Viktor Kleiner (archivist)

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Viktor Kleiner in 1918 on the occasion of the award of the Franz Joseph Order with his three oldest sons

Viktor Kleiner (born October 22, 1875 in Ludwigsburg (often incorrectly: Bregenz ), † September 30, 1950 in Bregenz) was an Austrian archivist , preservationist and historian . Kleiner was the first director of the Vorarlberg State Archives from 1899 to 1939. From 1914 to 1938 he was also State Curator for Vorarlberg .

Career and activities

Viktor Kleiner was born on October 22, 1875 in Ludwigsburg near Stuttgart . He grew up in a baker's household and began an apprenticeship as a baker in his parents' business after attending the commercial school in Mehrerau for three years . Klein's interest in Vorarlberg's regional history developed early on and without any further educational support. He took private Latin lessons without ever having attended secondary school in order to be able to read and understand Latin documents and continued his education using the documents collection of the Vorarlberg State Museum . He joined the Vorarlberg State Museum Association in 1896 at the age of 21. He appeared for the first time at its general assembly in 1897, suggesting that a stamp collection be created and, in the course of this, the association donated his own collection. In the same year Viktor Kleiner published his first historical work with the title “Vorarlberg during the Thirty Years War ” in the Vorarlberger Volksblatt . In September 1898 he was employed as a “notarial registrar” at the Hypothekenbank des Landes Vorarlberg and at the same time elected archivist deputy for the archives of the Landesmuseum.

The National Committee called on 1 January 1899, the Vorarlberg State Archives as an independent national institute to life. Kleiner, who had already made contact with the then Governor Adolf Rhomberg as a regular lecturer on historical topics at the “Christian-Social Association for Bregenz and the Surrounding Area” , was appointed Vorarlberg's first archivist. In 1904, also at Kleiner's suggestion, today's Vorarlberg State Library was created from the State Archives, which was only spun off from the State Archives as an independent institution in 1977. Shortly after the “Anschluss” of Austria , Viktor Kleiner applied for retirement on August 26, 1938, referring to the completion of 40 years of service and his large family as well as “in view of his many years of successful service”. In May 1939 he was initially granted unlimited sick leave, but at the same time the investigative committee set up by the National Socialists opened a case with the governor for Vorarlberg against the well-known Christian social kid. This procedure ended on June 29, 1939 with the determination that no further action was to be taken. As a result, Viktor Kleiner was finally retired with a certificate dated March 6, 1940.

In addition to his full-time work as a state archivist, Viktor Kleiner worked as a correspondent for the Central Commission for Art and Historical Monuments from 1903, as a curator from 1907 and from 1914 also as a state curator for Vorarlberg in the field of monument protection . In 1929, Kleiner became a member of the Archives Advisory Board at the Federal Monuments Office . He was also secretary of the Landesmuseumsverein and its board member from 1931 to 1938. After the reorganization of the State Museum Association, the latter made him an honorary member in 1948. In the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , he held the vice-presidency from 1930 to 1939, after having been editor of the association's publications from 1925. He was a member of numerous other regional historical and charitable associations, such as the Red Cross, the Bregenz Church Building Association, the Vincent Association and the Vorarlberg Children's Rescue Association. In 1909 Viktor Kleiner organized a large historical parade in Bregenz on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Vorarlberg struggles for freedom in 1809 , which Emperor Franz Joseph I was also present.

His scientific work as a historian comprised around 180 titles up to the end of his life, including numerous regesta works and document editions . In addition, he regularly wrote archive reports on the holdings of individual parish and parish archives and also dealt with art and historical monuments.

Awards

Kleiner has received numerous awards for his services. In addition to the already mentioned honorary membership in the Landesmuseumsverein, he was made an honorary member by the University of Innsbruck in 1936 . Efforts initiated by the Lake Constance History Association in 1933 with the support of Governor Otto Ender and General State Archivist Ludwig Bittner to award an honorary doctorate from the University of Innsbruck did not, however, get beyond the first exploration stage. On the part of the state, Viktor Kleiner received numerous honors both during the monarchy and by the Republic of Austria: in 1910 he received the Golden Cross of Merit with Crown , in 1917 the Knight's Cross of the Franz Joseph Order and in 1928 the Medal for Services to the Republic of Austria . In 1933 Kleiner was awarded the professional title of government councilor . In 1915 he was also awarded the Red Cross , to which he belonged for several years, its badge of honor .

Private life

Viktor Kleiner married Maria Barbara Ida Schwärzler (1877–1965) in Bregenz on October 5, 1903, with whom he subsequently had seven children between 1904 and 1918. The family initially lived in the so-called Haitinger House at Anton-Schneider-Strasse 18 in Bregenz and later moved to the third floor of the Pircher House at Rathausstrasse 2.His oldest child, Karl Kleiner , entered the Cistercian monastery in Mehrerau in 1928 and was born in 1953 elected 79th Abbot General of the Cistercian Order under his religious name, Father Sighard .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ulrich Nachbaur : The Vorarlberg State Archives - Founding and Development 1898–1920 . In: Karl Heinz Burmeister and Alois Niederstätter (eds.): Archive and history. 100 Years of the Vorarlberg State Archive (=  Vorarlberg State Archive [Hrsg.]: Research on the history of Vorarlberg . Volume 3 (NF)). Universitätsverlag Konstanz , Konstanz 1998, ISBN 978-3-87940-636-4 , p. 42 , footnote 189, VLA: StABr, naturalization files, 337/1893 ( full text as PDF on the website of the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv ).
  2. ↑ For example Welti, Tiefenthaler, Burmeister, see literature
  3. ^ Viktor Kleiner:  Vorarlberg in the Thirty Years' War. In:  Vorarlberger Volksblatt , April 4, 1897, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / vvb
  4. ↑ Meinrad Tiefenthaler : Viktor Kleiner (1875–1950) . In: Yearbook of the Vorarlberger Landesmuseumsverein 1952 . 1952, p. 10-11 . Meinrad Tiefenthaler : Government Councilor Viktor Kleiner . In: Local history messages from the Association for the History of Lake Constance . No.
     18 , 1952, pp. 17-20 .
  5. ^ Alois Niederstätter : The Vorarlberg State Archives 1938–1945 . In: Austria's archives under the swastika (= General Directorate of the Austrian State Archives [Hrsg.]: Mitteilungen des Österreichisches Staatsarchivs . Volume 54 ). Studienverlag , Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-7065-4941-7 , p. 629–630 ( full text as PDF on the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv website ).
  6. ↑ Harald Derschka : The association for the history of Lake Constance and its surroundings. A look back at one hundred and fifty years of club history 1868–2018. In: Writings of the Association for the History of Lake Constance and its Surroundings , 136, 2018, pp. 1–303, here: p. 216, p. 219.
  7. ↑ Overview of Kleiner's bibliography:
    Hedwig Reckefuß: Bibliography Reg.-Rat Viktor Kleiner, state archivist and state consverator . In: Yearbook of the Vorarlberger Landesmuseumsverein 1957 . tape 2 , 1957, p. 392-398 .     Incomplete overview of Viktor Kleiner's publications on the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv's website
  8. ↑ Karl Heinz Burmeister : Three historians from the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv: Viktor Kleiner, Andreas Ulmer and Ludwig Welti . In: Montfort. Quarterly magazine for the past and present of Vorarlberg . 29th year, 1977 issue 1, 1977, p. 8 ( full text on ANNO - AustriaN Newspapers Online ).
  9. ↑ Hans Kohler : Turn of Time. Gebhard Schwärzler - An Entrepreneur of the 19th Century (=  Institute for Social Scientific Regional Research Publications . Volume 15 ). Roderer Verlag, Regensburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-89783-862-8 , pp. 149 ( full text as PDF on the Vorarlberger Landesarchiv's website).
personal data
SURNAME Little one, Viktor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian archivist, monument conservator and historian
DATE OF BIRTH October 22, 1875
PLACE OF BIRTH Ludwigsburg
DATE OF DEATH September 30, 1950
Place of death Bregenz