What Is Webarchiv.cz? The Czech National Library's Web Archive
Webarchiv.cz is the Czech web archive operated by the National Library of the Czech Republic (National Library of the CR). It collects Czech web resources, archives them, and provides long-term access, describing itself as "the Museum of Czech web." If you want to find a Czech website that has disappeared from the live internet, or you run a site with historical or cultural value that you want preserved, this is the service to use.
What Webarchiv.cz does
Its stated role is to gather web resources, archive them, and ensure long-term access to them. In practice that means:
- Collecting Czech websites, with particular attention to smaller local sites that are often the first to vanish from the internet.
- Archiving them so their content remains viewable after the original site goes offline.
- Providing access through browsing, topic collections, and a nomination form.
The archive treats websites as part of cultural memory. As its own material notes, much information about local traditions, heritage sites, associations, and cultural events now exists only in digital form — which is why archiving community and regional web records matters.
Who runs it and how big it is
Webarchiv is part of the National Library of the CR. The site lists the following figures (as of the page's stated data point):
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Data archived | 740 TB (to 09/23/2026) |
| First website harvested | 3 September 2001 |
| Contracts concluded with publishers | 4,769 |
The archive works partly through contracts with publishers — website owners agree to have their sites archived. Recent contracts listed on the page include Spirituality Studies Revue, Turistické informační centrum Vyškov, Nový Vyškov, Magazín Živá univerzita, and Centrum infekčních nemocí zvířat.
What you can find inside
The archive highlights contracted websites and topic collections. Two examples given on the site show the kind of material preserved:
- Stará Jihlava — a site about the history of the town of Jihlava, now only available in the archive. It contains historical photographs, articles on the town's history, and old maps. Publisher: Oubrecht, Lukáš. Topics: regional history, historical topography, Jihlava (Czechia).
- Historie obce Sobíňov — a detailed history of the village of Sobíňov in the Vysočina region, online until around 2017. It features historical photographs and describes the village's parts, buildings, landmarks, and inhabitants. Publisher: Jágr, Miroslav. Topics: tourist attractions, historical topography, Sobíňov (Czechia).
The site also publishes editorial features connecting web archiving to cultural heritage — for example, a piece on European Heritage Days, held every September, when historic monuments, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions open to the public.
How to use it
The site's navigation offers these entry points:
- Browse — explore what has been archived.
- Topic collections — view curated groupings of archived sites.
- Nominate a site — submit a website you think should be preserved.
If you are looking for a defunct Czech local-history or community site, start with browse and the topic collections. If you own or know of a site worth keeping, use the nomination form.
Practical notes
- The interface is available in Czech and English (CZ / EN).
- The site uses a cookie consent tool and links to a GDPR page for the National Library of the CR; cookie preferences can be changed from the footer.
- Contact is available via the site's contact page and Facebook.
Webarchiv.cz is not a general search engine or a live hosting service — it is a preservation archive. Its value is in what it keeps after the original web has moved on.