Archiwum Państwowe w Katowicach - Oddział w Żywcu

The archive in Żywiec came into existence in 1959, as a County State Archive subordinated to the State Archive of the City of Cracow and Cracow Voivodship. In 1976, according to the reform of state administration, the archive in Żywiec was a branch of Katowice Voivodship Archive (after 1983: Katowice State Archive). In 2015 the archive was liquidated and all its collections transferred to the archive in Bielsko-Biała.

The branch of Katowice State Archive in Żywiec worked on the ground of the Act on National Archival Records and Archives of July 14, 1983, Journal of Law, (Dziennik Ustaw) No 38, 1983.07.19 with later changes.

The archive in Żywiec possessed 301 collections and archival founds, which made 80100 units and over 800 running meters (as for December 31, 2010). The oldest documents originated from 16th century. For the most part, the documents were concerning the history of towns and villages in Żywiec County, state offices, land properties managements, judiciary and industrial institutions. There was a big collection of records of Żywiec (1766-1950), Maków Podhalański (1896-1950) and Jordanów (1576-1950) and some archival materials concerning County Office in Żywiec and various County Office's departments (1868-1918, 1918-1939, 1945-1950). The richest and the most valuable holdings were concerning the local industry (e.g. Żywiec Property Management 1758-1945: unique documents of its owners: archduke Karl Stephan Habsburg and his son Karl Olbracht, records of Metallurgy Joint Stock Company 1839-1945 and Archiducal Brewery in Żywiec 1881-1944). There were also documents of local guilds (1779-1951) and financial institutions. The archive possessed documents of local social and cultural organizations (e.g: Tatra Mountain Polish Society. Żywiec Branch 1905-1950, Rifleman Society (Związek Strzelecki) 1925-1937. The archive also stored maps (from 1746), pictures and photographs (1808-1992).