Metadata: Świdnica [Schweidnitz] city documents
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution:
- State Archives in Wroclaw
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu
- Postal address:
- ul. Pomorska 2 50-215 Wrocław
- Phone number:
- 4871 3288101
- Web address:
- http://www.ap.wroc.pl/
- Email:
- sekretariat@ap.wroc.pl
- Reference number:
- 82/26/0
- Title:
- Świdnica [Schweidnitz] city documents
- Title (official language):
- Akta miasta Świdnicy
- Creator/accumulator:
- General administration of Świdnica – town records and municipal administration
- Date(s):
- 1243/1943
- Language:
- German
- Latin
- Hebrew
- French
- Extent:
- 30.63 linear metres; 755 records and 7748 documents
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
The collection consists of materials gathered by the municipal administration and is divided into two parts: “documents” (dokumenty - official agreements, privileges, treaties) and “records” (akta - textual materials produced in the process of administrative procedures, e.g. correspondence, notes, records of the office, etc.). It is a fundamental collection for researching the history of one of the most important centers of Jewish settlement in medieval Central and Eastern Europe, and later one of the important centers of revival of 19th and 20th century settlement in Silesia in the post-emancipation period. Only a few Judaica have been preserved, primarily tax and court books from the Middle Ages. Of special interest:
ref. no. 82/26/0/2/115 [Books of the jurors' court]; 1377-1391; numerous mentions of Jews of Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/2/116 [Books of the jurors' court]; 1402-1446; numerous mentions of Jews of Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/2/117 [Books of the jurors' court]; 1446-1451; numerous mentions of Jews of Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/5/180 [Legal provisions, legislation, notes on individual matters - city book]; 1321-1330; numerous mentions of Jews of Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/5/181 [Town register, notes on individual cases pending before town authorities]; 1430-1456; numerous mentions of Jews of Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/235 [Book of municipal rents]; 1370; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/236 Gebäudesteuer - Veranlagung der Stadt Schweidnitz; 1800-1900; the materials relate to the nineteenth-century settlement and property tax paid in Świdnica, numerous mention of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/237 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 1-120; 1863 - tabular listing of property taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/238 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 121-240; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/239 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 241-360; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/240 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 361-480; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/241 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 481-600; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/06/242 Tabellarische Übersicht zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; No. 601-740; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/6/243 Insinuationen - Dokumente der Auszüge zur Gebäudesteuer Veranlagung Schweidnitz; 1863; continuation of the tabular list with information on real estate taxes; numerous mentions of Jews from Świdnica.
ref. no. 82/26/0/10/412 [Town records, testimony given before councilors]; 1316-1383.
- Archival history:
- The materials included in the collection were created and collected by the municipal administration beginning in the 14th century and were included in the Staatsarchiv Breslau (Documents) even before World War II. During World War II, the records were dispersed and stored in various places to protect them: some of them were destroyed, including Judaica. After the war, the records were included in the resources of the legal successor of the Staatsarchiv Breslau, i.e., the State Archives in Wrocław.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Świdnica was the seat of the castellany, and during the transformation of towns, according to German law, German settlers probably received a town charter in the second half of the 13th century. From 1291, Świdnica was the capital of a separate principality, and the town flourished in the second half of the 13th century. In the 14th century, when Świdnica became a significant center of commerce in Silesia, it was second only to Wrocław in terms of the number of inhabitants. It also became the second most important and second largest center of Jewish settlement in Silesia.
This prosperous period was interrupted by the Hussite wars in the 15th century, and the liquidation of the Jewish community during the persecution in 1454/55, when Świdnica was granted the "privilege of intolerance of Jewish settlement".
The town also retained its economic importance in modern times, which resulted in the transformation of Świdnica into a strategically important fortress. This, however, hindered the city's development until the 19th century. Development accelerated from the second half of the 19th century, and the town attracted a large group of new Jewish settlers, who founded a community and built a synagogue.
The Jewish community was exterminated during the Nazi era. During World War II, the town was not damaged extensively, and this allowed for rapid re-settlement, including by Jews. In the 1950s and 1960s, however, there was a rapid outflow of the Jewish population and the local Jewish community disappeared.
- Access points: locations:
- Świdnica
- Subject terms:
- Jewish community
- Legal matters
- Real estate
- Taxation
- System of arrangement:
-
The collection consists of parchment and paper documents, books, and loose handwritten and printed materials.
The documents are arranged in chronological order and cover the years 1243-1899. They include:
- charters granted by rulers for the benefit of the town and principality
- town council and juridical documents
- real estate alienations, leases, rental contracts
- loans, pledges
- guild statutes
- Church affairs, hospital and social welfare subsidies
- notary instruments
- Świdnica's relations with other town, Magdeburg law regulations
- economic and social affairs of the town
The records contain:
1. Resolutions of the princely council. / 1541-1685 /
2. Organizational, legal, court, financial and economic matters. / 1380-1797 /
3. Books of wills. / 1727-1783 /, 4. Book of purchases. / 1650-1829 /, 5. Minutes of the Town Council. / 1682-1769 /
6. Guilds. / 1739-1819 /, 7. Book of protocols of police cases. / 1772-1782 /
8. Book of minutes of meetings of deputies / 1861-1878 /, 9. City books. / 1321-1780 /, Acts, regulations, privileges, lists of residents, court and police cases, sales, waivers, settlements, donations, wills, feudal letters
10. Books of suburban villages / 1506-1809 /, individual villages (purchase and juries)
11. Tax matters of the city and suburban villages. / 1370-1863 /
12. Urbars and land registers of suburban communes. / XVIIIw./, 13. Recessions, lifting of burdens, books of dues / 1776-1818 /, 14. Legal Affairs / 1541-1822 /
15. Archival records, imperial orders, church matters, historical chronicles. / 1654-1901 /
16. Town accounts. / 1596-1771 /, 17. Books on the development of Swidnica, its villages and estates. / 1797-1940 /
18. Minutes of the magistrate. / 1891-1934 /, 19. Municipal Affairs / 1833-1943 /
20. Copies of privileges, jurors' books, bills. / 1316-1897 /, 21. Military and war affairs. / 1826-1926 /: elimination of war losses and costs of the 18th century, orders of the Prussian king, Napoleonic wars, army marches, fees and burdens, supplies for the army, quarters, war commanders, French and Polish deserters and prisoners of war, war with Austria and France.
22. Monuments and commemorative plaques. / 1765-1925 /, 23. City fortifications. / 1791-1896 /, 24. Construction matters. / 1796-1908 /, Minutes of construction deputies' meetings, paving of streets, water and sewage issues, roads.
25. Town prison. / 1833-1898, 26. Funeral home. / 1819-1892 /, 27. School matters. / 1809-1934 /: junior high school, religious education, attendance, vocational schools.
28. Court, legal and inheritance cases. / 1740-1878 /, 29. Books and records of individual guilds. / 1480-1934 /: bills, privileges, minutes of meetings, statutes, examinations, certificates of craftsmanship and letters of right origin.
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is currently accessible in the reading room of the State Archives in Wrocław.
- Finding aids:
- There is a printed inventory available at the archive.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/zespol/-/zespol/88322
- Yerusha Network member:
- The Taube Department of Jewish Studies of the University of Wrocław
- Author of the description:
- Leszek Ziątkowski, Marcin Wodzinski University of Wrocław, 20-11-2019