Metadata: Chojnów [Haynau] town records
Collection
- Country:
- Poland
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiwum Państwowe we Wrocławiu Oddział w Legnicy
- Postal address:
- al. Marszałka J. Piłsudskiego 1 59-220 Legnica
- Phone number:
- 4876 856 34 78
- Web address:
- https://www.ap.wroc.pl/legnica/kontakt
- Email:
- legnic@ap.wroc.pl
- Reference number:
- 85/1
- Title:
- Chojnów [Haynau] town records
- Title (official language):
- Akta miasta Chojnowa
- Creator/accumulator:
- Chojnów, local authorities
- Date(s):
- 1315/1944
- Language:
- German
- Extent:
- 18.5 linear metres, 784 folders plus 73 documents
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- Good
- Scope and content:
-
Jews are mentioned in Haynau/Chojnów in the Middle Ages from the 14th century. After 1453, the dukes of Legnica decreed the "privilege of non-tolerance" for Jews (de judaeis non tolerandis) on their lands. Jewish settlement was revived after 1812 and the issuance of the Emancipation Edict by Prussia: in 1840 – there were 50 Jewish individuals; 1850 - 86 Jews; 1867 - 105 Jews; 1890 - 123 Jews; 1933 - 66, 1939 - 14; 1947 – 401; and now there are none. A cemetery was established in the town (first half of the 19th century) and a synagogue (1893). After the "Kristallnacht" pogrom, the community and its facilities were destroyed - the synagogue was transformed into a gym, the cemetery land was bought by the town. There was a temporary revival of the community thanks to the influx of Polish Jews after World War II, but most of them were gone by the 1950s.
There is little Judaica in the collection due to the lack of Jewish settlement in Chojnów from the middle of the 15th century; what there is, is mainly from the 19th and 20th centuries. Most relate to settlement and tax matters. The most important archival units on Jewish issues include:
ref. no. 52 - Acta betr. die Abhaltung von Erinnerungsfeiern an siegreiche Schlachten ect. Feier des Geburtstags des Kaisers; Ehrung der Generalfeldmareschalles von Hindenburg; Verfassungstage; 1910-1929; Jews are mentioned here if they were among the invited “businessmen” or municipal officials and councilors
ref. no. 63 - Acta betr. die an den Reichstag und Abgeordnetenhaus eingereichten Petitionen. Bd. 1; 1869 - 1881; lists of voters divided into curia - here also Jewish citizens with information provided: name, surname, date of birth, duration of stay in Chojnów, address, amount of taxes paid
ref. no. 64 - Urwahlen zum Haause der Abgerodneten vol III, 1852-1865; including lists of voters with a division divided into curia - here also Jewish citizens with information provided: name, surname, date of birth, time of stay in Chojnów, address, amount of taxes paid;
ref. no. 69 - Wahl der Stadtverordneten, 1877-1880; among others, lists of voters divided into curias – also citizens
ref. no. 70 - Wahl der Stadtverordneten, 1914-1915; including: lists of voters divided into curias - also citizens
ref. no. 71 - Protokoll-Buch der Stadtverordneten Versammlung, 1907-1914 - Minutes of the city council meeting
ref. no. 72 - Einführung der Städteordnung, Wahl der Magistrualen, Stadtverordneten und a Vorstehers, Bd I 1809-1834; incl. includes: lists of voters divided into curias - here also the first Jewish citizens
ref. no. 107 - Büreger-Briefe, 1772-1852; including: no denominational criteria, but covers the period in which Jews could obtain citizenship after 1808
ref. no. 108 - Angelegenheiten der hier migrierenden Juden und deren Familien, 1838 - (1852); including: lists of arriving Jews, natural population fluctuations (births, deaths, marriages, etc.)
- Archival history:
- The collection was catalogued in the form of a book inventory (without access to the collection) in 1968 by Eugeniusz Kobzdaj and entered into the IZA database in 2005 by Edyta Łaborewicz. It has 764 archival units from 1575-1944 (books and records) and 73 parchment documents from 1390-1837 (card inventory).
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
Chojnów, a town in Lower Silesia province (Legnica county), 13,700 residents (2016); the settlement was established before 1288, when the name "Haynow" appeared for the first time in historical documents. Town rights were granted in 1333. There were a church school and customs house in the town, and the guilds for weavers, bakers, shoemakers, and butchers were established. There were two quarries nearby, and water and fulling mills were also in operation. This relatively favorable period of development was disturbed by the Hussite invasion of 1428: the town was ravaged, the castle was burned, and many inhabitants were killed. The town was quickly rebuilt.
During the Thirty Years' War, an epidemic broke out, in 1632-1633, and the town was almost completely depopulated. Chojnów came under Prussian rule in 1741. The beginning of the 19th century was a difficult period due to the Napoleonic Wars and subsequent epidemics. In 1845, a railway line connecting Bolesławiec with Legnica and further with Wrocław and Upper Silesia, as well as with Berlin and Dresden, was commissioned, which proved to be of great importance for the development of the town. Factories were built, the paper, metal and leather industries developed, and a printing house was established. Chojnów had its own local press and sewage system, and water and gas networks were installed.
Soon after, the city received a sewage treatment plant, and a new hospital was built. World War I put a halt to all further development. About 30% of the town was destroyed, and factories lost their production capacity during World War II. After 1945, Poles settled in the town, entirely displacing the German population.
- Access points: locations:
- Chojnów
- System of arrangement:
-
The collection consists of books and loose handwritten and printed materials. It had a chancellery that was typical for Silesian cities in the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Archivists designated the following record categories in 1968:
- ref. nos. 1-5 - the area and property of the town 1779-1941
- ref. nos. 6-15 - cultural issues 1802-1944
- ref. nos. 16-33 - education 1621-1939
- ref. nos. 34-48 - church matters 1621-1936
- ref. nos. 49-52 - jubilees, celebrations 1741-1929
- ref. nos. 53-59 – urbarium [1323] -1824
- ref. nos. 60-72 - elections to the legislative bodies and city council 1809-1933
- ref. nos. 73-103 - organizational and administrative matters 1582-1942
- ref. nos. 104-106 - statistics 1849-1896
- ref. nos. 107-109 - demographic matters 1772-1852
- ref. nos. 110-114 - military matters 1813-1920
- ref. nos. 115-123 - health and social welfare 1757-1941
- ref. nos. 124-204 - societies, organizations, and unions 1579-1942
- ref. nos. 205-228 - finances 1659-1943
- ref. nos. 229-241 - construction 1768-1931
- ref. nos. 242-258 - roads, squares, bridges, and water devices - construction and maintenance 1685-1936
- ref. nos. 259-270 - various plants and municipal enterprises 1742-1931
- ref. nos. 271-276 - bequests 1746-1943
- ref. no. 277-280 - enfranchisement 1810-1877
- ref. no. 281-289 - court cases 1643-1939
- ref. no. 290-315 - leases, purchase, sale, and inspection of real estate [1358] 1647-1942
- ref. no. 316-327 - forestry matters 1755-1939
- ref. no. 328-447 - concessions for running businesses, trade, etc. 1706-1942
- ref. no. 448-650 - police board 1865-1942
- ref. no. 651-784 - annex - acquisitions (miscellaneous records) [1315]-1944
- Access, restrictions:
- The collection is currently accessible in the reading room of the State Archives in Wrocław, Legnica branch.
- Finding aids:
- A printed inventory is available at the archive. There is also a digital inventory.
- Links to finding aids:
- https://www.szukajwarchiwach.gov.pl/zespol/-/zespol/87022
- 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, 20-12-2017