Exploring the Skoda archive: 130 years of innovation and heritage

The Skoda Auto archive in Mlada Boleslav reveals 130 years of automotive history, from Laurin & Klement bicycles to electric cars, preserving the brand’s legacy for future generations.

Deep inside the headquarters of Škoda Auto in Mladá Boleslav lies a place rarely seen by the public. It is the company’s archive — a vault of memory preserving the legacy of one of the world’s oldest carmakers. Among kilometres of documents and technical drawings works Lukáš Nachtmann, a historian who has spent more than twenty-five years caring for the brand’s heritage.

Established in the 1950s and granted official corporate archive status in 2007, the department safeguards records from every stage of Škoda’s evolution — from Laurin & Klement bicycles to modern electric vehicles. Its holdings exceed one kilometre of materials, including founding contracts, meeting minutes, blueprints and promotional prints.

The archive’s role goes far beyond storage. Its staff help prepare museum exhibitions, supply documentation for board meetings, and advise vintage car owners seeking historical or technical authenticity. Inquiries arrive from across the globe, among them from the active Škoda Tatra Club in Australia.

Digitisation has become a major focus. The archive has already scanned over 275,000 images, including around 35,000 historical photographs and brochures. This project improves access for researchers while reducing wear on fragile originals. Yet Škoda experts insist that physical documents remain essential — no one can predict how long today’s digital formats will endure.

The archive also cooperates with institutions such as the National Technical Museum in Prague and private collections in Denmark. This network strengthens research and brings Škoda’s history closer to the public. Through the ongoing lecture series Extraordinary Stories, Nachtmann and his team share discoveries that make the archive a living part of cultural life.

The company’s 130th anniversary in 2025 has renewed attention to its roots. The Škoda Museum opened a large exhibition featuring dozens of cars, early motorcycles and bicycles, and an interactive map tracing the growth of the factory. It also marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic 130 RS model. In every such project, the archive plays a vital role — proving that without preserved memory, there can be no clear vision of the future.