However, the University Archive of VSB – Technical University of Ostrava is much more. For thirty years, it has been a place where the university‘s memory is preserved, new stories unfold, and the past helps us better understand the present and the future.
Since its founding on February 1, 1996, the archive has come a long way. It was established at a time when the university was commemorating fifty years of its presence in Ostrava, and when it was becoming increasingly clear that the school‘s nearly 150-year history deserved its own professional facilities. Today, the archive is an accredited, specialized workplace that cares for over a kilometer of archival materials stored in more than forty funds and collections, preserving a unique testimony to the evolution of one of the oldest technical universities in the Czech Republic.
Yet, the archive is not merely a secure repository for documents. It is a living workplace where history is rediscovered every single day. Alongside caring for archival funds, the archive oversees the records management of the entire university, assists researchers, cooperates with museums, libraries, archives, and other universities, and contributes significantly to the understanding of the history of science, technology, and higher education. It regularly participates in the preparation of Golden Graduations, collaborates with the University Museum, and takes part in national projects such as the Biographical Dictionary of the Czech Lands or the Biographical Dictionary of Silesia and Northern Moravia. The archive is also an active member of the university archives community in the Czech Republic.
Over its thirty years of existence, the archive has gathered exceptionally valuable collections. Besides the documents of the rectorate, faculties, and university departments, it preserves the personal funds of prominent educators and not only to the academic community but also to the general public. The archive thus helps demonstrate that the history of the university is simultaneously a part of the history of Ostrava, science, and industry. Many will surely remember the exhibition panels prepared for the 150th, 160th, or 170th anniversary of the university, or the exhibition tracing the history of computing technology at VSB-TUO.
People are the core reason behind the archive‘s success. Over three decades, historians and archivists have managed to build a workplace that combines meticulous professional work with an enthusiasm for discovering the past. Their scientists, including their correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and professional notes. Visitors to the archive can encounter the estate of the professor of economic geology Jaroslav Havelka, the extensive fund of the founder of mining geophysics Karel Müller and his wife Jarmila, or the unique personal fund of Professor Konrád Beneš, through which one can trace the beginnings of Czech planetology research—a field that was quite exceptional at VSB in its time. The documents of prominent metallurgists Miloslav Gottwald, Karel Mazanec, Longin Tomis, Vladimír Dembovský, and others are also highly valuable. The foreign correspondence of Rector Bohuslav Růžička is unique, as is the personal fund of Professor Alois Emil Dobner, whose tragic fate recalls the dramatic moments of the 1950s.
It is precisely through these materials that one can catch a glimpse not only into the history of the university, but also into the destinies of the people who shaped it. Every donated estate represents a new piece in the colorful mosaic of university life. A special place among the archival treasures is held by an extensive collection of photographs. It captures the transformations of university buildings, laboratories, and the campus, graduation ceremonies, student life, important visits, and the daily work of academics. Thanks to thousands of images, we can track how not only the university itself changed over the decades, but also Ostrava and technical education. Without archivists, many photographs today would remain forgotten in private albums or office drawers. At the same time, the archive has become an indispensable partner in the preparation of publications, exhibitions, and popularization projects.
Many books on the history of VSB-TUO, prominent figures of the university, or its faculties would never have been written without the meticulous work of the archivists. Worth mentioning are the jubilee almanacs for the anniversaries of VSB-TUO‘s founding or relocation, publications about rectors and personalities of science and technology, or monographs on the history of certain faculties. No less significant are the dozens of studies that the archive staff have published in journals and proceedings. Similarly, exhibitions prepared for major anniversaries bring the school‘s history closer daily activities often remain hidden from the public, yet it is they who decide which documents will one day tell the story of today‘s university to future generations. And those stories keep growing. In the era of electronic documents, digital photographs, and online communication, the archive faces new challenges. Preserving the present for the future is perhaps even more demanding today than it was thirty years ago.
This makes the work of those who carefully select, register, and protect everything that will one day become a part of history all the more important. Thirty years of the university archive‘s existence is therefore not only a reason to look back, but above all a reason to give thanks. To everyone who built, developed, and supported the archive, as well as to those who entrusted it with their documents, photographs, or personal memories. Thanks to them, the unique memory of VSB – Technical University of Ostrava remains preserved. For the years ahead, I wish the university archive plenty of space—both literally and figuratively—, many valuable discoveries, satisfied researchers, and above all, unflagging energy to protect the past so that it may inspire the future. Because a university is not just a collection of buildings, laboratories, and study programs. A university is made up of its people, their work, their stories, and their legacy. And that is precisely what the university archive has been guarding for thirty years.
Text: Petr Kašing
Photo: archive VSB-TUO