The Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld

Burglengenfeld - "das gewaltige Landgericht am Nordgau" (the powerful district court of the Nordgau) – a district capital until the regional reform of 1972, is a small town in the Upper Palatinate with a rich historical past. In addition to the holdings of the city of Burglengenfeld, the Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld (Burglengenfeld City Archive) also preserves the records of the communities of Dietldorf, Pottenstetten, Höchensee, See, Lanzenried, Pilsheim and Büchheim, which were incorporated during the municipal area reform of the 1970s. Hence, the archive is a good starting point for interested citizens to delve into the history of their home town or of their own family. The city archive can also provide pupils and students with source material for their own research.

Although the transmission of the city's administrative records is not always complete, the Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld still holds numerous documents from the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The same applies to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: not all documents have been preserved or transmitted, but the archive can nevertheless answer many queries about the history of the city and its inhabitants.

Genealogical researchers will find the registration data in the Burglengenfeld town archive from 1876 onwards, while the municipal registration office will keep the documents concerning civil status (i.e. birth, marriage and death certificates) available from this date. For the decades between 1825 and 1870, in addition to tax registers, the city archive in many cases offers settlement files and citizens’ and home data. In addition, elementary school documents (students’ forms and certificates) or social welfare files (for the Empire and for the Weimar Republic) can also be accessed, provided there are no objections under data protection law. Although the city has been the seat of a vizthum’s (vidame’s) office since the High Middle Ages, which later became the district office or district administration office Burglengenfeld, the city or the city archive is by no means the legal successor of these authorities: It is a common misunderstanding that the archives of these institutions are still in Burglengenfeld. In fact, these documents are only accessible in the Amberg State Archives. For this reason, the Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld holds only a few documents on the history of Burglengenfeld Castle, one of the best preserved fortresses in Bavaria, since it remained sovereign property until the twentieth century.

Although the city archive's collecting mandate concentrates on the administrative activities of the municipal authorities and institutions, the Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld contains additional holdings that one would not necessarily expect: in the 1980s, for example, a collection of relevant press cuttings was created as a result of the discussion surrounding the establishment of a nuclear reprocessing plant in Wackersdorf.

• The objects of the "Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld" available in bavarikon

Exhibitions of the Stadtarchiv Burglengenfeld on bavarikon

• Revolution and Soviet Republics in Bavaria 1918/19