Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Appedixes
294 Veronika Nováková The institution of state archives was laid down by the governmental decree no. 29 in 1954. The state regional archives established after this have been working in an unchanged form since then. From the network of the state central archives today only two exist (under changed names): the Slovak National Archive in Bratislava (Slovenský národný archív) and the State Central Mining Archive in Banská Štiavnica (Štátny ústredný banský archív). The latter is a unique institution in Central Europe. It collects all documents from the mining areas, regardless of which part of Slovakia the material originates. The beginnings of the district archives have to be located at the level of the authorities of the regional state administration, i.e. the district national councils (okresný národný výbor). By 1953, they were subordinated to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1960, following the reorganisation of the state administration, some districts were abolished and thus the competence of district archives changed too. Only the archives belonging to the newly established district councils had been maintained. The first real legalisation of the archives was issued in 1975 with Law 149. The present District State Archive in the district town of Šaľa operated according to this law until 1996, when it was subordinated to the District Council of Galanta town.1 Since 1960, it has been collecting and preserving documents originated in areas of Galanta, Šaľa and Sered’districts and, since 1964, also of Dunajská Streda, Čalovo and Šamorín districts. After the closing down of the district archive in Dunajská Streda in 1964, the Archive took over the role of preserving the documents of the former town archive of Šamorín. This is constituted by medieval material dating back to 1340. In present, the District State Archive in Šaľa is preserving 4 km of archival material, originating from 567 sources. The Archive in Šaľa has the largest territorial competence among the district archives in Slovakia. Its most important role is the collection and preservation of documents and their handing down to the future generations. At the same time, the analyses and the preparation of materials to public access is also among the basic tasks of the Archive. Another
