The Museum Documentation Centre was founded after the initiative launched by dr. Antun Bauer
and the decision of the Governing Board of the Museum Society of the Peoples Republic of Croatia in Zagreb in mid-1955 with the task of:
systematically collecting, recording and cataloguing material dealing with the development and activities of museum institutions
collecting professional museological literature, documentation and materials
serving professionals and all persons interested in furthering the museum profession
popularising the work and activities of museum institutions.
With the aim of founding the MDC, Dr. Antun Bauer donated to the city of Zagreb a large collection of documentation, photographs, professional books and collections of prints that he had collected over three decades, all of them related to museum themes.
It is interesting to note that after an initiative by the Executive Council of the Croatian Parliament in 1952, a publication entitled Museums and Archives in Croatia appeared. This came after it had become clear that: "there is no systematic record of, nor is it possible to obtain concrete information about museum institutions".
During 1953, with the help of the Office for Information of the Executive Council of the Croatian Parliament, comprehensive information about each museum in Croatia was collected for the first time along the lines of the principles according to which similar material was systematically recorded at the ICOM Museum Documentation Centre in Paris.
From 1955 to 1964 the MDC functioned within the framework of the Croatian School Museum. After a decision by the Museum Council and with the approval of the Directorate for Culture of the Republic of Croatia, on January 21st 1964, the MDC was founded as an independent department of the Croatian School Museum in Zagreb, and two years later, on December 5th 1966, it was assigned to the Technical Museum.
MDC was registered as an independent institution at the Circuit Court on July 22nd 1968, with its address at Mesnička 5 in Zagreb.
Today it is located in premises on the second floor in Ilica 44.