Dr. Péter Balázs: Guide to the archives of Hungary (Budapest, 1976)

Zala Megyei Levéltár (Zala County Archives)

Keszthely borough deserve special mention (1715-1949). The pre-1925 records are stored in an artificial order, the later ones in original order, provided with adequate finding aids. Beside them records before 1849 are found in the material of the villages of Kustánszeg, Kiskomárom, Köveskál and Sümeg only. Records of the village bodies of representatives derive generally from the twentieth century. The records of the village councils after 1949 are taken over continually, the series of council and executive committee journals is complete. On the contrary, the records of the regional administrative special organs show considerable lacks. Those of the inland revenue office are most fragmentary, the tax offices are represented by computations of duties only. The papers of the school inspectorate before 1933 have been annihilated, the latter series is complete and well provided with finding aids. The records of the economic inspectorate (1922-1949), the office of works (1880-1949) and the organs of forestry (1887-1949) are valuable, but lack finding aids generally. Of the regional organs of jurisdiction the records of the Nagykanizsa county court before 1945 and those of the Zalaegerszeg county court before 1909 have been entirely annihilated. Only insignificant fragments have remained from the records of the Csáktornya county court, active up to 1875. Among the district courts only the Keszthely (1861-1935), the Sümeg (1870-1926) and the Zalaegerszeg (1865-1930) ones are fairly well represented, but mainly by cadastral acts. Among the institutes and institutions the archival groups of the Keszthely Premonstratensian (1772-1848) and the Nagykanizsa Piarist (1765-1948) public schools, and the Nagykanizsa State Higher Elementary Boys' School (1872-1948) are relevant, all with complete series of registers. Of the corporation records the fragments of the papers of the Zala (mainly Keszthely and Zalaegerszeg) guilds (from 1648) deserve mention. Among the associations the archival group of the Zala County Economic Assocation is important. The records of the economic organs before their taking over to state property are annihilated generally, leaving only fragments; Of the economic papers after 1945 in archival custody those of the Bánokszentgyörgy Farmers' Agricultural Co-operative stand out. Among the church organs the archives of the Zalavár Convent as a place of authenticity are the most important. In medieval Zala county the Zala vár and the Kapornak Benedictine Abbeys acted as places of authenticity; both ceased to work between 1567 and 1575. From 1763 the Zalavár Abbey resumed its activity and (together with Kapornak) it regained the majority of its ancient records from the Vasvár chapter. At the end of the eighteenth century the