Probate Office

Collection

Scope and content:: The collection includes government records and partial wills that are not necessarily in the collection "232-3 Testamentbehörden", since this collection does not contain all wills stored in the State Archive. Although theoretically Jewish families were subject to an autonomous legal system of inheritance before 1865, thanks to a decree from 1710, and the jurisdiction was subject of the Altona Chief Rabbinate Court (Altonaer Oberrabinatsgericht), a number of documents from the preceding time nevertheless exist. The so-called "Diarien" of this collection include records of the activities of the Probate Office (Amt für Erbschaftsangelegenheiten) and each volume also contains a register of persons. The files give an insight into the economic situation of the deceased, the heirs and their whereabouts. Thus, often a sum was paid to charitable organisations rather than individuals.

Administrative/biographical history:: The office responsible for probate and inheritance matters was the so-called “Zehntenamt“ (tithe office), because a tithe of each inheritance had to be paid. Until 1624 this applied to all inheritances which left the city, then it was extended to all inheritances in which testators and conspirators were related less closely than two degrees. This payment gradually developed into a fixed inheritance tax. The task of the Office was, in addition to the collection of the tithe, the administration of the inheritance, storage of wills and ensuring the rights of absent or unknown heirs. In 1869, the office was renamed “Erbschaftsamt“, in 1900 the district court took over legal matters concerning inheritance, while the probate office was abolished in 1906.

Subject terms:: Aid and relief; Aid and relief--Philanthropy and charity; Vital records; Vital records--Death records; Wills

Finding aids:: Inventory. Access is partly possible via a person name register.

Links to finding aids:: https://recherche.staatsarchiv.hamburg.de/ScopeQuery5.2/detail.aspx?id=931