Metadata: Town Records of Wolsztyn
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:
- 53/4326/0
- Title:
- Town Records of Wolsztyn
- Title (official language):
- Akta miasta Wolsztyn
- Creator/accumulator:
- Town of Wolsztyn
- Date(s):
- 1539/1816
- Language:
- Polish
- Latin
- German
- Extent:
- 0.62 metres, 16 folders
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of materials produced by the authorities of the town of Wolsztyn. The documents are thematically divided: Register of town council (4 archival units), Extracts from town council registers (1 archival unit) 1738-1792 (ref. no. I / 5), Registers of jurors and mayors (9th I) 1552-1789 (ref. no. I / 6- I / 14), Fragments from registers and extracts from the registers of mayors (1 archival unit) 1634, 1774-1792 (ref. no. I / 15), receipts and property records of the burghers (1archival unit) 1714-1780 (ref. no. I / 16).
There are few Jewish-related records in this collection, but information on the Jewish population can be found in the pages of the council and mayoral registers:
In the list of duties due to the heir it is mentioned that the Jews from Grodzisk donated two pounds of pepper and two measures of saffron to each fair, 1664 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 1), sheet 362v.
A bill of purchase of lime from a Jew for municipal needs, 1648 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 2), p. 181.
A court case regarding debt, in which the prosecutor was a Jew from Grodzisk (Infidelis Isaac Grodziscensis), 1673 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 12), p. 44.
Mention of the ownership of an income from the inn by the Jews of Wolsztyn, 1684 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 13), pp. 188-190.
Cases regarding debts owed by the burghers of Wolsztyn to Jews, 1696 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 13), p. 257; 1702 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 13), p. 316; 1703 (ref. no. 53/4326/0 / - / I / 13), p. 334.
- Archival history:
-
In 1794 and 1796, regulations of the Prussian king were issued by the South Prussian Military Chamber, ordering magistrates to prepare lists of documents, including town ordinances and privileges obtained. After 1815, the Notaries of Poznań and Bydgoszcz demanded an inventory of documents and records held by municipalities. In the period between the two World Wars, part of the Wolsztyn archives was kept in the State Archives in Poznań and Leszno.
In 1943, the German occupation board of the Reich Archives in Poznań (Reichsarchiv Posen) decided to remove the oldest and most valuable records from Poznań. These archival materials were located in churches and manors in the Poznań and Szamotuły counties. Documents were scattered and some of them were destroyed. After the end of World War II, materials related to Wolsztyn were handed over to the State Archives in Poznań by other archival institutions to which they had, under various circumstances, found their way. Some of the materials from Wolsztyn are also in the State Archives in Leszno and the State Archives in Zielona Góra.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The first mention in a source for the existence of the town is an entry from 1424 concerning a legal case between the vicar Albert and Mikołaj, the village mayor of Wolsztyn. In 1469, the charter document was probably burned. For this reason, the erstwhile owner of the town was forced to renew the charter. In the 16th century, the next owners of Wolsztyn were Andrzej and Jan Iłowiecki, who reissued the charter, which was confirmed by King Sigismund the Old. In 1654, the town was inherited by Piotr Powodowski. As a result of the Second Partition of Poland (1793), Wolsztyn came within the borders of the Prussian state as part of the newly created province of South Prussia. The new government began to introduce its own territorial organisation. The resulting province was divided into three departments.
The landrat was the head of the county. His tasks included all administrative and fiscal affairs of the county, with the exception of town lands. The mayor, the deputy, town council and secretary constituted the town authorities. Town councillors and jurors assisted in governing, and there was also a land court in the town. From 1829 until the end of Prussian rule, Wolsztyn was the seat of the county authorities. Towns were not excluded from under the administration of the landrat as had been the case in the South Prussian province. Successive town ordinances were introduced over the following years (1809, 1833, 1841, 1853).
- Access points: locations:
- Wolsztyn
- Subject terms:
- Financial matters
- Financial records
- Legal matters
- Trade and commerce
- System of arrangement:
-
The collection comprises the following 16 sub-series:
1. Town council register, 1469–1734 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/1)
2. Town council register, 1637–1662 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/2)
3. Town council register, 1668–1729 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/3)
4. Town citizenship register, 1773–1816 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/4)
5. 1. A fragment of the town council register from 1740–1742; 2. Extracts from the town council register for 1740–1792 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/5)
6. Inchoantur acta civilia oppidi Wolstiniensis sub Jacobo Groth tunc temporis primas tenendi advocatus eiusdem oppida […], 1552–1591 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/6)
7. Inchoantur acta civilian oppida Wolstiniensis subAlberto Kopka tunc temporis tenendi advocatus eiusdem oppida […], 1589–1615 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/7)
8. Księga wójtowska I ławnicza, 1602–1614 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/8)
9. Inchoantur acta civilia oppidi Volsztin sub Luca Geza tunc temporis primas advocatus eiusdem oppidi tenente […], 1614–1646 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/9)
10. Incipiunt acta civilia oppidi Wolstin sub Nicolao Zarychta advocato eiusdem oppidi […], 1622–1640 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/10)
11. Inchoantur acta civilia oppidi Wostin sub Joanne Klapała tunc temporis primas advocatus eiusdem oppidi […], 1633–1655 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/11)
12. Mayoral and council register, 1654–1738 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/12)
13. Mayoral and assessors register, 1667–1728 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/13)
14. Mayoral and assessors register, 1730–1789 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/14)
15. Original case between burghers of the town of Wolsztyn before the mayoral court, and extracts from the Wolsztyn mayoral records 1634–1792 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/15)
16. Receipts and property transactions of Wolsztyn burghers 1714–1780 (ref. no. 53/4326/0/-/I/16).
- Finding aids:
- A printed inventory is available in the Archive. A digital catalogue entry also exists.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/de/zespol/-/zespol/19652
- Yerusha Network member:
- The Taube Department of Jewish Studies of the University of Wrocław
- Author of the description:
- Mikołaj Wojciechowski, Taube Department of Jewish Studies, University of Wrocław
