COURAGE

connecting collections

The Foundation of Contemporary Research was set up in 1989, and incorporated in 1990, in order to carry out documentation of, and research into, the political transition. Its first seat was at 8 Corvin Square in Budapest. At the time of its establishment, almost 40 researchers and 9 academic institutes (mostly with the profile of sociology or political science) became a part of its activities. Later its seat moved into the Department of Political Sciences of ELTE University of Budapest (until 1999), then to 9 Sas Street (until 2016 when the Foundation ceased to exist).

The library was established in 1945 and became a budget beneficiary in 1954, meaning that it was professionalized and financed from the city's budget since then. The library was given the function of the county central library in 1996, thus becoming the central library of Koprivnica-Križevci County, and at the same time its centre of excellence. The library has a rich tradition, with the first reading room being founded in 1848 and the first parish library in Koprivnica dating to 1650. Dijana Sabolović-Krajina emphasizes that “it is important to point out that librarianship and an organized culture of reading and literacy date back 350 years.”

The library has the highest percentage of membership in Croatia: 30% of the citizens of Koprivnica are members of the Library, and the desired percentage is 15%. Through the working model of the Library called “The Library is More Than Books,” the Library has a developed secondary library activity through its cultural, educational and promotional activities, which are reflected in projects, exhibitions, literary meetings, workshops and forums. The work of the library is has been validated by a series of awards of local, national and international significance. 

The Friedrich Teutsch Centre for Dialogue and Culture of the Evangelical Church A.C. in Romania (Teutsch House) has asserted itself as one of the most active cultural institutions of the German minority in Romania. The High Consistory of the Evangelical Church A.C. in Romania established this centre in order to become a main repository for the Transylvanian Saxon archives in Romania, especially for the local Evangelical Church archives and for those personal archives in danger of being destroyed. The building of Teutsch House was constructed in 1883 by the Evangelical Church and was used before 1948 as a church orphanage. In 1948, the communist authorities nationalised the building. After the collapse of communism, when the High Consistory decided to collect the parish archives from all over the country and store them in Sibiu, the Evangelical Church initiated legal procedures to regain the ownership rights for Teutsch House. After regaining this building in 2000, the High Consistory decided that the future Teutsch House was the place where the Evangelical Church archives should be centralised and made open to the public. The repository in Teutsch House was then devised in such a way as to protect and preserve all these archives. Currently, Teutsch House includes an archive, a museum, and a library. Opened to the public in 2003, the archive now comprises the High Consistory collection, the parish churches collection, the photograph collection, and private individuals’ collections. Since 2003, many personal archives of Transylvanian Saxons have been donated to Teutsch House, which has thus become the main repository for Saxon archives in Romania. Among these personal archives, it is worth mentioning the Friedrich Philippi Collection and the Eginald Schlattner Collection. Researchers not only from Romania but also from other countries have already visited the archival resources of Teutsch House.
Teutsch House has developed collaborations with similar institutions (church archives) in the German speaking world. The Centre organises exhibitions in partnership with other institutions, such as museums or archives. One such collaboration resulted in the art exhibition of Renée Renard, “Ein Weg wie hundert Leben,” which illustrated the deportation of the adult members of the German community of Banat Swabians to the Soviet Union in 1945. The Centre also hosts its partner, Institut für Ökumenische Forschung Hermannstadt (The Institute for Ecumenic Studies of Sibiu), which organises cultural events and publishes theological literature. Between October 2016  and March 2017, Teutsch House hosted the exhibition entitled “Reformation im östlichen Europa – Siebenbürgen,” which illustrates the contribution of Transylvanian religious reformers to the larger European Protestant movement.