Also in this issue is an article on another centre of excellence to receive the support of the European Commission with a grant. It is the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the ASCR where civil engineering and architecture are the main fields of application for research results. This tradition is more than 80 years old. Increased attention has been paid to safeguard the established heritage and its integration into the life of contemporary society. The complexity of problems of cultural heritage calls for a modern interdisciplinary approach and this was inaugurated in a systematic way in 1995 by founding a new department at the Institute - the Associated Centre for Historic Structures and Sites. The process has continued and now involves scientists from other research institutes and universities working at two research units - one in Prague and the other at the World Heritage City of Telč. and Miloš Drdácký.
The article deals with the circumstances of founding, subsequent development and the most important characteristics of the Časopis Společnosti přátel starožitností (founded in 1893). It also describes and analyses the institutional and social-political context of the important milestones of the history of this periodical that belongs to the oldest scientific journals in Central Europe focused on history.