The visit of the Minister of Culture at the state archives

The International Archives Week, celebrated this year between June 3 and 9, commenced ceremoniously for the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia on Monday, June 3, when the Gruber Palace at Zvezdarska Street 1 in Ljubljana was visited by the Minister of Culture, Dr Asta Vrečko. Director of the Archives of RS, Dr Andrej Nared, took the Minister, the State Secretary Matevž Čelik Vidmar and the General Director of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia Jernej Hudolin on a tour through the Gruber Palace and its repositories, acquainting them with the rich history of the Archives and with its work.  

At the end of the visit to the Gruber Palace, the Minister informed the public that the construction and reconstruction work on the building of the former military barracks at Poljanska Street 40 in Ljubljana, which was to be the new home for the state archives, is nearing completion and that the Archives of RS has already received the occupancy permit for it. She added that “after many years, this important institution is finally receiving new, modern, and much-needed space. By doing so, the Ministry of Culture is fulfilling its duty to public institutions operating in the field of culture.”

Andrej Nared expressed his delight at the fact that, presumably in autumn, all the employees of the state archives, together with part of its archival holdings and spaces intended for the users of archival records, such as the reading room, lecture rooms, exhibition spaces and others, will finally be able to move under one roof into this new building at Poljanska Street 40. He stressed that the new facility has been set aside for the state archives for over 30 years and that this year’s moving concludes an important chapter in the history of the Slovenian state archives, which is celebrating its eighty-year anniversary next year.

Dr Vrečko also informed the gathered audience about the future of the Gruber Palace once the state archives moves into its new facility. Soon after the archives moves out, the palace is expected to become the new home for the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, Cultural Heritage Service and Centre for Preventive Archaeology. This decision was welcomed by the General Director of the Institute, Jernej Hudolin, who noted that the relocation of the Institute into the Gruber Palace will be the Institute’s greatest space acquisition in 25 years and will most certainly contribute to the optimatization of their work.

Handover of the new archival building

On Thursday, June 6, the Director of the Archives of RS, Dr Andrej Nared, signed the hand-over report on the completed construction and reconstruction works on the building of the former military barracks at Poljanska Street 40 in Ljubljana and officially took over the new facilities. This concluded the two-year renovation of the former military barracks at the intersection of Poljanska and Roška Road in Ljubljana and the completion of a three-decades-long journey of the Slovenian state archives to obtaining new, modern and much needed building, covering more than 6,300 square meters of net floor space. The new building includes offices for all archival employees, reading room, lecture rooms, exhibition hall, a modern Book and paper Conservation centre, Slovenian Film Archives, and a much-needed well-equipped computer centre for acquisition of digital archival cultural heritage. The new premises will open the state archives to the public for educational, research and cultural heritage promotion purposes.   

Andrej Nared also expressed his satisfaction and pride that, supported by the Ministry of Culture, the Archives of RS finally managed to complete this truly demanding project of building new archival facilities after decades of efforts put into it.

Along journey to this new archival building

The Government of the Republic of Slovenia assigned the space of the former military barracks to be managed and used by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education and Sport already in 1992. In November 1994, the Government designated the building on Poljanska Street (along with the land for potential extensions to create additional repository space) to the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia and to the Restoration Centre of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural heritage.

The initial plan was to renovate the complex by 1998. The reality, however, was a bit different; until 1995, the barracks provided accommodation for the war refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the building permit for the needed renovation wasn’t obtained until 1999. Accompanied by various difficulties, only the eastern wing of the complex, which today houses the repositories of the state archives, was built by 2006, in addition to the western wing, which was allocated to the Restoration Centre.

The planned relocation of the state archives into the complex of the former military barracks was repeatedly postponed. Although the state archives obtained the repositories in the eastern wing (one floor is occupied by the Historical Archives Ljubljana), the northern (central) wing on Poljanska Street, which was intended for the archive's office spaces, continued to deteriorate over time.

In 2013, the Ministry of Culture and the Archives of RS decided that the renovated central wing would suffice for the housing of all business-administrative spaces and public programmes of the state archives, and the only thing still remaining at the Zvezdarska Street would be repositories for archival records. A phased renovation of the facility was agreed upon, which in its first stage anticipated the renovation and extension of the central wing, and then subsequent phases would allow for a potential addition of repositories and other spaces in the south edge of the complex and a functional connection of all wings.

Between 2016 and 2018, the Archives of RS compiled a complete project documentation needed for the renovation and extension of the central wing. Since the complex is a listed building, the compilation of all documentation needed to be prepared in cooperation with the unit of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage. The renovation of the central wing of the former barracks for the needs of the Archives of RS was also entered into the National Programme for Culture as a basic strategic document for the field of culture and cultural heritage protection.  

The building permit for the reconstruction and extension of the central wing and for the construction of a new building in the courtyard was issued on July 24, 2017 and became final on August 3, 2017. The realization of the project, however, was still some years away. The project of renovation and extension of the northern wing was opened in October 2021, and the contract with the contractor for the construction, craft and installation works (Makro 5 gradnje, d. o. o.) was signed in March 2022.

Today, two years later, we are looking at the new, state-of-the-art facility of the central state archives. After the completion of all construction, craft and installation works, the delivery and installation of the needed technical and office interior equipment is expected to take place over the summer. The contract with these contractors was signed mid-May 2024.

The state archives is expected to start moving into its new building in September 2024, marking the beginning of a new chapter in its almost 80-year history.