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Updated: 2026-09-23 08:58
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What is Webarchiv.cz?
Webarchiv.cz is the Czech web archive run by the National Library of the Czech Republic. It calls itself “the Museum of Czech web”: its job is to collect Czech web resources, preserve them, and keep them accessible over the long term. In practice, that means websites that have vanished or changed beyond recognition can still be viewed as they once looked, including local history sites, community pages and other online material treated as part of the country’s cultural memory.
What you can do there
- Browse archived websites by topic collections, including regional history and local heritage.
- Search for a site or subject to see whether a preserved copy exists.
- Nominate a site you think should be archived before it disappears.
- Read curated selections that highlight individual archived sites, often with a short description of their content and publisher.
Who it is for
Historians, genealogists, local residents and journalists are natural users, because small local sites — village histories, associations, regional magazines — are often the first to vanish. The archive’s own examples include Stará Jihlava, a site on the history of Jihlava with historical photographs and old maps, and Historie obce Sobíňov, a detailed history of a Vysočina village that was online until around 2017. If you are researching a Czech town, family or local event and the original page is gone, this is a sensible place to look.
A practical next step
If you have a specific Czech website or topic in mind, start with the search box and try both the site name and a broader subject term. If nothing comes up, check the topic collections, then use the nomination form — the archive depends on public suggestions to catch small sites before they disappear. For broader context on web archiving, see the Internet Archive.
How can I find archived versions of a specific Czech website in Webarchiv?
Search for the site by name or URL in Webarchiv's search box, then open the archived snapshot calendar to pick a date. Webarchiv is the Czech web archive run by the National Library of the Czech Republic, so it is the right starting point for Czech sites that have disappeared or changed.
What usually works
- Start with the site name or domain. Use the search field on Webarchiv. Searching a distinctive title (for example a village history site) often works better than a generic domain.
- Try the exact URL. If you know the address, enter it directly. Archived copies are stored under the original address, so an exact match speeds things up.
- Open the calendar view. Most archive interfaces show a timeline or list of capture dates. Choose the year and month closest to the content you need.
- Browse topic collections. Webarchiv groups selected sites by theme, which helps when you only remember the subject, not the name. The site's own examples include regional history collections such as Stará Jihlava and Historie obce Sobíňov.
- Use nomination if a site is missing. If you know a Czech site that is at risk of vanishing and is not archived, Webarchiv invites the public to nominate sites for inclusion.
Practical caveats
Not every Czech website is archived. Webarchiv captures a selection and also harvests broadly, but coverage varies. If a page is missing, try a different capture date, because dynamic content, images or subpages may load inconsistently. Sites behind logins, heavy JavaScript or robots restrictions are often incomplete.
A concrete example
Suppose you are researching a small Vysočina village whose local history site went offline around 2017. You would search the village name, open the archived version, and step through earlier snapshots to compare how the site changed. That is exactly the kind of material Webarchiv highlights: local heritage pages that exist only in digital form and are among the first to disappear.
If Webarchiv does not have it
Check whether the site was ever archived elsewhere. The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine at Internet Archive covers many Czech pages too, though less systematically for small local sites. For official Czech public institutions, the original domain may still resolve even if the old pages are gone.
What types of websites are included in Webarchiv's collections?
Webarchiv.cz focuses on Czech web content, and its collections are built around two main tracks: broad crawls of the Czech web and curated topic collections. The site also accepts nominations, so the mix reflects both automated harvesting and human judgment about what matters.
Based on the page evidence, the types of sites you can expect to find include:
- Local and regional history sites — for example, a site about the history of Jihlava with historical photographs, articles and old maps, and a detailed history of the village of Sobíňov that was online until around 2017.
- Sites tied to places and communities — local heritage, associations, cultural events and information about towns and villages, which the archive notes are often created only in digital form and are the first to disappear.
- Topically selected sites — the archive maintains topic collections, and recent contracted sites include a spirituality studies journal, a tourist information centre, a local magazine and a research centre on animal infectious diseases.
- General Czech web resources — the archive describes itself as a museum of the Czech web, with harvesting dating back to 2001, so the scope is broader than any single subject area.
The practical distinction is between what gets captured automatically and what gets preserved deliberately. Small local sites are the priority case: they carry community memory but have no institutional owner keeping them online.
If you want to check whether a specific site is covered, start with the archive's browse and topic collections, then use the nomination form if it is missing.
How do I nominate a website to be archived by Webarchiv?
Webarchiv.cz invites public nominations for Czech websites worth preserving, and the site presents this as a straightforward submission rather than a curated-only process. The homepage navigation includes a "nominate a site" link, so that is the route to use.
What happens with a nomination
Webarchiv treats websites as part of cultural memory, especially small local sites that disappear first. Its own examples — a history site for Jihlava and a village history site for Sobíňov — show the kind of material it values: regional history, local associations, heritage and community information. A nomination is therefore a suggestion for consideration, not an instant capture guarantee. Webarchiv also archives through contracts with publishers, so some sites enter the collection through agreements rather than nominations alone.
How to prepare a nomination
- Have the exact site address ready, including the section you care about if the site is large.
- Note the publisher or owner if you know it.
- Briefly explain the site's value: local history, a club or association, an event archive, a regional publication.
- Check whether the site is already in the collection by searching Webarchiv before submitting.
Practical next step
Use the "nominate a site" link on Webarchiv and describe the site in a sentence or two. For Czech web heritage more broadly, the National Library of the Czech Republic, which Webarchiv is part of, and international efforts such as the Internet Archive at Internet Archive can complement a nomination, though they cover different scopes and collections.
Who can access Webarchiv's archived content and under what conditions?
Anyone can access Webarchiv's archived content. It is a public web archive run by the National Library of the Czech Republic, and the site presents browsing, topic collections and site nomination as open functions rather than member-only services. The interface is available in both Czech (CZ) and English (EN), so non-Czech speakers can navigate it too.
What access looks like in practice
- Browsing and searching: You can search for archived sites and explore curated topic collections without an account.
- Reading archived pages: Individual archived websites, such as Stará Jihlava (history of Jihlava) or Historie obce Sobíňov (history of Sobíňov village), are presented as accessible archive records, including historical photographs, articles and maps.
- Nominating sites: There is a public "nominate a site" option, which suggests that suggesting new content is open to outside users as well.
Conditions and trade-offs
Access is free and public, but it is not the same as using the live web:
- Archived snapshots, not live sites. You see a preserved version, so interactive features, current news or dynamic content may not work as they did originally.
- Coverage depends on harvesting and contracts. Webarchiv states it has concluded thousands of contracts with publishers, and the last contracts listed are for specific sites. Content appears in the archive when it has been harvested or agreed with a publisher, so not every Czech website will be there.
- Some material may be limited by publisher agreements or copyright. The archive is part of a national library, so rights and access conditions can vary by site.
A useful next step: if you are researching a local history, a defunct community site or a regional topic, search Webarchiv first and also check Webarchiv.cz directly for its topic collections. If you know a disappearing local site that matters, use the nomination option to suggest it.
How does Webarchiv collaborate with web publishers to preserve their sites?
Webarchiv collaborates with publishers primarily through formal agreements: its own page states it has “concluded 4769 contracts with publishers” and lists recent contract examples such as Spirituality Studies Revue, Turistické informační centrum Vyškov, Nový Vyškov, Magazín Živá univerzita and Centrum infekčních nemocí zvířat. In practice, this means a publisher agrees to have its site archived and made accessible through the archive, rather than the library simply copying any site it likes without permission.
The site also invites public nominations via a “nominate a site” option. That route matters for small local and community websites, which Webarchiv notes are often the first to disappear; nominations help identify at-risk sites that may not be on anyone’s official preservation list.
What collaboration looks like for a publisher
- Contracting: The publisher makes an agreement with Webarchiv, which is part of the National Library of the Czech Republic.
- Selection: Sites can be put forward by the public as well as by the archive; the examples given include local history sites such as Stará Jihlava and Historie obce Sobíňov.
- Long-term access: The archive’s stated role is to collect web resources, archive them and provide long-term access.
- Credit and context: Contracted sites are listed with publisher names and topic tags, so the publisher remains identified.
A practical next step for a publisher, local society or heritage group is to check whether its site already appears in the archive or on the contracted list; if not, use the “nominate a site” route and be ready to discuss permission and long-term access. The trade-off is straightforward: archiving protects a site after it vanishes, but it works best when the publisher is willing to formalise the arrangement and when the site’s most important pages are reachable by the crawler.
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