The Collection of Original Parish Registers and Their Copies at the Croatian State Archives

U radu se donosi povijest prikupljanja Zbirke matičnih knjiga koja je formirana u razdoblju od sredine 20. do početka 21. stoljeća. Na opseg zbirke u prvom redu je utjecala teritorijalna nadležnost Hrvatskog državnog arhiva i sačuvanost matica. Zbirka je načelno sređena prema konfesionalnoj pripadnosti, unutar konfesija abecedno po župama/parohijama, te prema vrsti matica rođenih, vjenčanih i umrlih. Sastoji se od više serija razvidnih iz detaljnog popisa.Parish registers are one of the most valuable archival documents and accordingly one of the most valuable parts of the Croatian written cultural heritage. They are irreplaceable source for proving one’s civil rights and are also a primary source for genealogical and similar researches. In 1946, the State adopted a specific law regarding parish registers and for the first time after centuries religious communities were replaced by state services in keeping and storing these registers. Also, Ministry of Interior Affairs adopted decision on 13th of May 1949 which stated that all parish registers made by 1860 had to be delivered to the State Archives. According to that decision, State Archives in Zagreb (today the Croatian State Archives) started to collect original and copies of parish registers. State Archives in Zagreb was responsible for central part of Croatia and Slavonia and in that part of Croatia, the Archives collected approximately 2500 registers. With time the collection increased in size (primarily because of extricating from other archival fonds) and today it has 2864 original parish registers, 718 copies of registers, 17 Status Animarum registers and 13 copies of registers from the parish Korčula. The registers in the Collection (both original, copies and Status Animarum registers) date from (1583) 1621 to 1947. They are written in Latin, Croatian, Church-Slavic, Hungarian, German and Hebrew language. They were originally arranged by religious affiliation: Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Jews, Military persons, Protestants and place of origin in alphabetical order. They are sub-arranged chronologically according to the type of books (birth/baptism, marriages and deceased)