Author(s): Maren Hachmeister (2017) – last update: 2018-04-19.
The Archiwum narodowy w Krakowie / The National Archives in Krakow, together with its branches outside the city, is one of the main archives in Poland. It is located in the second largest and one of the oldest Polish cities; in the Middle Ages it also used to be the Polish capital. The Archiwum narodowy w Krakowie / The National Archives in Krakow supervises the handling of documents in nearly seven hundred institutions active in all spheres of social life: from the offices of public administration through to cultural, scholarly, educational and legal institutions, firms, state and local government organisational units, environmental institutions, health care and social service institutions.
Contact
Main Office
ul. Sienna 16
33-332 Kraków
Archival information: tel. +12 421 37 33
Email: informacja@ank.gov.pl
Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 – 15:00
Website
How to find the Archive sites
How to plan and to prepare a visit
The National Archives in Kraków provide online a detailed Guidebook, giving advice on how to best prepare a visit to the archives.
Please, note that reading rooms are regularly closed in August!
Registration
Please, register in person; a form to do so (archival resource user request formula) may be downloaded in advance from the archive’s website. A passport is required for identification.
Reading Rooms
Department I – Old Polish files of cities, districts, family archives and other collections):
Wawel Castle
31-100 Kraków
The reading room is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in August)
Department II – Files of general and special state administration and court files from the 19th and 20th centuries:
52 Grodzka Street
31-044 Kraków
The reading room is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in August)
Main Office & Department III – Files of the City of Krakow, local government, religious denominations, schools and social organisations:
16 Sienna Street
30-960 Kraków
The reading room is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in August)
Department IV – Post 1945 files and the files of various economic units from the 19th and 20th centuries:
7 Elizy Orzeszkowej Street
31-065 Kraków
The reading room is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in August)
Department V – Cartographic materials and technical documentation:
25b Lubicz Street
31-503 Kraków
The reading room is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 15:00 (closed in August)
Reading Room rules and regulations
- Rules in the reading rooms of The National Archives in Krakow are detailed in The Regulations of using archival materials in the reading rooms.
- Before entering the reading room, visitors are asked to leave their coat, bags, etc. in the cloakroom. Every visitor is allowed to take a laptop (without bag), a camera (without bag), pencils (but NO pens!) and a notebook into the reading room.
- After entering the reading room, visitors are asked to register and to sign an attendance list. On the first visit, it is required to show the passport and the archive registration.
- To order archival material, please complete the respective forms and consult the staff.
- Archival materials in the form of loose files can be made available only after numbering of the pages. If the ordered archival materials do not have numbered pages, access can only be given after prior arrangements with the head of a given reading room.
- Taking photos without flash light is generally permitted and quite common. Be, however, aware of the copyright regulations.
Archive databases & Online finding aids
Information about archival fonds and collections stored in The National Archives in Kraków and its branches in Bochnia, Nowy Sącz and Tarnow is provided in the System of Evidence of Archival Materials (SEZAM) database.
Please also consult the Szukaj w Archiwach database as well as the SEZAM and ZoSIA databases.
Moreover, the following databases are useful for searching for information:
Practical advice
- All European Union citizens do not require a visa for entry into Poland. (Click here to see the list of coutnries with visa-free access.) If you require advice on how to attain a visa into Poland, please visit the Tourist Schengen Visa page, which lists the general entry requirements.
- Please be aware that the staff speaks only Polish.
- There is no public cafeteria on-site. Thus, bring your own food and drinks.
- The Main Office is a ten-minute walk away from the Central Train Station, and a tw0-minute walk from the Main Market Square; the closest public transport stop is approximately 100 metres away, by the Main Post Office building (Poczta Główna stop – tram lines: 1, 3, 10, 19, 24 and 52). Visiting other archive sites may require several minute walks. For accommodation in the city center, you should plan for a twenty-minute walk to the site of “department III”; to “department IV”, it is a thirty-minute walk. The building of “department IV” is a bit hidden and very badly signposted.
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