Imperial and Royal Governmental District of Pest, 1850–1853

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára

Scope and content:: This fonds is part of a group that comprises part of the records of the Governmental District of Pest, the central and most important administrative district of Hungary under Habsburg rule right after the suppressed war of independence. Records of the Department of Industry and Commerce include files on trade permits (including that of Jews), peddling, state monopolies, taxes and tolls, matters of chambers of industry and commerce, permits of factories, financial institutions and many other economic issues.

Archival history:: The files of the dissolved Governmental Districts were handed over to the newly established Royal Hungarian Ministry of the Interior in 1867. The material from the years 1849-1860 had been incorporated into the medieval (feudal) section of the archives until 1949, when the National Archives started to re-arrange and systematise the files. The first finding aid was published in 1959. Since then, the collection has been rearranged and appraised several times.

Administrative/biographical history:: Following a period of military governance in Hungary from August 1849 to the beginning of 1851, Habsburg authorities re-established civil administration. Commissars were replaced by prefects responsible for administrative districts (cs.kir. kerületi főispánok). Five governmental districts were formed in Hungary (kerületi kormányzatok), including the central and most important one in Pest, the future capital city of Hungary. The prefects were subordinate to the Statthalterei für Ungarn and the imperial ministries. Governmental districts were dissolved on 1 May 1853 and replaced by five departments of civil government (helytartótanácsi osztályok).

Finding aids:: Sashegyi Oszkár, ed. Az abszolutizmuskori levéltár. Repertórium. Vol 1. Budapest: MOL, 1984.