Valašské Klobouky Town Archives

Collection

Creator/accumulator:: Municipal Office of Valašské Klobouky; Valašské Klobouky Municipality

Scope and content:: The fonds contains documents of the town self-government, deeds, official books, and files. Jews are specifically mentioned in documents from the Holocaust period: register of Jews, instructions (1939–1943). The following also contain relevant material: guild and trade issues 1779-1845; trade matters - ordinances, price lists, apprenticeship certificates 1855–1943; parcel protocols, 1878–1945; applications for domicile 1852–1939; enlistments, ordinances, billing 1881–1939; building permits 1852–1945.

Archival history:: Valuable documents of the town council were stored in the municipal chest at the town hall; how other written agendas were stored is unknown. In 1954, the district archives were established in Valašské Klobouky, where the documents of the town hall were handed over. The archives, together with the oldest archive material stored in the museum in Valašské Klobouky, was then transferred in 1963 to the branch of the district archives in Gottwaldov (now Zlín), where it was inventoried. In 1968–1969 the fonds was organised.

Administrative/biographical history:: Valašské Klobouky was first mentioned in a document from 1341. The town's representatives were initially headed by the Vogt, who was eventually degraded to the position of an executor of the power of the council, and the main representatives of the town became mayor and councillors. After the revolution in 1848–1849, a district court was established in Valašské Klobouce (1850–1949), and in 1855–1868 a mixed district office combining the functions of judicial and political administration. For most of the time, however, the seat of the district office was Uherský Brod (1850–1855, 1868–1949).

The first records of the Jewish population in Valašské Klobouky date back to the 16th century. The Jews ran commercial and hospitality businesses, and engaged in dyeing and making draperies which was a strategic craft of that region. Because the Jewish descent made social advancement difficult, there were cases of conversion to Christianity - this was the case with the originally Jewish family of the Bratmanns, one of whose converted members later even became mayor of Valašské Klobouky. The number of Jews in the town did not exceed several dozens of individuals in the second half of the 19th century. In connection with the decline of handicraft cloth production, there was also a gradual outflow of Jews from the city.

Subject terms:: Guilds; Holocaust; Residency issues of Jews; Trade and commerce; Vital records

System of arrangement:: The fonds is divided as follows: I. Deeds, II. Official books, III. File material - A. auxiliary books, B. files, IV. Accounts, V. Maps and plans.

Finding aids:: Ivan ŠTARHA, Archiv města Valašských Klobouk 1356–1945 (1951), rks., ev.č. [call number] 203. Inventář, 1969.