In the interest of advancing the previous cooperation and creating new opportunities for the exchange of experiences and knowledge in the field of archives, and above all locating archival materials for the history of Macedonia, a delegation from the State Archives visited the Austrian State Archives on February 20, 2023.
During the visit, a meeting was held between Dr. Emil Krsteski, Director of the State Archives, with Dr. Helmut Wohnout, General Director of the Austrian State Archives, Dr. Thomas Just, and with Dr. Harald Fiedler, a representative from the Military archive, at which the possibilities of sharing experiences from archival studies, realization of joint projects, obtaining expert support regarding the intensification of the process of digitization of historical documents and archival materials, training of archivists from our Archive in the Austrian State Archives and research opportunities were considered. of archival materials on the history of Macedonia in the archives in Austria. In the conversation, the mutual desire for deepening the cooperation between the two archives was emphasized. The meeting was also attended by Svetlana Usprtsova and Karin Holzer, responsible for international cooperation in the two state archives. These talks were within the framework of the Cooperation Agreement between, at that time, the Archives of Macedonia and the Austrian State Archives, signed for an indefinite period, already in 1999.
Dr. Emil Krsteski, during the working meeting in the archives in Austria, had the opportunity to get acquainted with documents about the history of our country from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, in the Military Archive, and was presented with geographical maps from the First World War , and to learn about the digitization process in the Austrian State Archives. Within the framework of the visit, it was agreed that by the end of February, copies of documents, maps, and photographs from the 19th and 20th centuries relating to Macedonia will be delivered to the State Archives. Among them is the guidebook for Macedonia, printed in German in 1905, whose authors are Austrian and German journalists. This is a really valuable book, which contains historical and geographical data, maps, descriptions of the life, tradition, and customs of the population in the territory of Macedonia at that time.
In Vienna, Dr. Emil Krsteski had a meeting with Dr. Thomas Aigner, president of the International Center for Archival Research (ICARUS – International Center for Archival Research), at which they discussed the inclusion of the State Archives in the ICARUS projects and the possibilities of obtaining licenses for some of their projects and their application on the territory of our country.
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