Magistrat of Pärnu

Collection description

Scope and content:: The Magistrat (municipal authority) of Pärnu, the chief local government body , was responsible for the whole range of municipal issues: finances, trade, welfare, justice and security. Accordingly, the papers of the Magistrat's archive reflect various aspects of the city's life between 1451 and 1889.

The Jewish-related materials of the archive originate from the period between 1840 and 1889. They include mentions of Jewish merchants, foreign visitors and apostates who visited Pärnu legally or illegally (the town, and the Governorate of Livonia as a whole, were not part of the Pale of Settlement). Materials from the 1860s mention Jewish families that settled in Pärnu (a file from 1868 includes their appeal to approve the opening of a prayer house or the construction of a synagogue). Data on the Jewish residents of Pärnu, including lists, can be found in the judicial documents of the Magistrat: complaints on offences and assaults and arbitrage of financial disputes.

Archival history:: After the abolition of the Magistrat in 1889, its archive was kept in the State Archives of Estonia. After World War II it was transferred to the Historical Archives of Estonia, where it is kept today.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Magistrat of Pärnu existed from the 13th century and continued to function under Polish, Swedish and Russian rule. In 1889 it was abolished as part of the reorganisation of local government in the Baltic region of the Russian Empire.

Subject terms:: Crime; Financial matters; Legal records; Residency issues of Jews; Statistics; Synagogues

System of arrangement:: The collection consists of two inventories, arranged in chronological-thematic order.

Access, restrictions:: The collection is open for reference at the Estonian Historical Archives, Tartu.

Finding aids:: Finding aids in Russian and Estonian are available at the Estonian Historical Archives.

For further reference see: Центральный государственный исторический архив Эстонской ССР. Путеводитель, Москва, Тарту 1969, 90-92; Arhiivijuht, I. Tartu 2003, 311.

Basic data on the collection is available at the web portal of the National Archives of Estonia: http://ais.ra.ee, Detailotsing – Leidandmed – EAA.1000.

Yerusha Network member:: Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People

Author of the description:: Tatjana Schor, Historical Archives of Estonia, and Alex Valdman, Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People, 2015