Metadata: Craft guilds of Leszno
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- State Archives in Poznan
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu
- Postal address:
- ul. 23 Lutego 41/43, 60-967 Poznań
- Phone number:
- +48 61 852 46 01
- Email:
- archiwum@poznan.ap.gov.pl
- Reference number:
- 53/1336/0/-
- Title:
- Craft guilds of Leszno
- Title (official language):
- Cechy miasta Leszno
- Creator/accumulator:
- Craft guilds of Leszno
- Date(s):
- 1504/1950
- Language:
- Polish
- German
- Extent:
- 2.8 metres (264 folders)
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of materials produced by municipal guilds - statutes, books of accounts, minutes, registers, sentences passed by the land court. There are only a few Jewish-related materials in the collection. Those that exist largely concern economic matters and mutual relations in this area between Jews and their non-Jewish surroundings. One archival unit concerns the verdicts of the land court dealing with protests of a Christian guild against the excessive influence of and monopoly over the local trade and crafts by Jewish handicraftsmen. A very valuable document is the statute of the Jewish furriers guild, which was confirmed by the owner of the town, Antoni Sułkowski.
Jewish-related records include:
Ref. no. 14/114 - Notification from the authority of Leszno about the position of Jews (bakers) in relation to the bakers guild (18 December 1743)
Ref. no. 21/150 - A copy of the response of the clothiers guild in Leszno to the decisions of Antoni Sułkowski, the lord of the town, regulating relations between Jews and foremen and Christians in the cloth trade. Confirmation of the statute by prince Radziwiłł from 1641 (25 October 1782)
Ref. no. 4/41 - Settlement by the authorities in Leszno (county collegial court) of a dispute between Jews engaged in the peddling of leather and Leszno tanners from 1756 (16 October 1756)
Ref. no. 13/100 - Confirmation of the privileges of haberdashers in Leszno by the town authorities on the basis of the privileges of 1622 (1796) – with special emphasis on their exclusive rights vis-à-vis Jews regarding the production and trade in haberdashery items
Ref. no. 9/64 - C. Antoni Sułkowski (heir of the town of Leszno) confirmation of the guild statute the guild of the furriers guild of Leszno synagogue along with the agreed fee of 4 florins per year per each member of the guild (1764–1793)
- Archival history:
-
The materials included in the collection were produced and collected by the guild authorities, in close connection with the town owner's chancellery. The collections of the guild books, files and documentation were kept in cupboards, drawers or chests located in the guild chamber, which often also housed the city seals and the official library. Documents of the guild’s statutes and privileges were, however, locked in the town hall treasury.
In 1869, the Prussian government of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck organised the government State Archives in Poznań (Stadtarchiv Posen), which became part of the network of Prussian state archives. At the beginning of March of that year, Carl Horn, the chief president of Poznań Province, addressed an appeal to communes, associations, institutions and private persons to submit all records to the Poznań archives.
The archives of the guilds of Kórnik towns were finally placed in Staadtarchiv Posen at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century as deposits of municipalities. Archives, including the materials from Leszno, returned into the possession of Polish archives after the end of World War I and the Greater Poland Uprising.
In the years 1942-1944, the oldest and most valuable archival materials were taken by the German authorities to Germany or hidden in the territories subordinate to the Reich. After the Nazi occupation, a large part of the looted archives was handed over to the State Archives in Poznań, including the collection of Leszno guild records.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- In Leszno, guild statutes had to be approved first by the town council and then by the town owner. The issued statutes and privileges were stored in the municipal archives and entered into the ledgers of the particular guild. An assembly of all the guild members held legislative and controlling powers. Executive power was in the hands of the guild elders. Each guild had its own scribe who kept a guild ledger that was kept under lock by the guild elders. This practice existed throughout the Old Polish period. In Leszno, each guild had its own ledger containing information on the business of guild assemblies, entries of new members, master and apprentice certificates, and books of revenues and expenses. During Prussian rule, the guilds kept their own registers, but were required to deposit copies and all regulations in the municipal archives.
- System of arrangement:
-
The collection consists of handwritten volumes - books of entries to guilds, books of accounts - expenses and income, statutes, privileges, guild assembly minutes. It is arranged thematically as follows:
1. Guild of coopers, 1673–1899 (ref. no. 1 / 1–1 / 24)
2. Guild of barbers and barber-surgeons, 1685–1885 (ref. no. 2 / 25-2 / 28 and ref. no. 2 / 206-2 / 207)
3. Dyers Guild, 1747–1747 (call number 3/29)
4. Tanners guild, 1504–1799 (ref. no. 4 / 30–4 / 44 and ref. no. 4/264)
5. Potters guild, 1680–1912 (ref. no. 5 / 45–5 / 46 and ref. no. 5 / 210-5 / 212)
6. Hatters Guild, 1768–1860 (ref. no. 6 / 47–6 / 48)
7. Guild of chimney sweeps, 1722–1829 (ref. no. 7/49)
8. Furriers guild, 1764–1793 (ref. no. 9/64)
10. Guild of bellows- and glovemakers, 1760–1845 (ref. no. 10 / 65–10 / 80)
11. Guild of millers, 1647–1902 (ref. no. 11 / 81–11 / 85)
12. Guild of bricklayers and carpenters, 1692–1895 (ref. no. 12 / 86–12 / 95)
13. Guild of haberdashers, 1677–1814 (ref. no. 13 / 96–13 / 104)
14. Bakers guild, 1642–1949 (ref. no. 14 / 105–14 / 134 and ref. no. 14/224 and 14/263)
15. Brewers guild, 1754–1794 (ref. no. 15 / 135–136)
16. Guild of linen drapers, 1695–1873 (ref. no. 16 / 137–138)
17. Guild of cloth shearers, 1660–1834 (ref. no. 17 / 139–141)
18. Guild of rope makers, 1662–1891 (ref. no. 18 / 142–145 and ref. no. 18 / 225–236)
19. Butchers guild, 1665–1885 (ref. no. 19/146)
20. Guild of carpenters, 1656–1884 (ref. no. 20 / 147–20 / 149 and ref. no. 20 / 238–241)
21. Guild of clothiers, 1701–1800 (ref. no. 21 / 150¬ – 21/151 and ref. no. 21 / 242–243)
22. Guild of shoemakers, 1741–2000 (ref. no. 22 / 152–153 and ref. no. 22 / 244–259)
23. Guild of glaziers, 1671–1671 (ref. no. 23/154)
24. Joint guild, 1603–1939 (ref. no. 24 / 155–205 and ref. no. 24/237)
25. Blacksmiths guild, 1856–1923 (ref. no. 25 / 214–216)
26. Unknown guild, 1835–1854 (ref. no. 26/262)
27. Guild of masons and stonemasons, 1683–1821 (ref. no. 27 / 222–27 / 223
28. Guild of hairdressers and wig makers, 1892–1950 (ref. no. 28 / 208–28 / 209)
29. Guild of tinkers and bookbinders, 1741–1741 (ref. no. 30/213)
30. Several guilds, 1914–1943 (ref. no. 31 / 260–31 / 261)
- Finding aids:
-
A printed inventory is available in the archive.
An online finding aid is also available.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/de/zespol/-/zespol/16036
- Yerusha Network member:
- The Taube Department of Jewish Studies of the University of Wrocław
- Author of the description:
- Mikołaj Wojciechowski, University of Wrocław