Romania

A summary of archival collections pertaining to former Habsburg territories within Romania, particularly Transylvania, and a brief analysis of the region's political turmoil, which has left resources in poor condition, in multiple and distant locations, and often inaccessible to researchers for national security reasons. Scholars wanting to search Latin, German, Hungarian, and Romanian documents related to the Habsburg era must obtain official permission to view them from the National Archives' main branch in Bucharest. Church archives (Roman Catholic, Romanian Orthodox, Greek Catholic, and Protestant) have taken responsibility for maintaining continuous historical records despite frequent political and military upheavals and realignment of borders, and they remain the most reliable sources of information. At the regional level, 14 county and several university and museum archives contain local administrative and personal papers as well as some important national and diocesan documents