| Архив Српске академије наука и уметности у Сремским Карловцима (Serbian) | |
 Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije building housing the archive | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1690[1] |
| Jurisdiction | Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts |
| Headquarters | Branka Radičevića Square 17, 21 205 Sremski Karlovci, Vojvodina, Serbia 45°12′15″N 19°56′03″E / 45.20417°N 19.93417°E |
| Website | Official website |
The Archives of Sremski Karlovci (Serbian Cyrillic: Архив у Сремским Карловцима) in Sremski Karlovci is the first modern archive in modern Serbian history. Established by the Serbian clergy of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci, since 1949 archives are managed by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The archive was effectively established at the time of the Great Migrations of the Serbs in 1690, during which Serbian Orthodox clergy brought books, charters of Serbian rulers, sacred inventories, ecclesiastical letters, and other documents from the Balkan regions of the Ottoman Empire to the Habsburg Monarchy.
This initial collection was expanded through correspondence conducted by Patriarch Arsenije III Crnojević and his successors with various institutions and individuals in the Habsburg Monarchy, Ottoman and revolutionary and subsequently independent Principality and Kingdom of Serbia, Russian Empire, and other countries. At the time, the town of Sremski Karlovci served as the religious, cultural and political seat of Serb community in Habsburg lands. Being the primary archive in the town, today materials preserved in its collections are crucial for studying the political, cultural, and economic history of the Serbian people in present-day Vojvodina and other parts of the former Austro-Hungary.
During the World War II in Yugoslavia, the archive was closed by the Independent State of Croatia Ustasha regime and partially damaged. Local German officers, motivated by Leopold von Ranke's historical interest in Serbian history, nevertheless ordered the archive to be secured, saving most of its documents till the end of the war.
On July 4, 1949, the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church handed over the archive of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts for preservation and organization for scientific use for an initial period of 50 years that was twice extended in 1999 and 2009. The archive remained permanently housed in the building of the Clerical High School of Saint Arsenije.
- ^ "Arhiv Srpske akademije nauka - Sremski Karlovci". Tourist Organization of Vojvodina. Retrieved 19 July 2024.