Archive of the Town of Duchcov

Collection

Scope and content:: The fonds contains documents of the municipal self-government. Jewish issues can be found in the following files: Jewish matters, 1843 (inv. 505); Jewish reopened stores, 1938–39 (inv. 927); financial matters linked with the moving of the Czechs and Jews in 1938 (inv. 1360); and Jewish property, 1940 (inv. 1467). Other documents with information on the Jewish population can likely be found in the following files: land registries, 1719–1884 (inv. 78–120); books of the town judiciary, 1764–1829 (inv. 123–126); the 1880 census (inv. 239); domicile and domicile certificates, 1864–1931 (inv. 240–245); books of foreigners, 1908–24 (inv. 247–252); release certificates, 1833–48 (inv. 501); permissions for journeys and passports, 1835 (inv. 519); right of domicile in general, an alphabetically arranged collection, 1919–38 (inv. 742); applications for and cancellations of trades, 1938–40 (inv. 868); a collection of domicile certificates, undated (inv. 1321–1324); a collection of personal documents (inv. 1325–1339); lists of inhabitants, 1850–1935 (inv. 1403–1417); and a town chronicle, 1700–1916 (reg. no. 741).

Archival history:: The fonds was part-arranged in 1959. A new arrangement was carried out in 1962 after transfer to Teplice in connection with the moving of the former district archive of Duchcov. It was inventoried in 1967–68 and the inventory was created in 1969–70. The inventory process was completed in 1971.

Administrative/biographical history:: Duchcov was already an important market town in the 13th century. Unlike the neighbouring town of Bílina, it maintained its German character for a long time. At the end of the 18th century, Duchcov entered history as the resting place of Giacomo Casanova, who had served as a librarian in the chateau. From the late 18th century, the mining industry invigorated the area, followed by a sugar factory and glassworks. In 1880, there were 7,363 mostly German inhabitants in the town. By 1921 census the population had risen to 12,619. Under the Nazi occupation the town was integrated into the Reichsgau Sudetenland along with many surrounding localities and administered by a Landrat (district councillor) and a municipal office.

Subject terms:: Census; Financial matters; Land registries; Passports and visas; Personal records; Plunder; Real estate; Residency issues of Jews; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: The fonds is divided into deeds, books before 1850 and after 1850, and files, including the registry finding aids, and also maps and plans. The collection of books after 1850 consists primarily of minutes of the town council and the council. The file material is preceded by registry finding aids, being further divided into the municipality office, the self-governing municipal office and the municipal office files from the Nazi Occupation period. What follows is a group of municipal income, municipal companies (cinema, pit, power plant, gasworks), and finally maps and plans.

Finding aids:: Šístek J., Archiv města Duchcov (1389) 1541-1945, Inventář, 1971, 261 s. See also K. Kochmann, Das Stadtbuch von Dux, 1941.