Microfilm Collections (documents of 11th–20th century)

Section "X" – Microfilm Collection

Find registry information (e-Archivum) here.

The Microfilm Collection is a copy collection of secondary character as it mainly contains safety and supplementary films of which originals are also preserved at the National Archives. It is a widely accepted principle in professional circles that the archival copy collections must keep their secondary character, in other words, where it is possible, their structure, order, and finding aids must follow the order and structure of the original documents. In practice, this means that the registration, as well as the research, primarily relies on the original order and reference codes, and the own order of the films (order of boxes) and reference (reference code and shelf mark) are simply based upon them.

The material of the Microfilm Collection is divided into 5 main groups:

1. Microfilms of material of the National Archives of Hungary.
2. Microfilms of material preserved in other Hungarian institutions.
3. Microfilms of material preserved in other countries.
4. Microfilms of registers of births, marriages and deaths.
5. Miscellaneous microfilms.

The most important microfilm material is as follows:

The institutions are listed in hierarchical order: the National Archives of Hungary, archives of local councils in alphabetical order, ecclesiastical archives classified by religions, libraries and other institutions in alphabetical order.

The number of microfilms of documents preserved in the National Archives of Hungary is over 30 million which means that these form the majority of the Collection’s material.

Section "A": Most of the Hungarian Chancellery’s oldest record groups (pre-1770 registry, A 1–38) are available on microfilm. Mention must be made of the annually and alphabetically listed indexes of the post-1770 registry’s general documents (Acta generalia, A 39) and the Royal Books (Libri regii, A 57) consisting of benefit and privilege charters.

Section "B": The great majority of the records of the Transylvanian Chancellery Archives are already available on microfilm.

Section "C": Mainly the finding aids have been microfilmed from the material of the Locotenential Council. Regarding the rest of the Section’s material, the following records deserve special attention: the Acta nobilium (C 30) comprising nobiliary issues, the records of the Departamentum urbarie as an important source concerning copyhold issues, (only the terriers are available on microfilm, C 59) and some records of the audit-office of the Council of Lieutenancy.

Section "D": Within the material of the Archives of the age of Absolutism mostly the finding aids (lists, indexes, registers) are available on microfilm.

Section "E": The same refers to the Hungarian Chamber’s material. Besides the finding aids, the management group of the Litterae ad cameram exaratae (E 41), which contains letters and transcripts of the Chamber’s correspondence, is worth mentioning. In the other major archives of the Section, the Archives of the Hungarian Chamber, several very frequently used fonds and record groups are available on microfilm, such as the Neo-regestrata acta (E 148), the Acta jesuitica (E 152) which concerns the Jesuit Order, the Urbaria at conscriptiones (E 156) which, besides the above mentioned C 59 record group, is the other important source on copyhold conditions, as well as two early census type record unit, the Conscriptiones portarum (E 158 taxation indexes) and the Regesta decimarum (E159 tithe indexes).

Section "F": About half of the material of the national government authorities of Transylvania has been microfilmed. The following records are the most significant: the royal books of the Transylvanian Principality Chancellery (Libri regii, F 1), the presidential records of the archives of the Gubernium (Praesidialia, F 37), the protocols of sessions (Protocolla sessionalia, F 41), the files (F 46), the complete census series (Assorted "conscriptio"-s, F 49, the national census of 1750, F 50, the terriers of 1785–1786, F 51, Conscriptio Czirakyana [terrier of Cziraky] F52) the protocols of the sessions of the Gubernium Judiciale (Protocolla sessionalia, F75), the presidential documents record collection of the Thesaurariatus (Praesidialia, F189 and Acta No. X, F 199), as well as the Transylvanian Fiscal Archives comprising title warranties (F 234).

Section "H": The finding aids of various fonds and record groups of the Ministerial Archives of 1848–1849 are available on microfilm.

Section "K": Some of the archives of the central government authorities of the bourgeois period deserve special attention: the royal books of the Department of the Minister Responsible for the Affairs Concerning the King (K19), protocols of the Council of Ministers (K 27), the reports of the public administration committees of municipalities and the collection of records concerning the emigration to America (centrally filed documents, K26), the records of the Department of Nationalities and Ethnic Minorities as well as the finding aids of various ministries (Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Public Labour and Transport, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Religious Affairs and Public Education).

Section "N": Most of the Palatines’ fonds of the Archivum Regnicolaris are available on microfilm (N 1–24), the national census material is complete (1715: N 78, 1720: N79 and 1828: N 26), whereas Archivum regni’s material mainly represented by finding aids.

Section "O": Mention must be made of some records of the material of the judicial archives such as the session protocols of the Royal Curia (Protocolla Tabulae septemviralis, O 8 and Protocolla Tabulae regiae, O 9), the compendia of its trials (Decisiones curiales, O 39) as well as the capitular, conventional and archival indexes and elenchi submitted to the Tabula provincialis. (O 65, O 66 and O 67).

Section "P": From the archives of families, corporations and institutions the complete material of genealogical tables of various family fonds, the correspondence of the Batthyány family (Missiles, P 1314), the documents of the Körmend central directorate of the Batthyánys’ domains (P 1322), the Repositorium collection of the archives of the ducal branch of the Esterházy family (P 108), the fonds of some significant members of the family like Palatine Miklós or Palatine Pál (P 123, P 125), the records of the central directorate of the Esterhazys’ domains (Acta dominiorum, P 150) the records of Archduke Albrecht from the Habsburg family’s Magyaróvár archives (P 301) as well as the correspondence from the Zichy family’s archives (Missiles, P 707).

Section "Q": The complete material of the archives of diplomas and charters are on microfilm including the charters (in numerical order) and the finding aids.

Section "R": The majority of the post-1526 collection’s microfilms have been filmed of the material of the Kossuth Archives, mostly of the Kossuth-collection (R 90-122) which includes the Turin archives and all documents that have not been placed to the material of the family or the government authorities of 1848–1849.

Section "Z": From the records of the Business Archives mostly the managerial documents of banks and companies (consult and general assembly protocols, managerial files) have been microfilmed, as well as the company archives which are considered to be the most precious materials of any firms mainly consisting of proofs of rights. E.g. the records of the National Bank of Hungary (chief consult protocol, Z 6; secret presidential files, Z 9), the Hungarian Commercial Bank of Pest Co. (executive management, Z 34) the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Budapest (general assembly, Z 192), the Colliery of Salgótarján Co. (company archives, Z 222) and the Manfred Weiss Concern (company archives, Z 402).

The post-1945 microfilms of the National Archives of Hungary belong to two main groups of fonds:

Group XIX: Some of the fonds of the high organs of state administration deserve special attention. Examples of such fonds include the records of the Department of Codification of the Ministry of Justice (XIX-E-1-c), the records of Gyula Szekér, Minister of Metallurgy and Engineering (XIX-f-17-bb), the Foreign Ministry’s records concerning the peace treaty ending the Second World War (Department of Peace Preparations, XIX-J-1-a), the material of various embassies as well as the records of the Presidential Department of the Ministry of Agriculture (XIX-K-1-b).

Group XX: Within the material of the high organs of jurisdiction, the records of the People’s Prosecution (XX-1) and the National Council of People’s Tribunals (XX-4) deserve attention.

Over 11 million frames belong to this material. Although the composition of the originals, preserved in 22 different institutions, is very diverse, due to the purposeful microfilming over the past decades most filmed documents belong to standardised types as follows:

– The pre-1867 general assembly protocols of counties (protocolla): the most important organ of county administration and jurisdiction was the general assembly. The protocols are concentrated sources concerning the activities of general assemblies. The councils of municipalities (e.g. Pécs, Buda, Pest) and the protocols of their sessions played a similar role.

– The pre-1848 census returns (conscriptiones): this collection properly fits into the material of national census returns preserved at the National Archives of Hungary. In addition, as one copy of certain national census returns (e.g. the 1848 census) was sent to the counties too, part of the documents missing from the collection of the National Archives is retrievable. The frames are usually arranged by census type (tax, population, nobiliary etc.), chronologically or geographically. The majority of the records are taxational census. Some of the counties reponed the census returns selected from various fonds and record groups, thus in such cases a separate census collection exists only on microfilm.

– Nobiliary documents (nobilitaria): part of this collection is identical with the census returns, as they often contain nobiliary census returns. Most of the records consist of verifications of nobility or investigational documents.

– Pre-1526 Charters (Antemohácsiana)

– Most of the Holocaust related documents derive from county archives, mainly from prefectural, subprefectural, judicial and mayoral materials. Since the records have been reponed to their original place, this thematic collection exists only on microfilm.

In the case of ecclesiastical archives, the microfilming of two types of documents can be considered as complete:

– Protocols of canonical visitations (visitationes canonicae) which, by documenting the supervisory visitations, provide an overall view of the state or (in chronological order) development of congregations. Mainly Catholic protocols have been microfilmed.

– Pre-1895 ecclesiastical registers of births, marriages and deaths. The collection of registers created before the introduction of civil marriage is the largest and most popular material. The documents have been microfilmed in the order of localities and religions, within a congregation by register types (births, marriages, deaths and mixed) and in chronological order. In cases where the original registers were unavailable, the duplicates, preserved by county archives, were microfilmed (1828–1895).

In addition, the following materials can further illustrate the abundance of the microfilm collection: the old ecclesiastical archives of the Catholic Primatical Archives (Archivum ecclesiasticum vetus), the selected documents of Primates Serédi, Mindszenty and Csernoch, as well as the collection concerning radical rights (Acta radicalia), the Diplomataria which contains the rich collection of charters of the Prelacy Archives of Pannonhalma, the document collection preserved in the Calvinist Ráday Archives concerning Protestant agents (Archivum agentiale, B 1-13), the famous genealogical collection of Zoltán Daróczy or the protocols of assemblies of reformed dioceses.

The reference order of this unit is similar to the arrangement of the Hungarian material: the archives registered by their country of origin are listed in hierarchical and alphabetical order. However, apart from noting that every record consists of Hungarian-related documents and that every identified pre-1526 Hungaricum has already been microfilmed, it is almost impossible to divide them into standardised groups. Thus, the following classification is unavoidably arbitrary and serves only as illustration.

United Kingdom: Microfilms of documents from the foreign affairs collection of the Public Record Office concerning the inter-war period Hungary, as well as ministerial minutes and reports concerning the 1956 revolution (Foreign Office, General Correspondence, Hungary).

Austria: About half of the complete foreign microfilm material is from Austria, mostly from the major Viennese central archives. A large number of documents concerning the foreign affairs of the Habsburg Empire and the Austro–Hungarian Monarchy (Staatskanzlei and Ministerium des Aussern – State Chancellery, Foreign Ministry) have been microfilmed from the Haus-, Hof und Staatsarchiv (Home, Court and State Archives). The record group called Politisches Archiv (Political Archives, Foreign Ministry) as a rich historical source concerning the diplomatic and military events of the First World War and the pre-war period (Krieg [War] series) as well as the documents of the Informationsbüro (Information Bureau) which in fact functioned as state police, deserve special attention. Mention must be made of the Turcica series, the collection of State Chancellery documents concerning the 16^th–17^th century foreign policy towards the Turkish Empire (Staatenabteilungen, Türkei) and the protocols of the Austrian Council of Ministers from the Kabinettkanzlei’s (Cabinet Office) material. One of the richest Hungarian-related foreign sources is the series called Ungarische Akten (Hungarian Files) within the material of the State Conference.

The Court Chamber’s Hungarian series (Hoffinanz, Ungarn) in the Hofkammerarchiv’s (Archives of the Court Chamber) material, the record unit called Ungarisches Münz- und Bergwesen which concerns Hungarian mining issues, as well as the collection called Ungarisches Camerale (Hungarian Chamber issues) which consists of the documents of the 18^th–19^th century Hungarian financial state administration deserve attention.

Relatively few documents have been microfilmed from the Kriegsarchiv’s (War Archives) material. Some of the more significant records are the 1670–1711 documents (Expeditionsprotocolle) of the Court War Council (Hofkriegsrat) as well as the files of the presidential office of the War Ministry (Kriegsministerium, Präsidialbureau).

Regarding local institutions, the largest microfilm material is from the Archives of Burgenland (Burgenlandisches Landesarchiv). The majority of frames have been microfilmed of the managerial documents of the Batthyány family’s domains (Batthyanisches Herrschafts- und Familienarchiv).

The Microfilm Collection preserves a large number of records from local Slovakian archives as well. The protocols and other documents of the general assemblies of several Upper Hungarian counties are available on microfilm (Zólyom, Gömör, Árva, Túróc, Sáros, Abaúj, Torna, Szepes, etc.) In addition, the documents and correspondence of the archives of the Koháry-Coburg family (Rodovy Archiv Koháry-Coburgov) preserved in the Archives of Besztercebánya (Státny Oblastny Archiv v Banskej Bystrice), the collection of the political documents of Sáros county (Sarisská zupa, Acta politica) concerning the age of KURUC and Rákóczi’s war of independence preserved in the Archives of Eperjes (Státny Oblastny Archiv v Presove), as well as the Illésházy-correspondence (Rodina Illésházy, Korespondencia) received from the Archives of Nyitra (Státny Oblastny Archiv v Nitre) deserve attention.

The public records of cities are usually preserved at the state district archives in Slovakia. Many of the National archives microfilms are from the archives of Bártfa, Besztercebánya, Eperjes, Lőcse, Nagyszombat, Körmöcbánya and Selmecbánya. The city of Kassa has an independent archival institution (Archiv Mesta Kosic) which holds the Schwartzenbach-collection (Collectio Schwartzenbachiana), one of the richest urban microfilm materials. The medieval collection of the Metropolitan Archives of Pozsony (Archiv Hlavného Mesta SR Bratislavy, Archiv Magistrátu) is another exceptionally rich material.