District Office of Spišská Sobota

Collection

Scope and content:: The fonds contains documents of the political administration of the Spišská Sobota district. Information about Jews can be found in various records, such as series of trades and building permits. The following documents are relevant: payments due to the Jewish School Fund (1853); a request for the establishment of a Jewish prayer house in Betlanovce (1855); statistics of the movement of the Jewish population in the Betlanovce and Batizovce regions (1855); establishment of a private Jewish school in Batizovce (1856); a report about the Jewish residents of the district (1862, 1868); a list of Jewish families (1878); disputes over Chevra Kadisha in Kežmarok (1882, 1884); and an unauthorised school in Huncovce (1882).

Archival history:: After a reorganisation in 1860, the documents from 1850-1860 were handed to the County Archives. Later, other volumes were transferred in parts there, too. The fonds then moved several times, and in 1933 some of the documents were destroyed. The remainder suffered damage during the war and only a fragment has been preserved. The files were taken over by the State Archives in 1958.

Administrative/biographical history:: The district offices (Hungarian: szolgabírói hivatal) were established in 1849, first as temporary public administration offices. A reorganisation took place in 1850, and another one in 1853. The district office was the lowest political-administrative unit within the county and at the same time the first instance court. It was headed by the chief district officer, who was assisted by one or two officers, with other staff being in the office, too. The judicial agenda was withdrawn and transferred to district courts in 1871. The office monitored how laws were observed, conducted the agenda of taxes, charges, military affairs, elections, and was the industrial supervisory body of the first instance. Its seat was first in Spišský Štvrtok, then in Poprad. In 1860, the number of district offices in the County was reduced and the Podtatranský District came into being. The District Office in Spišská Sobota was renewed in 1894. After the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, the structure of the office remained unchanged. The district offices were abolished in 1922.

Subject terms:: Education; Education--Schools and universities; Financial records; Hevrah kadisha; Migration; Statistics; Synagogues; Trade and commerce

System of arrangement:: During processing, the original structure was respected.

Finding aids:: Frelichová, A. - Chalupecký, I. - Liptáková, H.: Slúžnovský úrad v Spišskej Sobote, (1810) 1850 – 1922. Inventár, Levoča 1994, 147 s.