History of the Nicolaus Copernicus University’s Institute of History and Archival Sciences

The origins of what would become the Institute of History and Archival Sciences date back to the birth of the Nicolaus Copernicus University itself. In 1946, research on Polish and world history began in Toruń thanks to the involvement of some eminent historians from Lviv, Vilnius, and Poznań. The institute’s early years are associated with leading figures in Polish academia: medievalists Bronisław Włodarski and Karol Górski, modernists Ryszard Mienicki and Bronisław Pawłowski, the first rector of Nicolaus Copernicus University, Ludwik Kolankowski, and Stanisław Hoszowski, an expert in economic history.
After the Stalinist years, which entailed a certain ideological pressure, including the dismissal or removal of various members of staff (the Institute of History was stripped of its name – having been transformed as the Group of History Departments – as well as the right to award MA degrees), the Toruń historical community rose to prominence first in Poland and then gradually abroad. Witold Łukaszewicz, the university’s rector and researcher of 19th- and 20th-century history, is associated with the institute’s development in the 1960s. Thanks to his efforts, the scope of research was expanded to include antiquity and archival sciences, a specialisation that developed rapidly after its inception in 1951. In fact, its growing role and importance would lead to the institution being named the Institute of History and Archival Studies of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in the late 1960s.

In 1965, the institute moved from Collegium Maius to a building at 2a Plac Teatralny, where it remained until 2009. While awaiting its new location, it was housed for two years at the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Bielany. In 2011, it moved to a new building on the Bielany campus – the Collegium Humanisticum of the Nicolaus Copernicus University.
The difficult history of the Polish People’s Republic and the university itself did not prevent the institute from developing and securing a significant place on the national academic map, both in terms of quality and the size of its academic staff. The institute’s greatest strengths have traditionally been medieval history, research on orders of knights, the Hanseatic League and towns, auxiliary historical disciplines, archival sciences, ancient history, modern history, military history, the regional history of Prussia and Pomerania, as well as diplomatic and socio-political history in the 20th century. More than 60 lecturers are employed here, including over 50 independent researchers.

In the 2006/07 academic year, a second field of study was established alongside history: Archival Sciences and Records Management. In the same academic year, the so-called Bologna university degree system was introduced (a three-year bachelor degree program and a two-year master degree program). Further study programs were launched: Military Studies, in the 2011/12 academic year, and Scandinavian-Baltic Studies (initially Baltic Studies) in 2013/14.

The full-time degree program includes some fascinating modules. The History program (depending on the level of study) includes teacher training (with an additional module in social studies), European cultural heritage, history in the media and administration, historical editing, historical tourism and local history, Scandinavian-Baltic Studies, and military history. The Archival Sciences and Records Management program focuses on the organisation of archives and documents. In the Military Studies program, students can choose from two specialisations: Humans and War or Wars and Armed Forces in Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th Century. The Scandinavian-Baltic Studies program also includes an intensive course in the Norwegian language.
The institute’s modernised library, free internet access (eduroam), and the reformed study system now open to international exchange programs (including ERASMUS) all encourage increasingly skilled candidates to graduate and, as practice shows, effectively seek employment on a challenging job market. The move to the Nicolaus Copernicus University’s Collegium Humanisticum significantly improved conditions for study. New, spacious and modernly equipped lecture and tutorial rooms, workrooms, a modern library, and social facilities create some of the best conditions in Poland for furthering knowledge about ancient civilisations and societies.

One of the institute’s strengths is its decades-long relations with international researchers. The most important aspect of this collaboration is undoubtedly the numerous links with historical science in the Federal Republic of Germany. These connections played a major role in systematically laying the foundations for broadly understood Polish-German reconciliation following World War II. The first contacts were established by professors Tadeusz Grudziński, Karol Górski, Jerzy Serczyk, and Marian Wojciechowski. In 1973, during the celebrations organised to mark the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus, many scholars came to Toruń from abroad, including numerous guests from Germany. At that time, the Nicolaus Copernicus University authorities concluded cooperation agreements with the universities of Ferrara, Padua, Greifswald, and Rostock. These agreements opened up opportunities for Toruń historians to establish long-term academic relations with German scholars, first with East Germany and later with the Federal Republic of Germany, a development facilitated by the signing and subsequent ratification of the normalisation of relations arrangement between Poland and the Federal Republic of Germany.
Professors Antoni Czacharowski, Zenon Hubert Nowak, Janusz Małłek, Jacek Staszewski, Kazimierz Wajda, Mieczysław Wojciechowski, Teresa Borawska, and Stefan Kwiatkowski maintained relations with German academia. Professors Roman Czaja, Andrzej Radzimiński, Wiesław Sieradzan, Janusz Tandecki, Jacek Wijaczka, and Jarosław Wenta (who in recent years became involved in organising the International Mediaeval Congress in Leeds, becoming responsible for Eastern Europe) are now continuing this process.

Following these difficult beginnings, the institute expanded its international collaboration, including individual lectures and academic sessions, where new avenues of cooperation emerged beyond the dominant relations with scholars from the now-unified Germany – with France, Ukraine, Lithuania, Russia, and Norway in particular. Research on the social history of the early modern period, including the social history of the Middle Ages is of particular importance – in collaboration with the University of Bordeaux and coordinated by Professor Jarosław Dumanowski.
The Institute of History and Archival Sciences edits several academic journals – such as Klio, Rocznik Grudziądzki, Archiwa-Kancelarie-Zbiory, and Ordines Militares – and hosts conferences with scholars from other European countries. It is also one of the main centres for editing historical sources, including important artefacts in Old German. The institute’s Historical Atlas of Polish Towns department has published some major volumes devoted to cities in Northern Poland (Pomerania, Warmia, and Mazury) and Kujawy.

It is worth adding that the institute’s employees have long been members of the governing bodies of the Polish Historical Society and the Association of Polish Archivists. Professor Krzysztof Mikulski is the president of the Friends of Toruń Society. Professor Mirosław Golon is also the director of the Bydgoszcz Delegation of the Institute of National Remembrance. Professor Andrzej Radzimiński is the president of the Toruń Scientific Society, and its secretary general is Prof. Krzysztof Kopiński. Prof. Waldemar Rezmer received an honorary doctorate from Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas in 2009, and Prof. Janusz Małłek received the same title from the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn in 2010. In subsequent years, the following people were awarded this distinction: Prof. Andrzej Tomczak (University of Szczecin, 2014) and Prof. Krzysztof Mikulski twice (Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, 2019; University of National Education Commission in Kraków, 2021). In 2017, the Department of 20th Century History was awarded the Unitas Durat Palatinatus Cuiaviano-Pomeraniensis medal from the Marshal of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship in recognition of its contributions to the region and its inhabitants.

The institute’s rising status is further evidenced by its co-organisation of the Polish Historical Mission (Polnische Historische Mission am Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte) in Göttingen, along with the Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte in Göttingen. This mission aimed to consolidate academic relations between German and Polish historians from 2001 to 2008. In 2009, the mission’s work was revived at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (Polnische Historische Mission an der Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg). The mission also publishes an annual magazine (Bulletin der Polnischen Historischen Mission) illustrating its rich academic output.

The authorities and staff of the Institute of History and Archival Sciences now face new challenges: sustaining and developing the institution’s research activity amid changing demographics and the evolving preferences of candidates and students. The response to these challenges is a constant commitment to developing educational programs that broaden the horizons and professional skills of our graduates. With 80 years of experience and considerable potential, the institute has every reason to look to the future with optimism.