Metadata: Military records
Collection
- Country:
- Austria
- Holding institution:
- City Archives of Innsbruck
- Holding institution (official language):
- Stadtarchiv/Stadtmuseum Innsbruck
- Postal address:
- Badgasse 2; 6020 Innsbruck
- Phone number:
- 0043 512 5360 1400
- Title:
- Military records
- Title (official language):
- Militärakten
- Creator/accumulator:
- Municipal Department I; Municipal Department IV
- Date(s):
- 1801/1919
- Date note:
- ca. 1806-1919
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 36 boxes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection “Military records” is a non-Jewish collection with a number of documents related to Jewish points of interest.
It covers the period from 1806 to 1918/1919 and is divided into different subject sections (German “Abschnitte”) with various records about military matters, such as records about military service and mustering as well as military conscriptions and registers. First and foremost, these records are documents of the administration in Innsbruck. Part of this collection consists of military passports of conscripts, including personal data about soldiers and their period of military service.
Additionally, there are registers of soldiers, combat veterans and prisoners of war as well as documents that give insights into military life with details about accommodations or barracks, quartering of soldiers in private houses, food supplies and the use of public buildings for military purpose. There are also documents about war damages, victims of war, war graves and captives as well as details about the soldiers’ families, for example family subsidies and housing benefits.
There are references to military matters in the finding aids of the Municipal Department I after 1918/1919 dealing with quartering, food supplies and the German Wehrmacht and its military operations, but the documents referred to are not preserved in the City Archive.
In order to research Jewish elements in this collection it is necessary to know the names of Jewish individuals to successfully consult the written sources.
NB: Entries about Jewish people in the finding aids of 1912 to 1928 and of the Municipal Department I can be found in two ways: 1. Searching for personal names (the main approach for this collection) or subjects, such as “Jews” (German “Juden”) or “Jewish community” (German “Israelitische Kultusgemeinde”). Especially in this collection searching for individual names is usually the more fruitful approach, as the majority of documents in the Innsbruck city archive is arranged by individuals’ names rather than by subject.
- Archival history:
- This collection was transferred to the City Archive as part of the regular document transfer process stipulated by national archival regulations. It no longer receives any accruals.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The City Archive of Innsbruck received the documents in this collection from the city council of Innsbruck and its various departments and offices. First the “Military records” were part of “Gruppe IX – Militär” (“Group IX – Military”) of the administrative Office 1, but in 1934 the agencies of Innsbruck were changed and restructured. As part of this measure, Office 1 was renamed Municipal Department I. This agency was not only responsible for trade matters but also for other administrative areas, e.g. social insurance, local and national citizenship, marriage, registry, names, population census, cultus, agriculture, forestry, medical corps organisation, veterinary, and commercial matters.
Note: As a rule it can be said that in the 20th century, in consequence of the political circumstances, the responsibilities of the different administrative departments in Innsbruck frequently changed and agencies were often restructured. Cf. Stadtmagistrat Innsbruck, Geschäfts- und Registratursplan, 33; Cf. Stadtmagistrat Innsbruck, Aktenplan, Abteilung I.
- Subject terms:
- Military
- Prisoners
- World War I
- Access, restrictions:
- Public access
- Finding aids:
- Finding aids of 1912-1928. NB: References concerning military matters can be found in the finding aids of Municipal Department I until 1935 and after that date in the finding aids of Municipal Department IV.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Rebecca Muršec, March 2017