The Archives of the Province of Vienna

Patrimonialherrschaften

On the territory of Vienna until 1850, not only the municipality itself, but also various manorial institutions had their domains. The biggest ones were, besides the monasteries (for example the Schottenkloster or Klosterneuburg), the Bürgerspital, the Archdiocese of Vienna, the chapter of St. Stephans and many secular domains. The Archives is in possession of numerous records reflecting their sovereign administrative work. Most precious among them are the land registers, of which the oldest date from the 14th century. Moreover, there are extensive files about the tasks performed in the field of civil and penal law by the manorial institutions (for example estate procedures, testaments, marriage contracts, land register extracts, trial records).

Bezirkshauptmannschaften, Bezirksämter

Traditionally, the provincial archives take care also of the records of state administration of the lower and medium levels because these are organised regionally. This tradition has been respected by the Bundesarchivgesetz of 1999 so that the pertinent materials can continue to be delivered to the archives of the provinces. When subservience was abolished in 1848, it became necessary to reorganise also the lowest level of the set-up of the overall administration of the state. In this process, some spheres of activities were taken over by the newly constituted municipalities while others were taken over by the state. From that time on, the state administration was performed at the lowest level by Bezirkshauptmannschaften, replaced in 1854 by the Bezirksämter. In 1868, however, the Bezirkshauptmannschaften were definitley established. In the course of the expansion of Vienna's metropolitan area by incorporations, certain Bezirkshauptmannschaften were abolished (Hernals, Hietzing, Klosterneuburg, Sechshaus, Währing and Hietzing-Umgebung). Their records were transferred to the city archives. Also turned over were the records of some Bezirksämter which were transient (Hernals, Hietzing, Klosterneuburg, Purkersdorf, Sechshaus).

Schools

From the field of school administration there are extensive, but not yet systematically arranged holdings in the form of old registries of the Stadtschulrat with the earliest records dating from 1871. Of individual Viennese schools chronicles and architectural documents are kept in the archives.

Cadastral surveys

Cadastral surveys: As for records of the fiscal administration preserved in the Archives they include - decreed by Emperor Joseph II - the tax regulations for Vienna and its suburbs (the districts 1 to 9 and 20) and the Franziszeischer Kataster. Of two former revenue offices, several books have been preserved as specimens. Of the records of Bundesvermessungsamt the Archives have sheets showing landed property as well as lists of owners and of items of real estate, ranging from 1895 to about 1980. From Vienna's former Employment Office, the Archives have a cadastral survey of unemployment between the wars.

Klosterrat

When Emperor Joseph II decided to dissolve some of the monasteries and convents in Austria, nine in Vienna were affected. Parts of their archival holdings, including also records of other monasteries and converts closed previously, came from the Klosterrat first to the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv and only in 1933 into the possession of the Archives of the City of Vienna. These holdings include the records of altogether 18 monasteries and convents as well as those of the Imperial Court Hospital.

Law courts

The very extensive and important holdings in the form of records from state law-courts include the files of the registries of all court instances, except for the Supreme Courts. The Bundesarchivgesetz has assigned to the State Archives the responsibility for keeping the records of the law-courts, but the law also provides for optionally preserving also in future in provincial archives records regarded as worthy of being kept. The Archives of the City and Province of Vienna thus has records of the Bezirksgerichte (District Courts) on the territory of Vienna as well as those of the Landesgericht für Strafsachen and the Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen (Provincial Courts for Penal and Civil Cases) from 1850 on. Kept are, furthermore, records of the Merkantil- und Wechselgericht (Mercantile Court) and those of the Handelsgericht (Commercial Court), from 1725 and, respectively, from 1864 on. Furthermore, there are records originating from the Jugendgerichtshof (Juvenile Court) from 1920 on and from the Arbeitsgericht from 1947 on. The Archives also keeps records of the former Niederösterreichischen Appellationsgerichts, of the Niederösterreichischen Berggericht and of the Oberlandesgericht Wien (especially those concerning entailments). Available from the district courts are many complete series of probate records and of trusteeships and guardianships (the so-called A and P registers). Available, too, are extracts from the land register and testaments. Of other registries, though, only records severing as specimens have been preserved to this day. When the Justizpalast was set on fire in 1927, the records of the Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen suffered heavy damage so that the few preserved documents dating from before that time can now be used only to a limited extent.

An important group is composed of death certificates (from 1896 on) and, from 1956 on, of files containing the verdicts of the Commission for the Restitution of Assets taken away from their owners during the time of Nazi rule. This commission was set up the Landesgericht für Zivilrechtssachen.

From the Landesgericht für Strafsachen of the Province of Vienna, only selected records were taken over for permanent safekeeping. Historically very important records are those originating from the Sondergerichtshof for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland in the period from 1939 to 1945. As for the records of the Handelsgericht and its predecessor institution, they include - besides old files of firms - above all probate records. Worth mentioning are also the files of the Bühnenschiedsgerichtshof.

State Institutions

The section of the Archives concerning State Institutions and Enterprises includes former state institutions in the field of social welfare (the foundling hospital, the maternity hospital, orphanages). Forming part of this section are also the records originating from one commercial enterprise (a factory of sulphuric acid).

Bundespolizeidirektion Wien

Historical registration forms of the Bundespolizeidirektion Wien (Federal Police Headquarters in Vienna) have been preserved only from about 1910 on, apart from a few exceptions. Information about them is given from the period between 1910 and 1947. Of the records of the Gestapo head office in Vienna, identification files have been preserved.

Religious communities

As for the records of religious institutions, those of the dissolved monasteries and convents - constituting a group of their own - have been mentioned above. Records of several Catholic parishes in Vienna and of a few small religious communities are now kept in the Archives and so are registers of the Jewish Community, covering the period from 1828 to 1938.

Political parties

United in the Political Parties section are especially parts of the records of the registries of some administrative institutions of the Nazi party (NSDAP). A special group is composed of parts of the Gauakten , for example personal files of the Gau of Vienna of the Nazi party.

Guilds and Commercial Bodies

The extensive and precious holdings concerning Guilds and Commercial Bodies, go as far back as the Middle Ages and are listed in a printed inventory.

Private institutions

As for Private Institutions there are the records of associations and other private organisations, including - among others - those of private-sector hospitals. Kept in depot within the framework of this group are also the early archival holdings of the Gesellschaft bildender Künstler Österreichs (Künstlerhaus).

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