Arhiv Republike Srpske

The Archives of the City of Banja Luka was established by the Decision of the People's Committee of the City of Banja Luka, number 4735 dated 20 April, 1953. According to the approval of the Executive Council of the National Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, no. 1719-14 dated 30 May, 1956, the Archives of the City of Banja Luka became County Archives, authorized for the areas of the municipalities of Banja Luka and Prijedor. The establisher's rights were taken over by the People's Committee of the County Banja Luka (Decision no. 2170 dated 29 June, 1956) with the consent of the People's Committee of the County Prijedor (Decision no. 1291 dated 15 February, 1956).

During 1958, in the Local Community Office Nova Topola, an archival warehouse was put into work, in which the records collected on the territory of the County Bosanska Gradiska were deposited. Gradually, it became the Archival Collecting Center Bosanska Gradiska.

In a few years the Archives was developed into a respective institution whose depots had 250 archive groups and 9 archival collections of great importance for studying of social, political, economic, cultural and other circumstances on the teritorry of the northwest Bosnia.

The professional analysis of the collected records from the period 1878-1918, 1919-1941 and 1941-1945 was initiated. The greatest part of the records written in Turkish, German and Serbian language was found in the building where the Archives had been placed - "Banska uprava Vrbaske Banovine" (i.e. the People's Committee of Banja Luka County). Unsettled records were taken over in the state they were found, without record on takeover. Organized taking over of the records started in 1961.

The development of the archival service, a great inflow of documentation and arising awareness on the need of obligatory performing of the archival activity on the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1963 resulted in establishing of the regional institution called the Archives of Bosanska Krajina with Head Office in Banja Luka.

Territorial and real authority, the Archives of Bosanska Krajina had in the area of Banja Luka County and Bihac County, and those counties also took over the establisher's rights.

The Archives of Bosanska Krajina was still developing and new collective centers were formed in Prijedor (1 April, 1963), Jajce (1 February, 1964) and Bihac (15 April, 1964).

The collective centers accepted a great number of archive groups of the abolished county, municipality and community People's Committees. Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 1 January, 1967 took over from the counties the establisher's rights and financing of the activities of the Archives of Bosanska Krajina.

A great earthquake that happened on 27 October, 1969 in Banja Luka, left consequences on the development of the archival service. Only in the middle of 1973, a partial solution for solving of the problem of the placing of the records of the Archives was found. The Archives together with the Museum of Bosanska Krajina was moved to a partly rebuilt building "Carska kuca".

Since 1 January, 1974, after constitutional and territorial changes, the financing was taken over by 23 municipalities (Banja Luka, Bihac, Bosanska Dubica, Bosanska Gradiska, Bosansko Grahovo, Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Novi, Bosanski Petrovac, Cazin, Celinac, Drvar, Jajce, Kljuc, Kotor Varos, Laktasi, Mrkonjic Grad, Prijedor, Prnjavor, Sanski Most, Skender Vakuf, Srbac, Sipovo and Velika Kladusa) for which the Archives was authorized. These municipalities took over the establisher's rights from the Republic in 1976.

In 1981, the Archival Collecting Center in Bihac was abolished. The Historical Archives Bihac which was in establishment took over the operations of protection of the records on the territories of the municipalities Bihac, Bosansko Grahovo, Bosanska Krupa, Bosanski Petrovac, Cazin and Velika Kladusa. During 1983 the Archival Collecting Centers in Prijedor and Jajce were abolished.

The armed conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995) left numerous negative consequences on the archival activity. Until the middle of 1993 on the territory of the Republic of Srpska, the Archives of Bosanska Krajina with Head Office in Banja Luka, Regional Archives in Doboj and Regional Archives in Srbinje/Foca were active.

By the Act on Ministries ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska" no. 19/93), the Archives of the Republic of Srpska with Head Office in Banja Luka was established and had a status of an independent republic administrative organization.

It is consisted of the Archives of Bosanska Krajina in Banja Luka, Regional Archives Office in Doboj (established on 16 February 1954) and Regional Archives in Srbinje/Foca (established on 1 January 1976).

By the Article 40 of the Act on Ministries ("Official Gazette of the Republic of Srpska" no. 19/93) the legal status of the Archives was changed again. Today it is a republic administrative organization within the Ministry of Education and Culture, with real and territorial authority on the whole territory of the Republic of Srpska.