Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya

The Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Vallès

The Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya (ANC), the National Archives of Catalonia, based in Sant Cugat del Vallès, is the leading institution responsible for the collection, conservation and dissemination of the documentary heritage of Catalonia . The ANC was established by decree of the Generalitat de Catalunya on November 28, 1980 and is the general archive of the Catalan administration and the national historical archive of Catalonia. The archive is subordinate to the Archives, Libraries, Museums and Heritage Department of the Ministry of Culture of the Generalitat. It is integrated into the Sistema d'Arxius de Catalunya (SAC, Archive System of Catalonia). The founding director was the priest and historian Casimir Martí i Martí . The archive has been managed by the historian and archivist Francesc Balada i Bosch since 2015 .

history

The Episcopal Palace of Barcelona, the first seat of the Arxiu General de Catalunya

The Pedralbes Monastery, the second seat of the Arxiu General de Catalunya

The earliest predecessor of the Catalan National Archives dates back to 1412 when the Corts de Barcelona decided to create an archive for the Diputació del General , the historical government of the Principality of Catalonia, Valencia and Aragon (also known as the Generalitat ).

In 1931, the Department for Archives, Libraries and Fine Arts proposed the establishment of a general archive for Catalonia. In addition, in 1934 the state granted the Generalitat the right to establish and operate a Catalan general archive. For various reasons, the Arxiu General de Catalunya could not be established until 1936.

This Arxiu General de Catalunya was the direct predecessor of today's Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya . Its job was to collect and manage the documents drawn up by the public administrations of Catalonia. The decree of September 29, 1936, signed by Josep Tarradellas , initially provided for the archive to be located in the Bishop's Palace in Barcelona. With the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War , the Archives took on the task of protecting the documents it had taken over from the Generalitat from the dangers of war. In 1938, due to the civil war, the archive moved to the Pedralbes monastery in the Barcelona district of the same name. In view of the threat of war, for example from bombing, the archived documents were eventually distributed to various locations across Catalonia.

The entry of Franco's troops into Catalonia and the consolidation of his dictatorship meant de facto the paralysis of archival activities and the dissolution of the archive itself. Many documents were systematically looted, looted or destroyed. The documents brought out of Catalonia, the so-called Salamanca papers , were mainly extensive personal documents from Catalan municipal archives. Franco's troops brought these together with documents stolen from other regions during the civil war at Franco's headquarters in Salamanca . Official documents thus became the spoils of war and, during the Franco dictatorship, the basis for the persecution of people who were unpopular by the regime, such as Freemasons, trade unionists or communists. The demand for the return of these Salamanca papers led to not inconsiderable political complications within Spain . Most of these documents were not returned until the first decade of the 21st century.

After the end of the Franco dictatorship , the newly established Generalitat de Catalunya set up the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya on November 28, 1980 under its president Jordi Pujol . The new institution was given the task of collecting, preserving and disseminating the documentary heritage of Catalonia. Since then, this institution has secured the national historical sources of Catalonia and the documents of the Catalan administration and made them accessible to the citizens.

From 1980 to 1995 the archive was housed in a building built as a school in the Eixample district of Barcelona around 1920 . Later, the newspapers Solidaridad Obrera and Solidaridad Nacional had their headquarters in this building. On April 23, 1995, the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya moved into its permanent headquarters in the new archive building in Sant Cugat del Vallès. This highly functional building, planned and realized by the architect Josep Benedito Rovira , currently offers a usable area of 12,625 square meters on a plot of 17,700 square meters, which enables future extensions. In its 32 depots, it can store documents in 66 kilometers of shelves. These depots meet all specific requirements for the proper storage of documents in terms of incidence of light, ambient temperature and humidity. The entire building and all of its parts offer the greatest possible active and passive safety for the archiving function.

In addition to the documents that the ANC regularly received and receives, the safekeeping of the digitized documents of the Borja family (Italian: Borgia) deserves special mention. The Institut Internacional d'Estudis Borgians in Valencia had offered official Valencian authorities in electronic form historical documents of the Pope family Borja. After they refused to accept these documents in Valencia, they were added to the ANC's collections in June 2014 for historical protection. In May 2017, the Generalitat de Catalunya signed an agreement with the Poblet Monastery according to which the archives of this monastery will be closely linked organizationally with the National Archives of Catalonia.

Backup of sources

The entrance to the new building of the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya in Sant Cugat del Vallès

The ANC naturally preserves sources of different origins (in terms of property rights, legal status or media and formats). The archive holds a total of more than 900 different sources and collections, which currently take up 30 kilometers of archiving shelves.

The ANC secures sources from institutions (research institutes, museums etc.), from foundations and associations (e.g. the Solidaritat d'Obrers de Catalunya (SOC) or the Federació Catalana de Futbol), from commercial enterprises (e.g. the Hispano Olivetti SA or the Banc de Barcelona), from families (e.g. the Counts of Güell) or also from individuals (e.g. from Pau Casals or from Bonaventura Carles Aribau). The activities of the ANC to safeguard the Catalan documentary heritage abroad should also be emphasized. For example, the sources for the Societat de Beneficència de Naturals de Catalunya in Havana and for the Asociación Catalana de Socorros Mutuos 'Montepío de Montserrat' in Buenos Aires were inventoried and digitized.

The ANC cooperates closely with the Archivo Guerra y Exilio (AGE) and with other organizations in order to secure the historical memory of the civil war and exile and to create opportunities to come to terms with it.

The archive secures over two million image and sound carriers. Of particular note are around two hundred thousand glass negatives, four hundred thousand slides, 1.5 million plans and maps and more than 25,000 posters. The ANC follows the ISAD (G) and NODAC standards for the collection and documentation of the sources. The ANC itself has been certified according to the ISO-9001 quality standard since 2004 and is constantly updating this quality certificate.

The archive communicates its work through its official website and quarterly bulletin. In addition, the Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya publishes several series such as the Col·lecció Publicacions de l'Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya , the Catàlegs de l'Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya or the Opuscles de l'Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya . It also organizes exhibitions, courses or conferences on special archival topics. Since July 2017, the ANC has been publishing lists of people persecuted and convicted by the Franco regime and its judiciary on the basis of the Reparation Act for Victims of Franquism .

Directors of the Archives

Individual evidence

↑ The article is based on the corresponding article on the Catalan-language Wikipedia and is supplemented with additional information.
↑ ^a ^b Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: Organismes. Generalitat de Catalunya, March 6, 2020, archived from the original on September 20, 2019 ; accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana.
^ Carla Serra: Francesc Balada, nou director de l'Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. cugat mèdia, archived from the original on February 13, 2018 ; accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya - Qui som (Who are we.). Generalitat de Catalunya, accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d The papers from Salamanca (FAZ of July 16, 2003). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, July 16, 2003, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .
↑ Catalonia gets its civil war archives back (Der Standard, January 19, 2006). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .
↑ Justice stops the return of the civil war archive (Basler Zeitung Online, January 21, 2006). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, January 21, 2006, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .
↑ The figures represent the status from 2011.

Web links

Commons : Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Literature by and about Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya in the bibliographic database WorldCat
Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana . Enciclopèdia Catalana, accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).
Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: anc.gencat.cat. Generalitat de Catalunya, archived from the original on May 24, 2020 ; accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).

[1] The article is based on the corresponding article on the Catalan-language Wikipedia and is supplemented with additional information.

[:0-2] Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: Organismes. Generalitat de Catalunya, March 6, 2020, archived from the original on September 20, 2019 ; accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).

[:2-3] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. In: Gran Enciclopèdia Catalana.

[4] Carla Serra: Francesc Balada, nou director de l'Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya. cugat mèdia, archived from the original on February 13, 2018 ; accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).

[:1-5] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya - Qui som (Who are we.). Generalitat de Catalunya, accessed June 6, 2020 (Catalan).

[:3-6] The papers from Salamanca (FAZ of July 16, 2003). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, July 16, 2003, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .

[7] Catalonia gets its civil war archives back (Der Standard, January 19, 2006). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .

[8] Justice stops the return of the civil war archive (Basler Zeitung Online, January 21, 2006). In: AUGIAS.Net (news portal on archiving). AUGIAS-Data GmbH, January 21, 2006, archived from the original on June 6, 2020 ; accessed on June 6, 2020 .

[9] The figures represent the status from 2011.