Abstract
Traces the development of repositories of various nationalities in 19th-century Transylvania: the Germans' Brukenthal Museum, the Hungarians' Transylvanian Museum Society, and the Romanians' Astra. These institutions arose as hybrid museum-libraries with archives and played a special role in the creation of independent nations. Each developed differently due to the nature of their constituencies, the growing professionalization of libraries, museums, and archives, and political change within Hungary and Romania.