Metadata: Cattanea
Collection
- Country:
- Austria
- Holding institution:
- Tyrolean Regional Archive
- Holding institution (official language):
- Tiroler Landesarchiv
- Postal address:
- Michael-Gaismair-Straße 1; 6020 Innsbruck
- Phone number:
- 0043 512 508 3502
- Web address:
- https://www.tirol.gv.at/kunst-kultur/landesarchiv/
- Email:
- landesarchiv@tirol.gv.at
- Reference number:
- Mischbestände - Cattanea
- Title:
- Cattanea
- Title (official language):
- Cattanea
- Creator/accumulator:
- Cattan, Josef Benedikt; Gubernium; Representation and Chamber
- Date(s):
- 1700/1899
- Date note:
- ca. 1700-1800
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 175 boxes
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection “Cattanea” is a non-Jewish collection with a certain number of Jewish-related documents. It covers the period from about 1700 to 1800 and consists of 311 individual case files, for example trial records and revision files of the government of Austria Superior (“Oberösterreich”). The records are miscellaneous and created without any system, which makes research difficult. ( Cf. Beimrohr, Das Tiroler Landesarchiv und seine Bestände, 51.) Nevertheless, there are references to some Jewish individuals and families. In general the documents of this collection are extensive and therefore divided into various fascicles, referring to well known Jewish businessmen or “Court Jews” (“Hoffaktoren”), such as Michael May, Jacob Iseron, Jonathan Uffenheimer and Isaac and Maier (Mayr) Landau(er), who were all associated with or related to each other. ( Cf. Albrich (ed.), Jüdisches Leben im historischen Tirol, Vol. 1.)
There are at least twelve fascicles with trial documents of these persons, which deal with legal and financial matters as well as conflicts between individuals concerning financial obligations, outstanding payments and valuables. As mentioned above, there are references to records about the “Court Jew” (“Hoffaktor”) Michael May, his business partners Jacob Iseron and Jonathan Uffenheimer. Michael May (1680-1737) was a well-known businessman in the early 18th century in Innsbruck. As a result of monetary loss and risky businesses, Michael May was in debt to his former business partner Gerson Daniel Oppenheimer as well as to the Jewish brothers Mayr and Isaac Landau and others. In the year 1717 Michael May went bankrupt, between 1735 and 1737 he died as the last member of the business family of May. ( Cf. Albrich (ed.), Jüdisches Leben im historischen Tirol, Vol. 1, 253-255.)
Furthermore, the collection includes regulations dealing with matters of Jewish payments for tolerance (“Toleranzgelder”) and expulsions, as for example in case of the Jewish community Tannhausen of Burgau in the year 1713.
- Archival history:
- This collection was transferred to the Tyrolean Regional Archive as part of the regular document transfer process stipulated by national archival regulations.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The compiler of the collection “Cattanea”, which was created in the year 1740, was Josef Benedikt Cattan (1st half of the 18th century), the registrar of the Tyrolean Government. Later the registrars of the “Gubernium” expended this collection by adding more individual case files of the administrative agencies of Tyrol, of the “Gubernium” itself and its precursor institution “Representation and Chamber” (“Repräsentation und Kammer”). Both agencies were the highest authorities of Innsbruck and responsible for the general administration of the County Tyrol and Vorarlberg. This collection is not structured and only loosely arranged. Cf. Beimrohr, Das Tiroler Landesarchiv und seine Bestände, 51. Further Information about the administrative history of Tyrol can be found in Werner Köfler, Verwaltungsgeschichte Tirols. Hilfsdokumente des Tiroler Landesarchivs (https://www.tirol.gv.at/fileadmin/themen/kunst-kultur/landesarchiv/downloads/verwaltungsgeschichte.PDF).
- Access points: persons/families:
- iseron, Jacob
- Landau, Isaac
- Landau, Mayr
- May, Michael
- Uffenheimer, Jonathan
- System of arrangement:
- The collection contains miscellaneous records without any system.
- Access, restrictions:
- Public access
- Finding aids:
- Finding aids: Rep. B 26, Rep. B 27, Rep. B 701/13. NB: Most of the catalogues of the Tyrolean Regional Archive include not only content registers but also subject indices. These can be searched for terms such as “Juden” (“Jews”), “Judentum” (“Judaism“), “Judenschaft” (“Judaism”), “Israeliten” (Israelites) and “Hebräer” (Hebrews). Usually there are numbers next to the entries concerning Jewish matters, which are needed to find the records in the register. The next step is to look up the number in the content registers to get a first impression of the written sources. Documents of interest can be ordered with their reference number for further consultation.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Rebecca Muršec, June 2017