Metadata: Archive of the Jewish Community of Baden
Collection
- Country:
- Switzerland
- Holding institution:
- Jewish Community of Baden
- Holding institution (official language):
- Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Baden, IKGB
- Postal address:
- Parkstrasse 17, CH-5400 Baden
- Phone number:
- +41 56 222 94 46
- Web address:
- http://ikgb.ch
- Email:
- ikgb@gmx.ch
- Reference number:
- A, B, C, D, E, F
- Title:
- Archive of the Jewish Community of Baden
- Title (official language):
- Archiv der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Baden
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Community of Baden
- Date(s):
- 1881/1978
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 6 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The holdings of the Jewish Community are divided into several departments. In department “A Municipal Administration“ there are three minute books covering the period from 1892 to 1947, statutes from 1906 and 1942 as well as a draft from 1935, the statutes of other municipalities and associations, correspondence concerning the admission of new members from 1934 as well as documents of the board from 1936 to 1938. In addition, it includes correspondence from the municipality from the period 1901 to 1965, and In the sub-division “Cemetery“ contains material on the burial society, the Chevra Kadisha (draft statutes etc.), correspondence, bills and the like. In the sub-division “Staff“ there are documents concerning the various cantors between 1904 and 1959, while sub-division “Court Cases“ contains mainly material concerning the pitting and various deportations in the 1930s. Section B “Finances“ contains mainly materials relating to bookkeeping, the municipal budget, etc. between 1897 and 1965, while section C “Synagogue“ contains several synagogue orders from the years 1886 to 1942, materials of the synagogue choir, and above all documents relating to the construction of the synagogue between 1881 and 1940 and documents of the synagogue construction fund 1932 to 1939. In addition, there are Torah donations from the years 1961 to 1966. In section D “Religion School“ there are school chronicles from the years 1886 to 1899, notebooks, books and other school-related materials. In section E “Welfare“ there are primarily documents of the Israelitischer Krankenverein from the years 1892 to 1950, such as correspondence, membership lists, receipts and vouchers, but also documents of the refugee assistance from the time of the First World War and National Socialism. In addition, it includes also material on the Emergency Fund of the 1930s and other kinds of assistance from the years 1915 to 1956. Section F “Associations“ contains a large number of documents on the local WIZO branch. This collection contains activity reports (also on important Jewish holidays), donor lists, minute books, correspondence, etc. from the period between 1957 and 1978. In addition, this section includes documents on other Jewish associations such as the Jewish Women's Association of Baden, the relief association Etania or the Jewish orphanage in Basel. Outside the community archives there are also documents from the Jewish Communities of Endingen (school commission 1836-1853) and Lengnau (old-age home 1943-1952) in the Baden city archives.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Baden (IKGB) is a Jewish community with Orthodox-Ashkenazi rite in the form of a unified community in Baden, Switzerland, with around 100 members (October 2010). In the 18th century Jews in Switzerland were only allowed to settle in the county of Baden, and from 1776 only in the two towns of Endingen and Lengnau. They were regarded as foreigners without citizenship, were not allowed to acquire real estate, were not allowed to join guilds, and as a result were largely restricted to commercial and peddling professions. The Canton of Aargau, created in 1803, retained these legal disadvantages in its "Judengesetz" of 5 May 1809 and in an amending law of 1846 with only minor mitigations. The Federal Constitution of 1848 also denied them equal civil and religious rights. Only a Federal Council resolution of 1856 granted them civil equality, which was not implemented in Aargau until 1863. As a result of exceptional permits, Jews were able to settle in Christian communities outside the two "Judendörfer" (Jewish villages) since the 1840s, and as early as 1850 over 200 Jews, a proportion of 4.8 % of the total population, are said to have lived in Baden and Ennetbaden. Seven of these new citizens founded the Cultusverein Baden on 9 June 1859, which set out to "to cultivate religious practice, especially the establishment of a common service and religious instruction for the youth". This was soon followed by the founding of a women's association, a charitable association and a bowling club.
- Access, restrictions:
- Users must give details of their work objectives. The documents must be consulted on site.
- Finding aids:
- An electronic register of the files that have been catalogued is available online.
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Severin Holzknecht and Dinah Ehrenfreund-Michler; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2020
