Magistrat of Kuressaare

Collection

Scope and content:: The Magistrat (municipal authority) of Kuressare, 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 1563 and 1889.

The Jewish-related materials in the archive originate from the period between 1722 and 1889: individual files mention illegal Jewish commercial activities in Kuressare (as the town was not part of the Pale of Settlement) and searches for Jewish escapees (J. Blohm in 1722-23 and J.B. Brockgausen in 1829-30); a former Jewish cantonist, Konstantin Zimmerman, who settled in Kuressare with his sisters, is mentioned in files from 1850 and 1854; former Jewish cantonists are also mentioned in correspondence from 1865-71 and in a file from 1882, which includes their request to approve the opening of a prayer house or the construction of a synagogue in the town.

Data on the Jewish residents of Kuressare, including lists, can be found in the judicial documents of the Magistrat: complaints about assaults and other offences and arbitrage of financial and other conflicts.

Archival history:: After the abolition of the Magistrat, its archive was kept by the local city board and later in the city archive. In 1946 it was transferred to the Estonian Historical Archives, where it is kept today.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Magistrat of Kuressare existed from the second half of the 16th century and continued to function under Danish, 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.

Access points: persons/families:: Blohm, J; Brockgausen, J B; Zimmerman, Konstantin

Subject terms:: Crime; Financial matters; Jewish soldiers; Legal records; Residency issues of Jews; Statistics; Synagogues; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: The collection consists of two inventories, arranged in thematic-chronological 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, 79-80; Ajalooarhiiv, Arhiivijuht III, Vabad ühendused. Ettevõtted. Kollektsioonid. Tartu, 2010, 420-421.

Basic data on the collection is available at the web portal of the National Archives of Estonia: http://ais.ra.ee, Detailotsing – Leidandmed – EAA.1005.

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