investment in Bolesławiec is part of a program to modernize the infrastructure of the state archives, under which modern facilities have already been opened in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Radom, Zielona Góra, Gdańsk and Bielsko-Biała. More will be built in the coming years—in Rzeszów, Kraków and Białystok.

Adam Baniecki – Head of the Bolesławiec Branch/ii