The history of The Archives in Kalisz dates back to the 13th century. After the location of Kalisz in 1257 a town administrative office was created, which was first set in the castle. When the castle fell into ruin the books were taken to the Town Hall. The Archives witnessed the tragic town fate, which was devastated by fires, wars and occupants’ reorganizations. It suffered a lot in 1537 and 1792 when part of the oldest documents were burnt in the town fire. The ones which survived were taken to Poznań. In 1793, due to the Second Partition of Poland, Kalisz was annexed by Prussia and the archives were taken from Kalisz to Poznań again. Some of them came back in 1799, when Kalisz became the department’s capital.
In 1815 Kalisz was annexed by the Russians. It was the time when the first network of historical archives was created in Poland. In 1825 Kalisz had its own Early Records Archives. It was subordinated to judicial authorities and was situated by the Civil Court of Justice in Józefina Alley (nowadays the courthouse in the Aleja Wolności Street). The Directors of the Early Records Archives were J.Szreder (1825-1853) and Józef Gabriel Szaniawski (1853-1876). The Archives in Kalisz was closed in 1876. Over seven thousand books and documents were taken to the Head Office of the Early Records Archives in Warsaw. The Town Archives, which was functioning in Kalisz, burnt in 1914 in the great fire of the town after the German army attack. Some of the saved documents were taken to Russia.
Kalisz regained the Archives in 1920, when in the Republic of Poland recovering after the War, an archival network was being created. The State Archives was located by the District Court. Professor Leon Białkowski (1920-1926) was a Director of the institution. It was the time when part of the files came to Kalisz from Poznań and Warsaw. However, the State Archives in Kalisz functioned only for a few years. It was closed in 1926 on the basis of the Parliament Resolution on the savings in the state budget. The files were taken to The Archives in Poznań and Warsaw once again. Only in 1950 the Archives regained its place on the map of Kalisz.
According to The Decree of the Minister of Education, a Local Branch of The State Archives in Poznań was opened in Kalisz. First, there were some problems with gaining an appropriate place, and due to this fact the Archives started its proper functioning in March 1951. The Archives was finally located in a building in 2 Marcelego Nowotki Street (after War and nowadays called Alfonsa Parczewskiego Street), and the name was changed into the District State Archives in Kalisz.
The first Director, as well as, the first administrator, of the above described institution was Władysław Michałek (1950-1959). The Archives office was very small, only 60m2 and its role was also rather minor. The archival materials were collected, registered and then stored in Kalisz for five years. After that time, the office in Kalisz was obliged to send these documents to the Viovodeship State Archives in Poznań. Destroying files, controlling subordinated archives repositories, giving advice and tips to the repositories and many other tasks, needed the agreement of the Voivodeship State Archives in Poznań.
After long struggle in 1958, The Archives in Kalisz got a new office. It was located in the former Jesuit Collegium in 4 Kolegialna Street. The space was much bigger - 350 m2, which included, among others, repositories, science laboratory, photographic workplace and spacious corridors used as an exhibition place.
In 1959 the District State Archives in Kalisz was changed into the Regional Department of the State Archives of Poznań and Poznań Voivodeship located in Poznań. In the same year, a very experienced archivist, the author of many treatises in the field of archive studies, Roman Szczepaniak became a Director of the Archives. Before he was a Director of the Voivodeship State Archives in Zielona Góra. The status of the Archives in Kalisz also became more significant. The institution got the right to store the file holdings perpetually, and it also became the center of regional research. The archival holdings included 190 linear meters of files.
In 1976 the Regional Department was changed into the independent Voivodeship State Archives in Kalisz. During the first few months Roman Szczepaniak was the acting director, and in 1976 Mirosława Lisiecka became a Director. In the Voivodeship State Archives in Kalisz there was a Department of Archival Materials, which was supervised by Roman Szczepaniak.
The repositories filled up with great number of files repossessed from the subordinated departments, as well as part of files that were sent to the Archives in Poznań in the years 1951 - 1958. At the end of 1975 the archival holdings constituted 789 linear meters of files. It meant that the Archives needed a new space for the documents.
In 1984 the Voivodeship State Archives in Kalisz was changed into the State Archives in Kalisz. However, this change did not modify the extend or territory of its activity. Unfortunately, the attempts to gain a new, more comfortable place were not successful. Only in 1990 there was an agreement between the Head Director of the State Archives and the Voivode, which resulted in assigning the buildings in 43 Złota Street to the archives. The relocation of the archives was finalized in December 1992. The square metrage of the new space was 500m2. In the new setting, the archives had a science laboratory and a conservatory workplace at its disposal. The fact that all archival materials had special places on the shelves made it much easier to share the documents and to conduct research. Displays and circulating exhibitions were organized by the archives.
In the late 1990s some problems with insufficient space appeared again. The repositories were filled (in 1992 the archival holdings had 1500 linear meters of files) and did not provide proper conditions for the archival materials. The place was humid and the walls were covered with fungi. Thanks to the efforts put in the relocation of the archives, the town and Voivodeship authorities decided to move the institution to its current place in 207 Poznańska Street. The post military building has a square metrage of 2100m2, and 980m2 are destined for repositories. The Archives owns a spacious science laboratory, an exhibition hall and a conservatory workplace. The repositories are equipped with modern compact shelves, which allow for effective space management. Having big storage space, the archives has taken possession of many archival materials. At the end of 2014 the holdings had 3 400 linear meters of files.
In 2007 Grażyna Schlender - PhD in history and MA in Librarian Studies, became a new Director of The Archives in Kalisz. Nowadays, the archives is divided into: Department I -Archival Materials Gathering and Recording, Department II -Archival Materials Describing and Sharing, Archival Materials Supervisor Position, Administrative and Economic Services Department and Financial -Accounting Position.
The Archives employs 18 workers. Thanks to appropriate accommodation resources, equipment and professional staff, the archives fulfills all the statutory duties, such as: archival supervision of the institutions creating files of historical value, as well as archival materials gathering, protecting and storing. The culmination of the whole process is the fact that the archival materials are accessible to the researchers and users in the science laboratory. The Archives also conducts research, organize exhibitions, publications and different popularizing actions.
