Moravian Viceregency, Church Department 1786–1918

Collection

Title (official language):: Moravské místodržitelství, církevní oddělení 1786-1918

Scope and content:: The fonds contains documents of the Church Department of the supreme land governing office in Moravia - Moravian Vice Regency. It also contains the documents of the creator's predecessor, the Moravian-Silesian Land Government. Documents from after 1918 can occasionally been found although they have generally been removed from the fonds. It is one of the most important fonds concerning the religious history of Moravia of the given period. There is no reference to Jewish matters in the inventory of the older part of the fonds from 1786-1880. The later part of the fonds from the years 1881-1918 contains significant sources covering the history of the Jews. These are primarily the documents Jewish Religious Matters - regulations 1814-1927 (2 boxes) and files from the years 1881-1918 (15 boxes), regulation of cult matters of Jewish religious communities 1884-1892 (2 boxes) - other important documents are the articles of the Jewish religious communities from Moravia, arranged in alphabetical order according to place (3 boxes); also Jewish registry and matrimonial matters, name changes of Jews 1881-1918 (19 boxes); cult tax 1892 (1 box); synagogues, cemeteries - establishment and maintenance (1 box); assets of Jewish religious communities 1893 (1 box); Moravian Land Jewish fonds 1881-1928 (1 box); name changes of Jews 1903 (1 box); dispensations for marriages of Jews 1897 (1 box); conversions of Jews to the Catholic Church 1882-1888 (1 box).

Archival history:: The Moravian Viceregency and its predecessor, the Moravian-Silesian Land Government, handled the documents of the Church Department in a special unit, from which this fonds was created. In spite of the fact that the Church Department had its own handling key, after the records concerning Jews were taken over, the original call № 25 of the general department of the vice regency remained for these files, although the Church Department had assigned the same call № to other files. The documents of the Church Department were taken over twice by the Moravian Provincial Archives - in 1944 these were the documents from 1786-1880 and in 1950 the documents from 1881-1918. For both of these parts of the fonds provisional inventory lists were compiled during the takeover, and these show the division of the fonds into two parts: older (up to 1880) and later (after 1881). In 1964 the documents after 1918 were moved to the fonds of the Land Office. The assisting books for the files of the Church Department are in the fonds of the Moravian Vice Regency, the presidium files are in the fonds of the Moravian Vice Regency - presidium, and accounting matters are in the fonds of the Moravian Vice Regency - accounts department.

Administrative/biographical history:: The creator of the fonds, the Church Department, was part of the Moravian Vice Regency and its predecessor, the Moravian-Silesian Provincial Government. As a result, the history of the creator is the same as the history of these offices.

Subject terms:: Cemeteries; Conversion to Christianity; Jewish community; Jewish community records; Legal status of Jews; Marriage and divorce; Synagogues; Vital records; Vital records--Marriage records

System of arrangement:: The documents of the fonds are structured in two parts: older (up to 1880) and later (after 1881). Both parts are arranged according to call numbers by subject.

Finding aids:: Radimský J: Místodržitelství, církevní oddělení 1786-1880. Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1948, s. 0, ev.č. 2742.; Okáč A: Místodržitelství, církevní oddělení 1881-1918. Prozatímní inventární seznam, 1950, s. 29, ev.č. 2744.