City archive of Schaffhausen
| City archive of Schaffhausen
|
|
|---|---|
| Archive type | Municipal Archives |
| place | 8200 Schaffhausen |
| Visitor address | Fronwagplatz 24 |
| scope | approx. 3100 running meters |
| ISIL | CH-000257-1 |
| carrier | City of Schaffhausen |
| Organizational form | Department |
| Website | City archive of Schaffhausen |
The City Archive Schaffhausen is the city archive of the city of Schaffhausen in the Swiss canton of the same name . It has been located in the “Big House” at Fronwagplatz 24 since 1958. It currently (as of September 2014) has twelve rooms and six Compactus systems . The space capacity of the shelves is around 3100 m; 89% of them are occupied.
history
The history of the Schaffhausen city archive goes back to the Nellenburg people and the Allerheiligen monastery they founded . The monastery had a considerable treasure trove of documents, which reflected its position as an important reform monastery of the 11th and 12th centuries. In addition, Count Eberhard von Nellenburg handed over his house archives to the monastery after he had joined the monastery towards the end of his life. After the introduction of the Reformation in 1529, the monastery archive also fell to secular administration when the monastery became property. In the period that followed, some documents were brought to the town hall, ie the archives of the city-state (today's Schaffhausen State Archives), while others remained in the abbey, as the "All Saints Monastery Administration" continued to exist as a legal entity for over four centuries.
The Schaffhausen City Archives received the legal form still valid today after the separation of cantonal and city administration due to the cantonal constitution of 1831. At that time, the painter Bernhard Freuler (1796–1858) was elected the first city registrar and archivist. The city's first archive was set up in the former sacristy of St. John's Church . From 1866 onwards, the documents and records were looked after by the historian HW Harder, who also compiled a first repertory . In 1866, Harder also created the first document book of city documents. The city files were stored in the sacristy for over 125 years . When the space was exhausted, additional archive rooms were opened. The hand archive for the administration was set up in the basement of the town hall . In 1913, the City Librarian Pastor Dr. Carl August Bächtold (1838–1921) as part-time city archivist. Previously, this post had not been occupied for decades, and even after Bächtold's resignation in 1918, management of the archive was again entrusted to the city chancellery.
In 1956, the old real teacher Ernst Steinemann (1888–1972) was elected semi-official city archivist. In addition, a full-time employee was hired. In the course of these personnel changes, the municipal archives previously housed in five different locations were combined in one location. In 1959, after moving into the “Big House” on Fronwagplatz, the city archive was opened to the public for the first time. Until Steinemann's resignation in 1970, he had given the archive holdings an order based on the principles of decimal classification . After Steinemann's resignation, Hans Ulrich Wipf was elected city archivist. In the years to come, archive systems were built with a capacity of over two and a half kilometers of shelves, as well as plan and graphic cabinets for pictures, maps and plans that place special demands on storage and preservation. In 1994, a cultural property protection room with a capacity of over 500 linear meters was created in the basement . The most important documents are safely stored here: medieval documents, council minutes, land and account books and historical bequests. In 1996 Peter Scheck was elected to succeed HU Wipf. The introduction of electronic data processing followed. The inventory has been available on the Internet since 2000.
Stocks
The oldest document in the city archives dates from 1045. This is a document with which King Heinrich III. granted Count Eberhardt von Nellenburg the right to mint for the city of Schaffhausen. The name “Scafhusun” appears for the first time on this document, which is why it is also referred to as the first mention certificate.
Other important sources in the Schaffhausen City Archives are the city's tax and accounting books. These go back to the year 1392. They are valuable sources for urban life in the Middle Ages and in the early modern period that only few cities have preserved since such an early period. Since every armament, every feud, every building and every area expansion had to be paid for as well as the municipal servants and officials, we learn of it through the account books. The first known Schaffhausen witch trial could be proven in 1402 based on the city accounts.
Births and marriages have been documented in church records since 1540 . These important sources on family history have been evaluated since the 18th century by local historians JL Bartenschlager, JJ Veith and HW Harder in the genealogical registers of the city of Schaffhausen. The registers contain the coats of arms and ancestral lines of the old Schaffhausen families from the 16th to the 19th century.
The history of the city is passed down not only through books and documents, but also through maps, plans and pictures. The city archive has approx. 200,000 images, from early engravings and drawings to photographs and from old maps , basic and construction plans to modern cadastral sheets .
Services
- The city archive of Schaffhausen administers, indexes and mediates the documents of the city of Schaffhausen, as it emerges from the official activities of its authorities and administration since 1831.
- It also administers those offices from the documents of the old city state of Schaffhausen that passed into the ownership of the community of Schaffhausen in 1831, as well as the medieval and early modern city accounts and tax books.
- In addition to this, the city archive also takes on important non-official source material on the history of Schaffhausen (donations and deposits from associations, parties, companies, families, individuals, etc.).
- It collects the Schaffhausen newspapers, maintains other collections (photos, plans) and maintains a reference library for use in the archive.
See also
literature
- Anton Largiadèr: The Schaffhausen City Archives. Reprint from: In the service of a city. Festschrift Walther Bringolf. Schaffhausen 1960.
- Messages from the Schaffhausen City Archives , No. 1–9. Schaffhausen, 1914–1972.
- Ernst Steinemann: The Schaffhausen City Archives. Schaffhausen 1958.
- The documents of the Schaffhausen City Archives , Part I and II. Schaffhausen 1985.
