Papers of the Neighbourhood Associations (Nachbarschaften) of Sibiu

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Arhivele Naționale ale României, Direcţia Judeţeană Sibiu

Postal address:: Arhivele Naționale ale României, Direcţia Judeţeană Sibiu, Strada Arhivelor nr. 3, cod 550164, jud. Sibiu, România

Scope and content:: This collection consists of records and register books of various neighbourhood associations (Nachbarschaften) in Sibiu. In particular, the resident registers provide valuable information about the residences of Jewish tenants and homeowners, and in several instances, about Jewish community institutions such as synagogues. For details on items within this collection making specific reference to the Jewish population, see the entry for this collection at http://jbat.lbi.org/, subfield ‘contains’, and click on any title.

Archival history:: No information is provided as to when these papers were acquired by the National Archives.

Administrative/biographical history:: The neighbourhood associations emerged in the middle ages and were generally tasked with public works projects and the maintenance of order on the streets. Their structure, functions and mandates varied somewhat from street to street, and especially over time, as did their relationship to more formal institutions of municipal governance. In the early modern period, it does appear that a neighbourhood organisation could pass and enforce laws limited to their local mandate, for example regulations concerning festivities or parades. By the late 19th century they appear to have developed into largely social organisations with some vestigial responsibilities. Also beginning in this period there is evidence of Jewish membership in some of the associations. Increasingly through the interwar period and especially in the 1930s, the remaining neighbourhood associations became aligned with National Socialist ideologies.