Metadata: Dzierżoniów town deposit
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- State Archives Wroclaw
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu
- Postal address:
- ul. Pomorska 2, 50-215 Wrocław
- Phone number:
- +48 71 3288101
- Web address:
- http://www.ap.wroc.pl/
- Email:
- sekretariat@ap.wroc.pl
- Reference number:
- 82/1032
- Title:
- Dzierżoniów town deposit
- Title (official language):
- Depozyt miasta Dzierżoniowa Depositum Urkunden der Stadt Reichenbach (Rep. 132a)
- Creator/accumulator:
- Dzierżoniów town admininstration
- Date(s):
- 1393/1597
- Language:
- Latin
- German
- Extent:
- 83 folders
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collections consists of documents once stored in the town archive, dating from 1393 to 1597: Authorisations signed by mayors, transactions of sale and purchase of perpetual rents, goods, land and others. Ordinances of the Czech county sheriff and other authorities, confirmation of the privileges granted by the town, granting goods, wills, repayment of debts, bonds, granting commercial rights - building stalls, establishing fairs, exemplified copies and letters patent.
There are no documents directly related to Jews as from approx. the 15th century the "de Judaeis non tolerandis" law applied. Jews could appear as witnesses, but archival research did not turn up any Jewish-related records.
- Archival history:
- The records were held in the Dzierżoniów town archive. At the initiative of the state authorities in the second half of the nineteenth century, the documents were transferred in the form of a deposit to the State Archive in Wrocław and were referenced here as Rep. 132. They were taken to Wrocław during World War II. After the war, the records were taken over by the archival authorities of East Germany (later the German Democratic Republic). They were then taken back to Wrocław in 1980.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Dzierżoniów is a county town on the Piława river founded by prince Bolko I Świdnicki. There are records regarding the creation of the Order of Saint John in 1262. The first mention of the town council dates from 1289. In the 14th century the town had weavers and furrier guilds, as well as a town school from 1336. The town was known for its production of wool and linen fabrics from the end of the 15th century. In the 16th century, there were about 500 clothmakers. A great fire destroyed the town in 1562. In 1627 the town was occupied and plundered by the imperial army. A number of craftsmen left the town after 1630 as the result of persecution of Protestants. In the 19th century, weaving turned into factories; chemical industry, a glassworks, and a dye house were also established. In 1835, a railway line was built to Świdnica, then it was extended to Wrocław and Dzierżoniów and in 1903 to Srebrna Góra. The town avoided major damage during World War II, but its population was completely exchanged.
The first mention of Jews comes in the 13th century. In the following century numerous documents attest to Jewish settlement; the community is a branch community of Świdnica. Jews were forcibly removed from the town as a result of the so-called "Kapistran trial" in 1453, and the town was granted "Jewish intolerance" (de non tolerandis judaeis) status. Jewish re-settlement began after 1812. There was a significant demographic increase to 185 people in 1875, then a slow decline until the Nazi era. After World War II, there was a rapid influx of Jews (17,800 people in 1946), followed by a later rapid outflow in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Access points: locations:
- Dzierżoniów
- Subject terms:
- Legal status of Jews
- Finding aids:
-
An old inventory in the form of a register of records is accessible on microfilm.
An online finding aid is also available.
- Yerusha Network member:
- The Taube Department of Jewish Studies of the University of Wrocław
- Author of the description:
- Leszek Ziątkowski, University of Wrocław, 2018
