Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)

2. Session /Séance. Regional (trans-border) Cooperation / Coopération régionale (transfrontaliere) - Discussion / Interventions

2. Session/Séance: Discussion - Interventions

some material remained in Paris, not because of wicked French archivists, but simply because the Holy See did not have the money to bring all the material back to Rome; some important series are still in the Archives Nationales, other material has turned up in Dublin and bits and pieces continue to turn up in various places in Europe.

A bigger problem arose though, in 1870, with the collapse of the temporal power of the popes. We found ourselves occupied in our capital city, our government buildings sequestrated, and the result was a dispersal of the archives which effectively concerned the Catholic Church, the universal church. Two years ago we had our first meeting with the Archivio di Stato of Rome on this question - it was the first professional meeting - and tried to sort out some of the problems that we have got.

Another problem is the question of the sequestration of archives of religious communities that are of an international nature; their archives were in Rome. The Jesuits were a little bit more astute. Before 1870, they shipped their archives to Wolkenberg in Holland. And then, about 1936, the Jesuits shipped these archives back to Rome with the result that their archives are relatively well preserved today. But, there are other religious orders where you find material in the Italian State archives, in the Vatican Archives; other parts are still in the possession of the original family.

I am not proposing a solution. All I want to say is, that I can see the urgency and the importance that at meetings like ours, we should come to an amicable and professional solution. My advice: do not follow the example of the Vatican! We have always considered that Rome est semper in eterno, but we end up very often doing nothing, missing the train, and then, maybe 200 years later, regretting that we were not in the conditions that people like our Baltic state people are in. From that point of view I would like to say that you certainly have my full cooperation, full support and solidarity.

Miljenko Pandzic: I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Cova from Triest for his noble proposal for cooperation, especially between the directors of archives of neighboring states. Well, I suppose this is not really a dangerous thing; at least archivists get to talk to one another, to do something practical in archivistics and maybe acquire better social connections. Thank you very much.

Kurt Peball: Wenn wir die europäische Geschichte betrachten und insbesondere die Friedensschlüsse, haben wir etwa seit dem Ende des 30-jährigen Krieges etwa an die 200 Friedensverhandlungen politischer Art, wobei am Ende dieser Verhandlungen immer wieder Archivfragen angeschnitten werden. Archivalien werden Objekt von Tauschgeschäften, es entstehen die bekannten Probleme von Archivalienrückstellungen und -Verlagerungen, es werden, um etwas despektierlich zu sprechen, Papiere nicht immer sachgemäß hin- und hergeschoben. Sie alle, die damit zu tun hatten, wissen, welche entsetzlichen Verheerungen auf dem Gebiet der Archive, der Bibliotheken und der Kunstsammlungen der Zweite Weltkrieg angerichtet hat.

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