At the beginning of the 1950s, the records of the Rector’s Secretariat were stored in the basement of the Central Library. In 1958, Zsigmond Károlyi, the Library’s scientific assistant, proposed that the stock be reorganised, after the quickening research on the history of the University concluded that the storage of the historically important records was not conducive to research purposes.

As a result of Decree No. 27 from 1969 and the Government’s Executive Order 130/1969, institutions were permitted to establish specialised archives for the preservation and management of their own archive material. The staff of the Central Library submitted a set of proposals, which were discussed at a meeting of the University’s Council on 10th March 1971 and the decision to establish an archive was made. As certain conditions necessary to receive the status of a specialised archives had not yet been met, the Archives was established as a section of the Central Library in 1972 and the professional organisation of the accumulated material began.

The publication of an inventory of the Archives’ records prior to 1960 completed the process in 1975. The further collection of historically important records was prevented by a lack of space at the time but this obstacle was eliminated in 1984 by the opening of the Archives’ new premises. This created the ideal conditions for the work of the Archives to progress (the collection and organisation of records as well as the research and data service). On 1st January 1993, the Archive was finally given “specialised archive” status. It also participated in the foundation of the Budapest-Gödöllő Archives’ Association the same year, acting as one of its founding members. (The Association changed its name to the Hungarian University and College Archives’ Association in 1996 and then to the Hungarian University Higher Education Archives Association in 2001.) Construction work commenced in 2012 to refurbish the new premises of the Archives in the central building of the University. The Archives’ new office, research room and storeroom were inaugurated in festive circumstances on 13th March 2013.