Zerbst City Archives

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Zerbst City Archives

City of Zerbst / Anhalt
City of Zerbst / Anhalt
Archive type Municipal Archives
place Zerbst
Visitor address Lock freedom 12
founding 1323
Age of the archive material 1264-today
ISIL DE-Ze4
carrier City of Zerbst / Anhalt
Website stadt-zerbst.de

The Zerbst city archive is the archive of the city of Zerbst / Anhalt . It keeps documents from the period from 1264 until today. Since most of the holdings of the City Archives were not relocated during the Second World War , over 80% of the historical holdings can be regarded as war losses.

history

The city archive is located in the basement of the town hall

The beginnings of the archive can be traced back to 1323. A regulated registry was introduced as early as the 17th century. At that time the archive was stored in different rooms of the Zerbst town hall, which has now been destroyed. In the 19th century, especially due to increased inquiries from historians, the teacher of the Francisceum Friedrich Sintenis rearranged the archive on behalf of the Zerbster Council. However, these voluntary services did not replace a full-time city archivist, so that around 1880 the archive was still in disarray. The archivist Ernst Neubauer, who was permanently employed from 1894, established the order of the historical collections that still exists today. After the First World War , the archive moved from the town hall to Zerbst Castle with the support of the Joachim Ernst Foundation. The five-room archive was officially opened on October 20, 1920. In the immediate vicinity of the Anhalt State Archive in Zerbst, it was used for scientific and genealogical purposes. Despite the fact that no other city archive in Anhalt had comparable holdings, the archive was not outsourced during the Second World War. A large part of the files remained in the castle, a few bundles of files were brought to the Church of St. Nikolai . During the bombing of April 16, 1945, both the palace and the Nikolaikirche were destroyed. By chance, however, some boxes with archival materials have been preserved in the castle's basement, which today form the basis of the archive.

Archivists

The former seat of the city archives was destroyed in the Second World War
  1. Christian Wilhelm Bube (listed as "Registrar" in 1653/64)
  2. Friedrich Sintenis (1833 to before 1855)
  3. Franz Kindscher (after 1855)
  4. Albrecht Henning (1891-1894)
  5. Ernst Neubauer (1894-1897)
  6. E. Müsebeck (1897–1898)
  7. Richard Siebert (1898–1902)
  8. Heinrich Becker (1903–1912)
  9. Theodor Schulze (1912–1914)
  10. Karl Hundert (Interregnum 1914–1918)
  11. Theodor Schulze (1918–1924)
  12. Reinhold Specht (1924–1939 / 53) under Hermann Laundry (Head of the State Archives)
  13. (from 1953 under the administration of the Zerbst City Museum, later delivery of the archive to the GDR district archives)
  14. since 1996 under the administration of the main and personnel office as well as the cultural office of the city of Zerbst

Jurisdiction

The Zerbst city archive is the archive of the city administration. It stores written documents (e.g. certificates, official books, files, maps and plans) that have been created in the administration of the city of Zerbst since the 14th century and regularly takes over documents from ongoing business operations. The city archive also collects other documents that reflect the past and present of the city of Zerbst / Anhalt (e.g. pamphlets, newspapers, posters, pictures, leaflets, films and the like). In the past, the Zerbst City Archives took over archival material from other sources from companies, associations, parties or the estates of private individuals. In addition, the archives of the villages incorporated in Zerbst / Anhalt are kept.

Stocks

Administrative archive

The administrative archive looks after the files handed over from the offices until the retention and protection periods have expired. After these deadlines have expired, they are offered to the historical archive as the final archive for permanent storage. In addition, the following registers from the registry office are kept:

  • Birth register (1876–1900)
  • Death register (1876–1980)
  • Marriage / marriage register (1876–1930).

Historical archive

Dept. IA (parchment documents)

Contains over 500 parchment documents. The oldest document dates from 1264. In addition to city documents, there are also bishop and prince documents from the diocese of Brandenburg and the princes of Anhalt in this department. The war loss is to be classified as low.

Dept. IB (paper documents)

Contains over 1,000 paper certificates. After a reorganization by the archivist Reinhold Specht, numerous documents are now in Department II (correspondence and files) under the designation "Interest receipts". The war loss is to be classified as low at approx. 11%.

Section II (correspondence and files)

Still contains bundles up to the years shortly before the Reformation. In particular, the inventory of the "old registry" (municipal and city files) must be considered a war loss. The missing approx. 5,000 bundles are, among other things, the Luther letters as well as trial files and Schöppen sayings from Magdeburg .

Section III (handwritten city books)

Zerbst still owns a total of more than 150 city ​​books (chronical books, income and expenditure books, Schöppen books, council minutes books and church registers). The war loss here is 94.5% (3272 pieces). However, the existing city books provide information that is seldom so detailed for a Middle German city in the Middle Ages. The church registers are incomplete until the 17th century. In detail there are:

  • Copy books
  • Court books (14th - 16th centuries)
  • Administration books (income and expenditure books from the 14th to 16th centuries)
  • Protocols and registers
  • Books of ecclesiastical foundations and church registers (14th – 17th centuries)

The manuscript census contains detailed information on important manuscripts in this department such as the Zerbster Ratschronik, the Zerbster Vehmbuch as well as the text and direction books of the Zerbster processional play.

Other departments

The archive has further holdings on the history of the city of Zerbst / Anhalt. A collection of personal papers and materials on the history of the city of Zerbst is currently under construction. In particular, the following files should be highlighted:

  • Anhaltische Bauschule (drawings, mostly large format)
  • Files on the Ducal Francisceum
  • Files for the Ducal Lyceum
  • Files for the Natural Science Association in Zerbst
  • Files on private foundations (Hanffstengel Foundation, Wappenhensch Foundation, Stier Foundation, Zuborg Foundation)

use

The Zerbst city archive is located in the vaulted cellar of the city hall of Zerbst / Anhalt on the Schloßfreiheit. After registering and naming the research request, the files are presented at the archive's user desk. Depending on the concerns, advice will also be given on possible archives. Use requires a user application.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Specht, Reinhold (1926), here p. 7.
  2. ↑ Specht, Reinhold (1926), here p. 16.

literature

  • Reinhold Specht : The city archive to Zerbst. As a commemorative publication of the city archives, dedicated to the Zerbst history association on its 25th anniversary in October 1926 by the city administration of Zerbst . Zerbst 1926.
  • Reinhold Specht: The city archive to Zerbst . In: Archive messages (journal for archives, archival source studies and historical auxiliary sciences) 3/4 1953, pp. 47–52.

Web links