Държавен архив – Перник

The Pernik State Archive is a division within the Regional State Archives of Sofia Directorate. It manages the selection, acquisition, registration, processing, preservation and provision for use of the documents identified for permanent storage, which stem from the district administration, the municipalities of the Pernik region, the territorial structures of the state bodies and other state and municipal institutions, organisations and important figures of local significance; as well as the scientific and methodological guidance and control of the organisation, preservation and use of documents in the archival services.

The Archive was created as a division of the County directorate of the Ministry of Interior in result of the administrative and territorial changes in 1959. After 1961 it was subordinate to the People’s County Council of Pernik. After 1988 it was incorporated within the structure of the Municipality of Pernik. In 1992 it passed under the direct governance of the General Department of Archives at the Council of Ministers. In 1978 it received the status of a directorate, but in 2010 it was reformed into a division.

A reading room and a library are operative at the Archive. There are 3760 volumes of vocational literature on history, archivology and other fields of science; dictionaries, encyclopedias, directories, finding aids, guides, catalogs, documentary editions and periodicals.

The first fonds collected before the administrative and territorial changes were transferred to the Archive from the State Archives of Sofia. In 1993 the fonds and collections of the former County Committee of BCP were accessioned, containing 265 linear metres with 820 fonds with 19554 archival units, 1056memoirs and 1444 partial accessions, 1475 photos and 6 albums.

As of the 1st Jan. 2012 the total fonds’ amount of the Archive is 1695 linear metres with 2312 archival fonds (2260 public and 52 private) with 119 606 archival units; 2489 partial accessions and 1309 memoirs. The Security fonds consists of 133 377 frames – 66 785 negatives and 66 592 positives.

Since 2007 the Archive has been occupying premises at Rayna Tzaneva Str., 6. Through the years the Archive was headed by: Zhoro Tsvetkov (1959–1961), Tzvetan Stanimirov (1962–1963), Dilyana Peycheva (1964–1989); Emiliya Karamfilova (1989–2003), Valeria Chakarova (2003 – 2011).

In 1988 on the occasion of its 25th anniversary the Archive was awarded the Order of Cyril and Methodius 3rd class for widespread patriotic activities.