Metadata: Building Regulatory Office
Collection
- Country:
- Germany
- Holding institution:
- Emden Municipal Archive
- Holding institution (official language):
- Stadtarchiv Emden
- Postal address:
- Kirchstrasse 18, 26721 Emden
- Phone number:
- +49 4921 87 - 14 01
- Web address:
- https://www.emden.de/kultur/stadtarchiv/
- Reference number:
- BoA
- Title:
- Building Regulatory Office
- Title (official language):
- Bauordnungsamt
- Creator/accumulator:
- Emden Building Regulatory Office
- Date(s):
- 1850/2018
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 45 linear metres (4,404 files)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection includes among others: request of the non-profit housing association “Selbsthilfe”about property on the Auricher Strasse for the construction of "people's apartments" (“Volkswohnungen“) which were of Jewish ownership before 1939 (no. 119); purchase of the house at Kleine Brückstr. 28 (21) by merchant Theodor Loehrs from Ihrhove through the city of Emden because of new planning of the quarter after the fire of the “Gasthauskirche“, replacement of the mortgage in favour of the former Jewish owner (no. 161); glass insurance: the house at Kleine Faldernstrasse 8, a Jewish business building (Louis Wolf) and further payment of the insurance after taking possession through the city Emden; later: Greengrocer Heinrich Tönjes (No. 317), “Persiluhr“ (electric column with a clock by Persil) on the Neutorstrasse: determination of the origin of a Jewish company, 1937-1939 (No. 332); the former Jewish nursing home on Claas-Tholen-Strasse, 1942-43 (no. 418); the lease of land on a filled-up ditch or moat, the so-called “Judentief“ (“Jew's Deep“) (no. 706); approval procedure: conversion and extension of the synagogue (no.1602); arrangement for the elimination of deficiencies in the house of the Emden Israelite congregation at Sandpfad 1/2, with application of the Israelite congregation on demolition of the house due to dilapidation (no. 1611); enlargement of the window of the house of soap trader Lambertus Deepen, Alter Markt 13, acquired from the Jewish businessman Lazarus Nordheimer, 1939 (no. 1645); approval procedure of residential and livestock buildings in connection with Jewish property, occasionally structural defects (No. 1649, 1720, 1721, 1730, 1733, 1737, 1756, 1788, 1794, 1796, 1841, 1843, 1844, 1881, 1883, 1888, 1936, 1929, 1932; 1939; 1943; 1944; 1951; 2008; 2009; 2010; 2035; 2047-2050; 2076; 2100; 2113; 2140-2144; 2203; 2216; 2218; 2221; 2234; 2288; 2291; 2350; 2378; 2445 ; 2570; 2692; 2698; 2704; 2706; 2713; 2722; 2724; 2739; 2741-2742; 2763; 2772; 2773; 2775; 2776; 2778; 2779; 2780; 2782; 2821; 2823; 2825; 2980; 2984 ; 2996; 3084; 3138; 3142; 3146; 3157; 3158; 3183; 3184; 3205-3207; 3210; 3213-3215; 3219; 3220; 3227; 3234; 3279; 3293; 3297; 3315; 3341; 3357; 3358 ; 3381; 3690); building police: rotten floor in the house of the company Schulte & Bruns on the Emsmauerstrasse 21, leased to the Jewish family Italiener, 1921 (no 2125); construction of an orphanage at the Klaas-Tholenstrasse 19 by the Israelite congregation Emden, 1907-1909 (no. 2445); building police: unauthorised basement apartment (rented to Jewish family Seligmann), 1938-1941 (no. 2456); dispute over the recognition fee for an entrance (Jewish homeowners emigrated to Holland), 1939 (no. 2704); building police: complaint of the neighbours against the slaughter of chickens in public passage by the inhabitant of the upper apartment in the Jewish congregation, Wolkenfeld (kosher slaughtering), 1930 (No. 2829); facilities of the Israelite congregation at the Schoonhovenstrasse (No. 2777); the right of M. Hart to discharge the effluents of his tannery into the “Judentief“, 1931 (No. 2978); construction of an unauthorised shed on the grounds of the Jewish cemetery at the Schoonhovenstrasse by the motorist Heinz Schmeding (No. 2979); approval procedure: residential building (Jewish retirement home), 1880-1937 (No. 2981); installation of a rod antenna by the tenant Fritz Kothe in the house of the engineer Kurt Grunert at the Gräfin-Theda-Strasse 4 (formerly owned by the Jewish family Valk), 1941 (No. 3192); reconstruction of the community centre of the Israelite congregation (basement, sewerage connection) at the Judenstrasse 43 (Webergildestrasse, Max-Windmüller-Strasse), 1893 (No. 3219); approval procedure: Jewish elementary school (No. 3230); extension of the synagogue at Judenstrasse 42-43 (No. 3233); approval procedure: cemetery enclosure, 1933 (No. 3690).
- Archival history:
-
This collection currently comprises files taken over from the building regulatory office between 2002 and 2018. The sections "Construction Police" and "Building Permit Procedure" form the largest file groups.
The Municipal Archive Emden dates back to the collection of municipal documents and privileges which were kept in the secretary chamber of the old town hall in the 16th century. During the tenure of city alderman Johannes Althusius in the 17th century the archive was of particular importance, as it was the source of his arguments in his fight for the political independence of Emden. In this context the first file directory of the Municipal Archive was created in 1618. From 1576 to 1942 the archive was located at the town hall on the Delft. After the transition of Emden to Prussia in 1744 and the abolition of some of the existing city rights Emden's archive lost its previous importance as an "arsenal" in the struggle for the independence of the city and was redesigned after the Prussian model. From 1763 to 1794 the archive was managed by the registrar Scipio Nellner, who created further extensive file directories. The files of the Dutch-French reign were arranged and listed by his successor in the system of the French decimal classification. In the years of Hanoverian rule the Municipal Archive fell into disarray, so that in 1859 the archive provided "the picture of a complete confusion for which the memory of two persons provided the only key.” In 1861, therefore, at the instigation of the Hannover district administration (Landdrostei) in Aurich, the registrar Ernst August Gebest took over the management of the archive. This brought the extensive files back in order. Gebest remained in post until 1914. In the years 1934-1945, under National Socialist rule, Dr Louis Hahn became the head of the archive after it had been neglected for 20 years. He brought the archive into a new order. In the years 1939-1945 the archive was moved several times to different places, which caused the largest part of the file directories as well as a number of files to be lost. The municipal archive's location in the old town hall on the Delft was destroyed in the bombing of 6 September 1944, when 90% of Emden’s city centre was lost to fire. In 1952, the director of the Museum of the East Frisian Region (“Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum“) Wolfgang Schöningh was entrusted with the reorganisation of the archive and created several directories. From 1962 the archive was stored in two storage rooms of the museum. Between 1967 and 1997 Dr Helmut Eichhorn was in charge of the Municipal Archive. In 1995-6 the archive moved from the town hall at the Delft to new, larger premises in Kirchstrasse. Since then, the archive has been stored in a former World War bunker, which was prepared as a storage unit. Documents are housed on shelves that meet modern storage requirements, the rooms are air-conditioned and there is room for growth. The files were packaged in archive boxes and rearranged. Since 2001 Dr Rolf Uphoff is the head of the Emden Municipal Archive. Since then, an inventory of all files has taken place. All archival materials are re-recorded with the help of EDP. Today the archive contains about 500 documents, 150 manuscripts, 8,000 printed publications, 10,000 books and 70,000 files.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
From 1464 to 1806 the region East Frisia (Ostfriesland) formed the county of East Frisia, becoming the Principality of East Frisia in 1667. During this time it was a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1744 the area fell to Prussia, from 1806 to 1810 it was a part of the Napoleonic satellite state "Kingdom of Holland", from 1810 to 1813 a part of Napoleonic France, until finally from 1815 to 1866 Prussia again became a part of the kingdom of Hannover. With the annexation of Hannover by Prussia, the area was again administered by Prussia and in 1871 also became part of the Prussian-dominated German Empire. This remained the case beyond the time of the Weimar Republic. During National Socialism from 1939 to 1945 it formed part of the so-called “Gau Weser-Ems“. After the Second World War it became in 1946 a part of the newly formed federal state of Lower Saxony in the administrative district Aurich. Since then it has been a part of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The city of Emden already existed as a harbour settlement in the early Middle Ages. Trade was the main factor in the growth and prosperity of the city, making the settlement the largest city in East Frisia. Since 1885 it is district-free. According to a legend, Jews are said to have settled in East Frisia as early as the 14th century, but evidence exists only from the middle of the 16th century for the port cities of the region. In Emden it is attested for the year 1530. From 1842 Emden was the seat of a district rabbinate (“Landrabbinat“). From 1933 on a large part of the East Frisian Jews emigrated, those who remained were persecuted and murdered in the Holocaust. After the Second World War, only 13 Jews returned. They founded a new synagogue association in 1949, which lasted until 1984. Today only a few Jews live in East Frisia; they are part of the Jewish congregation of Oldenburg.
- Access points: locations:
- Emden
- Access points: persons/families:
- Deepen, Lambertus
- Grunert, Kurt
- Hart, M
- Italiener
- Kothe, Fritz
- Loehrs, Theodor
- Nordheimer, Lazarus
- Schmeding, Heinz
- Seligmann
- Tönjes, Heinrich
- Valk
- Wolf, Louis
- Wolkenfeld
- System of arrangement:
- The material is arranged in thematic order.
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid (Arcinsys) is available.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.arcinsys.niedersachsen.de/arcinsys/start
- Yerusha Network member:
- Institute for the History of German Jews
- Author of the description:
- Matthias Springborn, 2019