Metadata: Records of the town of (Nowy-)Wiśnicz
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- National Archives in Krakow
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Narodowe w Krakowie
- Postal address:
- ul. Sienna 16, 30–960 Kraków
- Phone number:
- (+48 12) 422 40 94; (+48 12) 4212790; (+48 12) 421 68 81
- Web address:
- http://ank.gov.pl/
- Email:
- sekretariat@ank.gov.pl
- Reference number:
- PL 29/118
- Title:
- Records of the town of (Nowy-)Wiśnicz
- Title (official language):
- Akta miasta Wiśnicza
- Creator/accumulator:
- Municipality of Nowy-Wiśnicz
- Date(s):
- 1622/1867
- Language:
- Latin
- Polish
- German
- Extent:
- 0.5 linear metres (15 volumes)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection’s documents were generated by the town council, the bench or municipal tribunal and the burgomaster (burmistrz) of the town of Wiśnicz. In the Austrian period the documents were issued by the municipal administration (magistrat) appointed by state authorities.
The Jewish-related items include civil case files regarding the sale and purchase of property, proprietorship disputes and official introductions to real estate. There are many files concerning loans, debts, auctions, receipts, liens or pledges, bequests, settlements and trade disputes, services and supplies bills and accounts and entries of rabbinical court verdicts. There are a handful of complaints made to the feudal authorities. Testimonies submitted as part of criminal cases are numerous. For the Austrian period, ordinances of higher authorities, national and circular or precinct, can be found.
Jewish-related elements appear in:
IT 2046: town council files, 1622-1765; IT 2059: the courts of the wójt (vogt or mayor), burmistrz (burgomaster or lord mayor) and bench (municipal tribunal) of Wiśnicz, 1665-1785; pp. 244-261: records of the sittings of the Wiśnicz town council, 1844-45; acceptances into the municipal law of 1863; DEP 159: town council register of Wiśnicz, 1672-89; DEP 160: town council register of Wiśnicz, 1712-36; DEP 161: bench (assessors’) register of Wiśnicz, 1634-80; DEP 162: bench register of Wiśnicz, 1646-68; DEP 163: bench register of Wiśnicz, 1686-1701; DEP 164: bench register of Wiśnicz, 1701-18; DEP 165: bench register of Wiśnicz, 1720-53; DEP 166: registers of entries, town of Wiśnicz; record of wójt’s courts, 1779-1806; DEP 167: income and expenditure; records of the municipal administration (magistrat), 1777-86; DEP 168: income and expenditure records of the municipal administration of Wiśnicz, 1777-86; DEP 169: entries of precinct (cyrkuł) residents; letters and memos received, 1782-6; DEP 170: litigations of the Dominium of Wiśnicz, 1790-99; DEP 171: bills and accounts, properties and assets, commune’s income, 1841-44, 1849-52, 1867.
- Archival history:
- In 1906 the manuscripts were found at the Nowy-Wiśnicz town hall, apparently preserved in poor condition. Following an intervention from Galicia’s national department, the commune sent 23 volumes to the archive in Krakow for deposit. Before this some private individuals had borrowed certain books and not returned them; these might be the manuscripts purchased in 1974 via the head office of the State Archives, IT 2046 and IT 2059, which were eventually moved from Section 3 to Section 1 in 2010. The register of the criminal court of Nowy-Wiśnicz dated 1629-65 is now part of the Diocesan Archive in Tarnów and has appeared in print. In 2010 some of the books and registers were moved from the National Archives at Sienna Street to the Wawel and made part of the collection.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Nowy-Wiśnicz was a private town located 49km south-east of Krakow and 8km from Bochnia within the voivodeship of Krakow, being part of the Kingdom of Poland until 1772; subsequently under Austrian rule, Wiśnicz remained part of Austrian-Polish Galicia from 1772 to 1918.
Wiśnicz was founded in 1593 by Sebastian Lubomirski and remained in the Lubomirski family’s hands until the second half of the 19th century, with the exception of 1710-52 when it was held by the Sanguszko family.
In 1606 Stanisław Lubomirski encouraged the Jews expelled from Bochnia to settle in Wiśnicz, where they soon established a synagogue and a kahal. Following a fire in 1863 which consumed the town hall and two synagogues some of the local Jews moved to Bochnia, with the population gradually shrinking from 4,600 in 1857 to 2,600 in 1931.
Wiśnicz or Nowy-Wiśnicz had a municipality functioning under the Magdeburg Law from 1622: three councillors plus the burgomaster (burmistrz) made up the council; there was a bench with a wójt, seven aldermen and scribes. Under Austrian rule the town was administered by the president (equivalent of a lord mayor) and a team of officials whose number was reduced by half and who mostly performed domanial and state rather than local government or municipal functions. Appeals and entries of judgement were initially handled by the proprietor, then after 1772 by the Austrian Gubernium and subsequently by the Lwów-based tribunal of appeals.
- Access points: locations:
- Nowy-Wiśnicz
- Subject terms:
- Crime
- Financial matters--Debt
- Legal records
- Rabbis
- Real estate
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of Town Council books or registers dated 1622 to 1736 (IT 2046, 2059, DEP 159, 160), those of the Bench 1634–1753 (DEP 161–165) and the town’s financial books of 1777–1867 (DEP 166–171).
- Access, restrictions:
- If a copy (microfilm, scan, photocopy) of a document exists, this is what will be made available. Access to the originals requires the consent of the Director.
- Finding aids:
-
Inventory available online.
An inventory in Polish is available in the reading room at the archive.
Information on about 650 records is available in the database of the Jagiellonian University: http://www.uj.edu.pl/web/judaiki
See also:
Acta Nigra Maleficorum Wisniciae (1665–1785). Księga czarna złoczyńców sądu kryminalnego w Wiśniczu (1665–1785), edited by Wacław Uruszczak, with Bartłomieja Migdy, Anny Karabowicz and Adama Uruszczaka, Kraków 2010 (IT 2059).
- Yerusha Network member:
- Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute
- Author of the description:
- Janusz S. Dąbrowski; Kraków; 2015
