Czech and Slovak archives follow similar rules but differ in what they hold, how crowded they are and how they treat records that are already online. A visit is most useful when you know which records you need that are not on a screen, and when you have reserved a place. This guide explains the rules both systems describe, with dates on the sources, because most of the practical details come from guides that are several years old. We checked these details in October 2026, and archive hours, rules and entry requirements change, so confirm them before you travel.
The Czech network
The Czech Republic has seven regional archives, which are the repositories for most pre-1900 parish books, 72 district archives, five city archives and many specialized archives, according to My Czech Roots and the British Czech and Slovak Association. The regional archives are in Prague (Central Bohemia), Zámrsk (Eastern Bohemia), Opava (Northern Moravia and Silesia), Brno (Southern Moravia), Třeboň (Southern Bohemia), Plzeň (Western Bohemia) and Litoměřice (Northern Bohemia). City archives include Prague, Ostrava, Brno and Plzeň.
Registration and the researcher’s list
- First visit. At the Moravian Land Archive in Brno, you fill out a registration form in the reading room and bring your ID card or passport, and each time you enter you write your name and purpose on the guest list.
- Badatelský list. Before you begin, you are asked to fill out a Badatelský list (researcher’s list) with your name, address, passport number, nationality and subject of research, which keeps track of the documents you use, according to My Czech Roots.
- Legal basis. The Archive of the Office of the President of the Republic in Prague, a specialized archive that applies the national rules, says that, under Act No. 499/2004 on archives and records management, researchers fill in and sign a researcher’s card that serves as the application to view records, and that they must show proof of identification.
Desks and reservations
According to older guides, each Czech regional archive has approximately 20 to 30 desks, and about half that number are available in the district archives. In some archives, such as Brno, a researcher could assume an unoccupied desk would be available during normal hours, but archives such as Zámrsk, Prague and Třeboň are almost always full, and visitors without reservations may be turned away at the door. The State Regional Archive in Prague has said that seats must be reserved at least a week in advance, and that same archive says its reading room’s capacity is limited, so you should inform the staff of your planned visit by email or phone. These sources are years old, so confirm the current reservation rules.
Hours: examples, with their dates
| Archive | Hours as listed in older guides | Note |
|---|---|---|
| State Regional Archive in Prague | Monday and Wednesday 9:00 to 18:00, Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 to 16:00 | Reserve a seat |
| Moravian Land Archive in Brno | Monday and Wednesday 9:00 to 18:00, Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 to 16:00 | Hours are usually restricted in July and August |
| Land Archive in Opava | Monday and Wednesday 8:00 to 17:00, Tuesday and Thursday 8:00 to 15:00 | A seat reservation is recommended |
| National Archives in Prague | Monday and Wednesday 9:00 to 18:00, Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 to 16:00, Friday 9:00 to 12:00, with the research room closed on the last Friday of each month | From an older guide |
Treat these hours as examples of the pattern, not as current hours. Archives change their hours, and that presidential archive, by contrast, lists its reading room as open each working day from 8:00 to 16:30.
Reading room rules
- Bags and coats. At the National Archives, visitors leave coats and bags outside, and are allowed a laptop, a camera, pencils and a notebook, but no pens, according to an older guide.
- Photography. Photographs without flash are allowed after you complete a request form, according to guides to the Brno and National archives. That archive says researchers may copy records free of charge using their own camera or scanner.
- Gloves. The National Archives guide says researchers handle records with clean white cotton gloves, which the reading room supplies.
- Internet. The Brno guide says visitors have no internet access in the reading room, though there are power sockets.
- Language. Knowledge of Czech is essential for most of the finding aids, according to the Brno guide.
- Fees. Studying records is free of charge, and fees are charged for services such as copying and research, according to that archive.
When you need to be there in person
After registers are digitized, they are often not accessible in person, according to CGSI, so a visit is for records that are not online. According to CGSI, the district archives hold census records, letters requesting permission to emigrate, certain land records, marriage contracts with registers of the bride’s dowry, school records, political records, town chronicles and court proceedings, and most of these require an onsite visit or a professional researcher. See our guide to censuses.
The Slovak state archives
- Identity and registration. Anyone inspecting documents must show an identity card or passport, register each visit in the visitor’s book and fill out a research form (bádateľský list) at the start of research, according to CGSI’s regional listings.
- Renewing the form. The form is completed again whenever the subject of inspection or research changes and at the beginning of every calendar year.
- Limits on books. There may be a limit of five books per day, and books often must be reserved at least a day in advance.
- Copying. Most archives have photocopy machines, but there are restrictions on which books may be copied because of the fragile state of the old registers. A recent research-rules document says the archive makes copies for a payment of costs.
- Languages. Records may be in Slovak, Hungarian, German or Latin, depending on the priest or minister who kept them.
- No separate websites. The Slovak regional archives do not maintain separate websites as the Czech archives do, and the registers are mostly reached through FamilySearch.
- Electronic services. A recent Slovak research-rules document says researchers can study documents in the reading room or through the Interior Ministry’s electronic services.
The CGSI listings for Slovakia were updated in August 2010, so confirm that these rules still apply. See our Slovak records guide.
How to prepare
- Identify the archive for your village and the records you need. See how to find the village of origin.
- Search the online portals so you do not travel for a record that is on a screen.
- Write or email the archive to ask about holdings, hours, reservations and photography. See how to request records.
- Check the holiday calendar for both countries. See our planning guide.
- Bring ID, your tree and a Czech or Slovak speaker if you can. See what to bring.
- Ask about photography before you photograph anything.
Illustrative composite (not a real family): A reader plans to see a district archive’s 1880 census for her great-grandfather’s village. She learns from the regional archive’s website which district archive holds it, emails to ask whether the census is digitized and reserves a place for a Wednesday morning weeks ahead. She brings her passport and a printed tree, and she completes the researcher’s list on arrival.
Common mistakes
- Traveling for digitized registers. Check the portals first.
- Arriving without a reservation. Some archives turn visitors away.
- Trusting an old hours listing. Confirm directly.
- Forgetting the ID. It is required on the first visit.
- Ignoring the book limit. Slovak archives may limit books per day.
Continue with how to request records and visiting your ancestral village, and browse Heritage Travel. Sources include a guide to Czech archives, My Czech Roots on the regional archives, Czech Genealogy’s guide to the regional archives, a guide to the Moravian Provincial Archive in Brno, a guide to the National Archives in Prague, the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International’s guide to using archives, CGSI’s page on western Slovak archives, its page on eastern Slovak archives, the research rules of the state archive in Nitra and the visitor page of the Archive of the Office of the President of the Republic.
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