Metadata: Collection of Church Registers
Collection
- Country:
- Serbia
- Holding institution:
- Historical Archives of Belgrade
- Holding institution (official language):
- Историјски архив Београда (Istorijski arhiv Beograda)
- Postal address:
- Palmira Toljatija 1, 11070 Belgrade; PAK 190446
- Phone number:
- (+381) 11 2606-336
- Web address:
- https://www.arhiv-beograda.org
- Email:
- office@arhiv-beograda.org
- Reference number:
- IAB-1882
- Title:
- Collection of Church Registers
- Title (official language):
- Збирка црквених матичних књига
- Creator/accumulator:
- Orthodox Church in the City of Belgrade, Catholic Church in the City of Belgrade; Jewish Community in the City of Belgrade
- Date(s):
- 1721/1918
- Language:
- Serbian
- Hungarian
- Croatian
- Romanian; Moldavian; Moldovan
- Latin
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 41.15 linear metres (823 book registers)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The Collection of Church Registers consists of registers of births, deaths and marriages, protocols and supporting documentation of the churches and religious communities which operated on the territory of 15 Belgrade municipalities. Collection consists of 823 church registers of births, deaths and marriages of Orthodox Church, Catholic Church and Jewish Community for the period 1721 to 1918. Registers created by Orthodox Church are the most numerous in the collection. The oldest register is the register of deaths, births and marriages of Catholic Church in Zemun from 1721. The collection is categorised as a cultural asset of exceptional importance.
The collection only contains 8 registers of the Jewish Sephardic and Ashkenazi community. For the Sephardic community located in Dorćol, in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad, 4 registers are preserved: 1. Register of births 1864-1895; 2. Register of deaths 1865-1909; 3. Register of births 1895-1909; 4. Register of marriages 1864-1918. For the Ashkenazi community in the Belgrade municipality of Stari Grad one register is preserved – the register of marriages 1880-1886. Within the register books of Zemun municipality, two registers of the Jewish Community are preserved: 1. Register of births, deaths and marriages 1898-1905; 2. Register of births, deaths and marriages 1906-1918. The Municipality of Zemun also preserved one birth register for Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish citizens for the period 1878-1910.
The registers provide information on birth and death rates, on families and individuals, and on their social background. The following details are included in birth registers: date of birth, part of the day when the child was born, physical disability (if applicable), synagogue in which the child was registered and date of registration, child’s name and gender, mother and father’s name, their profession and address. Registers of death provide information on date and place of death, burial place, date of death according to the Jewish calendar. In case of child’s death details of the parents are also provided. Register books of marriages provide personal and family details of the bride and groom, but also information on the best man, the rabbi who performed the wedding ceremony and information on where and how many times the wedding was announced.
- Archival history:
- The Historical Archives of Belgrade periodically acquires church registers from Belgrade municipalities. The first transfer of the registers of birth, death and marriages to the Historical Archives of Belgrade took place in 1968 from the premises of the Belgrade City Museum, Zemun department. Since 1974, the registers are periodically transferred by Belgrade municipalities. Most of the registers are microfilmed. The Historical Archives of Belgrade initiated the project of digitisation of church registers and some books are available online in the Digital Repository of the Historical Archives of Belgrade. After the completion of this project all registers held in the Archives will be available on the internet (https://digitalni.arhiv-beograda.org/login.php).
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The obligation of keeping records of births (baptism), deaths and marriages was introduced in Serbia in 1837. These registers were kept by churches or religious communities.
- System of arrangement:
- The registers are arranged by municipalities in which they were created. Within each municipality they are arranged according to the churches and years of creation.
- Access, restrictions:
- The archive material of the fonds is available according to the regulations of the Historical Archives of Belgrade.
- Finding aids:
- A list of the registers is available. Digitised registers are available online in the Digital repository (in Serbian).
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.digitalni.arhiv-beograda.org/login.php
- Yerusha Network member:
- Historical Archives of Belgrade
- Author of the description:
- Jelena Jovanović; Historical Archives of Belgrade; 2019