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

Veszprém Megyei Levéltár (Veszprém County Archives)

The liberation (1945) brought fundamental changes to the life of the archives. Its collecting interest was extended, it took over the administrative material of districts, cities and villages, that of law courts, industrial enterprises and also the papers of extinct religious orders. Alas, these records did not avoid the ravages of war either. The heaviest damage was sufferred by Pápa city, the feudal material of which has been annihilated almost completely. The development of the last years may be judged by the following facts: In 1945 our archival material totalled 360, in the early 1970s 2400 running metres already. In 1945 the staff consisted of one, to-day of ten persons. The Archives got new stackrooms, the better conditions made better work possible in arrangement and the elaboration of finding aids, also earnest and thorough selection was executed. * The material of the Veszprém County Archives totals 2400 running metres, 40 per cent, of which belongs to the feudal and bourgeois periods, the rest to the socialist one. The provenance of our material is the county generally, the records taken over from the abbeys, however, touch other counties as well. The basic material of the Archives is that of the nobilitary assembly (1602-1848). The various sub-groups of this archival group embrace many sides of the former county: records in connection with the diet, nobilitary and socage (urbarial) records, various conscriptions, testimonies, border surveys, records on orphans, the care of hygiene, etc. — The papers of the Lord Lieutenant and the sub-prefect were almost entirely annihilated. On the other hand we preserve the county records between 1945 and 1950, important for the research of the transition to socialism. Of the city material the records of Veszprém are the most significant, comprising many data on the feudal period. Most villages are represented by twentieth century records only, only Szentgál has copious feudal material. Only fragments have remained of the records of the specialized organs of the bourgeois period (the Direction of Inland Revenue, the Inspectorate of Schools, tax offices, etc.). The material of the County Land Board is the main source of agricultural development after the liberation. The archival material of the tribunals and district courts is equally defective. The most valuable parts are the records of the socage (urbarial) courts, illustrating the conditions after the liberation of the villains (1848)