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{{Short description|Swedish government agency for cultural heritage}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}

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|employees = |budget = |chief1_name = Joakim Malmström|chief1_position = Riksantikvarie (Director General)|agency_type =Ministry of Culture (Sweden)>Ministry of Cultureraa.se}}}}The Swedish National Heritage Board (; RAÄ) is a Swedish government agency responsible for World Heritage Sites and other national heritage monuments and historical environments. It is governed by the Ministry of Culture.ENCYCLOPEDIA, Riksantikvarieämbetet, Nationalencyklopedin, sv,weblink 9 November 2010, The goals of the agency are to encourage the preservation and protection of historic environments and to promote the respect for and knowledge of historic environments. In order to do this, it tries to ensure that Swedish heritage is accessible to all citizens, to spread information about that heritage, and to "empower heritage as a force in the evolution of a democratic, sustainable society".WEB,weblink Our Mission, Swedish National Heritage Board, 9 November 2010,

History

17th and 18th century

The National Heritage Board was founded in 1630.WEB, Lingdén, Christina, Riksantikvarierna,weblink raa.se, Swedish National Heritage Board, 23 March 2016, On the 20{{nbsp}}May that year, Johannes Bureus who was a prominent rune researcher and King Gustavus Adolphus' private teacher, was appointed the first riksantikvarien ("National Antiquarian"). Bureus' teachings had made the king interested in ancient monuments and national heritage sites and artifacts, at that time called "antiquities". Together with a priest and a young student, Bureus went on a journey through Sweden to draw and document runestones, collect old coins, chronicles, law books, letter and manuscripts.WEB, Lingdén, Christina, Riksantikvarieämbetets historia, History of the Swedish National Heritage Board,weblink raa.se, Swedish National Heritage Board, 23 March 2016, In 1666, Johan Hadorph the seventh National Antiquarian, established the Placat och Påbudh, Om Gamble Monumenter och Antiquiteter ("Signs and Decrees, of Old Monuments and Antiquities"), Sweden's first draft for an Antiquities Act. Aside from laws of the Vatican City, it was the first antiquities regulation in Europe. The decree made it possible to protect ancient monuments and sites from treasure hunters and vandalism, such as people who wanted to use ancient tumuli as brick kilns.Public interest in ancient monuments and their protection subsided after the time of the Swedish Empire in the 1720s. In 1780, most of the museum collections owned by the government were handed over to the National Library and the National Archives. In 1768, the remainder of the objects were placed in the care of the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, with the National Antiquarian as the academy's secretary.

19th and the early 20th century

File:Riksantikvarie%C3%A4mbetets_byggnad_2012.jpg|thumb|Charles XIV John's monogram on the National Heritage Board's head office building.]]During the 18th century, there was a new interest in natural science as well as Neoclassicism and the study of "antiquities" was looked upon as somewhat dated. Some renewal of the studies was brought about when Johan Gustaf Liljegren became National Antiquarian in 1826. Among the projects he started was an organized inventory of objects and sites and archaeological excavations were done at Birka and Visby. A new antiquities regulation was also created in 1867. It stated that any violation of an ancient monument was a criminal offence.While the Heritage Board's collection of historical objects was still in Stockholm, several additional positions within the area of heritage preservation were instituted during the 20th century. Sigurd Curman (NA from 1923) created a central head agency with a number of County Antiquarians to head all the county museums in Sweden. The County Antiquarians also coordinated their work with the National Heritage Board, which function as an independent government agency since 1938.

Second half of the 20th century

Part of the museum collections are today under the Statens historiska museer (SHMM) ("National Historical Museums"), the history of which is closely linked with that of the National Heritage Board.WEB, Milstolpar, Milestones,weblink shmm.se, Statens historiska museer, 24 March 2016, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140203200955weblink">weblink 3 February 2014, The Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet (ATA) ("The Antiquarian-Topographical Archives") and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities' Library are also part of the National Heritage Board.WEB, Antikvarisk-topografiska arkivet (ATA), Antiquarian Topographic Archive,weblink raa.se, Riksantikvarieämbetet, 24 August 2017, WEB, Vitterhetsakademiens bibliotek, Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities' Library,weblink raa.se, Riksantikvarieämbetet, 24 August 2017, These departments are housed in the Eastern Stable opposite the main office building in Stockholm.WEB, Arkiv och bibliotek, Archive and library,weblink raa.se, Swedish National Heritage Board, 24 March 2016, The functions of the Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities and the National Heritage Board were separated in 1975 while they were still under the aegis under the newly formed government agency the "National Heritage Board and National Historical Museums". These were separated into two agencies, the National Heritage Board and the National Historical Museums, in 1998.

21st century

(File:Innergården hos Riksantikvarieämbetet i Visby.jpeg|thumb|The inner courtyard of the National Heritage Board's building in Visby)On 2{{nbsp}}June 2005, the government decided to relocate a major part of the National Heritage Board's activities from Stockholm to Gotland. The move was made to compensate for the loss of jobs on the island when the Swedish military closed down all permanent garrisons there.WEB, Riksantikvarieämbetet till Visby, The National Heritage Board move to Visby, 24 January 2005,weblink svt.se, Sveriges Television, 27 March 2016, The National Heritage Board moved to the newly built facilities at the old A7 military compound in Visby, in 2008. Since 2007, the facilities also housed the Swedish Exhibition Agency.{{cite web|title=Peab bygger RAÄ:s hus i Visby|trans-title=Peab to build National Heritage Board house in Visby