The Belarusian State Archives of Scientific and Technical Documentation

Description of holdings

Description of holdings

Amount of holdings: 307 fonds, 222 143 items, 10 museum exhibits

Chronological scope: 1748 – 2023

Geographical coverage:

  • Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth/Rzeczpospolita (separate records)
  • Russian Empire (separate records)
  • Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR)
  • Republic of Belarus
  • USA, Germany (the B. Kit collection)

Contents:

The Archives embraces documents relating to the development of science, engineering and architecture in Belarus. These are design, scientific, research, technological, patent and other types of documentation.

The design documents illustrate the construction of civil, industrial, agricultural, energy, water, and transportation structures. These include materials relating to the planning and construction of dwelling houses and industrial areas, gardening, land improvement, and water supply; the restoration and development of Belarusian towns and villages, the architectural monuments such as the Rumiantsev-Paskevich Palace in Gomel, the museum-manor of painter I. E. Repin in the village of Zdravnevo in the Vitebsk region, the manor of poet F. Bogushevich in the village of Kushliany in the Grodno region, the apartment museum of painter V. Vankovich in the city of Minsk, and the Old Castle in Grodno; as well as the materials relating to the research of Belarusian castles.

The Archives holds designs for the memorial complexes “Brest Fortress-Hero” and “The Battle at Lesnaia”; the architectural and sculptural memorial “Khatyn” built to commemorate the residents of the village of Khatyn (Logoisk district, Minsk region) and other Belarusian villages destroyed by the Nazis in WWII; the monument to the Soviet Army soldiers and Belarusian partisans who sacrificed their lives in WWII, located on Victory Square in Minsk, and more. 

Of interest are the maps of the towns of Velizh (1778), Lutsin (1748) and Minsk (the 19th – early 20th centuries), the map of the city of Minsk and its environs drawn during Nazi Occupation (1942, in German), the first postwar master plan for the restoration and development of Minsk (1946), master plans and projects for the planning and development of the regional and district towns in Belarus, the collection of photographic documents relating to the architecture of Minsk from the years 1944-1953, etc.

The design documents contain extensive information on the creation and development of heavy truck construction in Belarus, the production of first Belarusian   refrigerators, TV sets, computers, machine-tools, and automated lines. 

The research documentation includes research reports, technical and economic papers, reviews and articles relating to the development of construction materials and  equipment, technological developments in farming, cattle breeding and other fields of agriculture, as well as the research papers of prominent Belarusian scientists O. V. Roman, V. P. Rogoisha, R. G. Goretski, G. V. Shtykhov, etc.

The patent documentation is represented by the inventors certificates and applications that include data on the inventions in the design of road-making and reclamation machines and mechanisms, machine-tools, automated lines, and agricultural machines.

The administrative documentation includes data on the activities of the planning, research, engineering and design  institutions. There are transactions and shorthand records of the scholarly and scientific-technical council sessions, records of the republic-level scientific and technical societies concerning the results of the research studies and cooperation with the research institutions of other countries, as well as personal files of some prominent scientists and specialists.

Personal collections include papers related to the USSR people’s architects G. Zaborski and V. Korol, the honored architects M. Baklanov, V. Volchek, E. Diatlov, G. Sysoev, G. Parsadanov, N. Trakhtenberg, and M. Tomakh; the designers B. Shaposhnikov, G. Kokin, and N. Pigulevski; member of the International Academy of Astronautics B. Kit; the selectionist and member of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences P. Alsmik; the physicists L. Borisoglebski and V. Muras. Of especial value are the draft designs for Victory Monument in Minsk executed by the architect G. Zaborski in hospital in 1942; drawings by the architect E. Diatlov depicting the life of partisans in WWII (1942-1944); war letters sent by Belarusian architects from the frontline and hospitals; photographs showing the architects discussing projects for the postwar restoration of Minsk (the 1940s), photos of Boris Kit together with the national writer of Belarus Vasil Bykov, and more.