Archival Thoughts In The Historical Archives Of A Transylvanian Town
Bogdan-Florin Popovici (Romania)
Abstract
The present paper presents the history of archives in an Transylvanian town: Brașov. The presentation
focuses rather on the thoughts of archivists and administration about archives along centuries, and less
on the institution itself. It started in 15th–16th centuries, with random collection of legal papers,
continuing in 18th century with the first understandings of historical value. It carries on, with the dilemma
of serving both the administration (mainly through registry) and the science (through archives itself). The
second half of the 19th century bring history as an increasing relevant part of culture, and the tasks of
archivist and registrar became more and more distinct. The formalize of historical archives of the town
and the best practices used here proved to be respected no matter the political or national leadership.
The paper ends with the moment when the town archives became the core of the regional Division of the
State Archives—a tribute to the professionalism of the archivists here.
1. Introductory remarks
Brașov (German: Kronstadt, Hungarian Brasso) is a city placed in the South Eastern inner corner of the
Carpathians. Part of the historical region of Transylvania, it followed the general historical course of this
territory: part of the Hungarian Kingdom (untill 1526), of the Transylvanian Principality (1526–1691), of
the Habsburg/Austrian Empire (1691–1876), of Hungary again (1876–1918). After the WWI, it became
the geographical center of Romania. The foundation of the town rests of German (Saxon) colonists,
brought here by the king of Hungary, for economic and military purposes. Along centuries, the Saxons
led the town administration. The first real shift occurred after WW I, when the administration became
mainly Romanian.
These historical remarks are to emphasize the fact that Brașov archives is the by-product of multicultural
and multilateral administrations and communities. This aspect is very important, as long as the whole
archival history of the town reflects the background of archivists who worked here or the regulations
that affected the work with documents.
2. Beginnings
There is no formal beginning for the town administration archives. Considering the fact that the oldest
records preserved until today dates back to 1353, and a lot of charters and letters from 14th–15th
centuries were preserved, we can reasonably assume that there was an interest to keep the records of
the administration, even from the beginning. Where this archive was kept is not possible to find out for
sure. We only know that in 1420, the town administration issued a document showing for the first time
where the residence of Town Council was: in the middle of the town main square, in a building that,
until today, it was known as “the Town Council Hall”. This is why it can be assumed that the town
administration records and archives were also preserved in this building. It is also true, on the other
hand, that the archive might have been kept at one clerk’s house…
The first real news about the town archives dates from 22nd July 1476, when the notary (secretary) of
the town wrote that he was not informed about a request of delivering older charters granted to local
town administration; otherwise, he could deliver also some old charters, because “we might have
different charters too in our chest about these things”1. From this text, several remarks can be made.
Firstly, archives of the town existed, meaning that the administration of the town was aware of the
importance of records and their preservation. We cannot say anything about the types of records
preserved, but at least one type—charters—was included, showing the interest of preservation for
juridical reasons. Secondly, the records were preserved in a chest, which has a twofold impact: security
and maneuverability. Access to the administration records was not for everybody; as it looks like, it was
the duty of the notary to preserve them and to access them when in need. On the other hand, a chest is
easy to remove and transport when necessary (considering also the small amount of records existent in
the town archives). All these shows again a high interest for preservation the records. On third remark is
about the lack of finding aids or any other form of control (physical or intellectual) over those records. In
one way, this is the most efficient way to secure the records, as long nobody would know for sure which
charter serves for what, except for the case he would read them individually… The fact might reflect also
two different views: one—that the amount of records was so small, that it was easy to retrieve when
necessary. Even so, the lack of a finding aid deprive the owner of a good tool to secure the existent. On
the other hand, it might be a lack of interest of investing effort to compile an inventory. As the last
option looked more close to the fact, the general remarks would be an emphasis on preservation and
lack of interest on proper and quick access to records.
3. 16th century: Christian Pomarius
Over almost a century, the situation of the town archives seemed to change very few. Despite that, it
seems that some practical experiences of open-minded people in administration make them to change
their view over preservation of records. In this regard, the first known attempt to arrange and describe
the records in Brașov archives belonged to Christian Pomarius2.
Pomarius was notary in several other Transylvanian Saxon towns, prior to his arrival in Brasov. Invited to
Brașov in 29 April1551 by the Town Council, it was immediately appointed as notary. In order to outline
the mindset of this character who organized Brașov archives, a few remarks over his ideas on archives
should be done. Pomarius noted that always in history there are memorable facts that should be
recorded, therefore it is a duty for the administration of towns to record events, codes of laws or
administrative decisions. This recordation should not only regard the kings and military leaders, but also
significant facts done by ordinary people. Quoting Justinian, he said the records are important because
“containing the will of monarchs and it fixes the laws”. Such an important matter needs tools of control,
1
Gernot Nussbächer, Contributii la istoria arhivei Brasovului în secolele XV-XVIII, în „Cumidava”, IV, Brasov, 1970, p.
559.
2
The historical information is based, if not otherwise referenced, on G. Nussbächer’s article Din activitatea
arhivistică a lui Christian Pomarius, in “Revista Arhivelor”, 2/1965, p. 171-178. The comments about the historical
facts belong to us.
accordingly. For Pomarius, the inventories are very important; if they are read from time to time before
the councilors, they allow memorizing the rights of the town and allow the decision-takers to act similar
in similar situation. More, an inventory might serve as a replacement in case of lost or theft of the
original. Both these arguments shows the view over inventories as a quick and reliable tool for
intellectual (content) control over records, avoiding the use of the original or even replace them, if the
case. Another reason for which the inventory is important for the quick retrieval of records in the
repository (the physical control). For these reasons, Pomarius encouraged the multiplication of archival
inventories.
In Brașov, in 1552, it was built for the archive a cabinet with 27 drawers (literarum repositorium). It was
most likely from Pomarius’ initiative, as long as the solution is very much similar with the one in Sibiu,
another town where Pomarius was notary before. The records seemed to be arranged in drawers, on
mixed criteria, by issuer and by topic3. For each topic of important issuer, Pomarius designed a group of
records, with letters as reference codes (amount: 19 groups). This arrangement is explicated in the
inventory. The inventory, preserved until today only as a copy, bear the title Litterarum Civitatis
Coronensis digestio. Within the inventory, the 309 records are divided in 19 groups, all listed. About
descriptive elements, the inventory contained for each document the abstract, designation of carrier,
language, seals etc. In all descriptions the issuer and the date of documents are also listed.
4. 17th century: Martin Seewaldt
After Pomarius, for more than a century, no other mentions about archival processing were preserved
until today. The next attempt seemed to occurr at the end of 17th century, by the secretary Martin
Seewaldt. The charters of the archives were again the focus. He arranged 338 records, grouping them in
12 groups, based on their issuer4.
Despite the increasing number of records, it is significant that the documents evidencing legal rights are
still the main target of archival processing. Also, because there are only 29 charters more that in
Pomarius’ inventory, it would not have been necessary a new re-processing, except for the case the
initial order was not preserved. This is very likely, mainly because of the damages produces during the
Great Fire of the town, in 1689.
5. 18th century: Johann Albrich and…
At the beginning of 18th century, town administration faced again new legal challenges and the Mayor of
that time asked then documents that grounded the town legal rights to be produced. This would prove
to be an impossible task for one person, because of the disarray of records in the archives. Therefore, he
appointed his son-in-law, a 27 years old medicine doctor, Johann Albrich, former student in Halle,
Leyden and Utrecht, to set a new arrangement of the town archives, in 1714.
Albrich focus was, again, on the charters of the town, as the holders of the most relevant legal
information. He took the records and started to write the abstract of documents on their backside,
assign them numbers and arrange them in divisions in four cabinets, noted with letters, from A to D. The
3
This is the actual state of research. In fact, it might be likely that the only criteria is topical.
The historical information is based, if not otherwise referenced, on G. Nussbächer’s article, Contribuții…ș see also
Gernot Nussbächer, Sisteme de arhivare înainte de introducerea sistemului de registratură în unele arhive orăşeneşti
din Transilvania, în Culegere de referate. Sesiunea 1969, Bucureşti, p. 143148.
4
main criteria was the title of the issuer. As a result, the records were grouped in four sections: the kings
of Hungary, the princes of Transylvania, the rulers (“voievod”) of Transylvania and those from the
Chapter in Alba Iulia (Klausenburg, Gyula-Fehérvár) and the Convent in Cluj Mănăștur (Kolozs Monostor,
Klausenburg), the locca credibilia of the time5. Within these two sections, all the records were arranged
based on the specific issuer. He started then, with some help from different studiosi academici, to copy
the content of many important charters in to a big register (codex), called Palladium Coronense (“the
shield of Brașov”). The volume, a “security copy” avant la lettre, was going to be filled in up to 18656.
All along with the reproduction of the content of records, he started to compile a new finding aid, called
Index Generalis Literarum Privilegiorum. This finding aid seems to reflect the physical order of the
records. The description of records contained consisted of the reference code (issuer and running
number of records within the group of records coming from that issuer), then abstract of the record, the
carrier and the seal, and in the end—the year of issue7.
In the foreword of the two volumes, Albrich noted also his view on archival work. The copy of the
content of records in Palladium was very useful, he said, for many reasons. Firstly, it will be easier for
the registrars to find the records, to set them back and preserve them. Secondly, it would be
superfluous to read the records themselves—it is enough to read the codex. Thirdly, it is useful for those
who want to learn about the history of the town, under various aspects. Also, it would be the source of
inspiration for politicians, to learn and to understand the past decisions, in order to properly decide for
the future. Then, such a codex is useful because it can be used as a replacement of the original, when
the latters are lost or damaged. He conclude that Palladium should not be free accessible, but restricted
in favour of those who have the authority to read, correct and seal it8.
About the finding aid, Albrich noted it was not completed. He asked the followers to index all the other
records too, that are in a complete disarray, about the debts and payment of the town. They should be
checked seriously, selected those useless, arranged the valued ones based on the issuer or the topic and
aggregated them in bundles. A summary of bundles should then be added to the finding aid. The use of
all this work would be mostly for the legal matters9.
6. …Georg M.G. von Hermann
Despite this work, Albrich’s advices for the future were not followed. An archivist for the town archives
was constantly appointed in the next years, but with no, or little effect. Albrich’s finding aid seemed to
be lost until the middle of 18th century. Anyway, except for the old charters, the other records were not
arranged and, by their number, the latter started to overwhelm the former ones. Under these
circumstances, Georg Michael Gottlieb von Hermann was appointed as archivist in 1764.
He started to arrange the records and to separate new records from the older ones. He used for
arrangement a pigeonhole cabinet, and such, “in less than a year, without having a proper finding aid, I
5
Brașov County Archives, fond Brașov Town council, preface to the Palladium Coronense. Special thanks to Mr. G.
Nussbächer for the translation provided of the Latin text into Romanian.
6
Nussbächer, Contribuții…
7
Ibidem.
8
Brașov County Archives, fond Brașov Mayor’s Office, preface to the Palladium Coronense.
9
The Evangelic Church Archives, collection Trausch, T.F.22, preface to the Index generalis. Special thanks to Mr. G.
Nussbächer for the translation provided of the Latin text into Romanian.
could loan upon request the new records, that were the most used”10. He used the arrangement based
on alphabetical (topic or persons name involved) or chronological order. For some specific type of
records, some alphabetical indexes were produced11. His diligent work of reading and summarizing
records content was obvious in his exceptional historical work12, based mostly on the documents in the
town archives.
Then, Hermann re-arranged the charters for a proper retrieval. Firstly, he arranged them on issuer base
and compiled the Index Privilegiorum…, as a finding aid. After few years, he re-arranged some charters,
based on date of issue. This chronological arrangement was mirrored in a new finding aid, Consignatio
privilegiorum… For the latter finding aid, P. Plecker edited an alphabetical index in 178413.
As a curiosity, we should mention a bundle of juridical documents from Hermann, that were appraised
as ”no valued”, but preserved “for curiosity or genealogy”. It would be the first known attempt of
appraising in Brașov town archive14.
In the following decades, the archival work within the administration tends to change. From 1
September 1772, the registry system was introduced in Brașov town administration15. Some
classification were attempted (for instance, in 1786, besides “regular” records, there were two series, P
and J (for political and legal affairs)), but did not last. Therefore, until later in 19th century, the new
arrived records will be arranged based on their registration number. This new system will introduce a
break, first subtle, then clearer, in archival tradition, and a shift between “old archive” and “new
archive” (the one after 1772) was obvious. While older records needed criteria, arrangement and
description, the new ones came naturally, by registration, indexation and arrangement based on their
number16. Despite the fact that archivist was still involved in registration activities, this shift will became
more and more obvious in the following years, and the difference of management between older and
newer records make the administration aware of the specificities. The next decades will show an
orientation of the archivist towards new records and only in the first half of the 19th century, with the
advent of historical interest, turn the archivist back to the older archive of the town17.
In 1785, Instructions for the town archivist were issued. This document outline the main ideas in the age
about the archives of the town. The role of the town archive was to preserve public records of the town
administration, but also some private person’s ones, stored in here for a safer preservation. The
archivist had to keep a proper arrangement of records, then to create finding aids (indexes and other
10
Nussbächer, Contributii…, p. 569.
G. Nussbächer, Arhiva orasului Brasov la sfârsitul secolului al XVIII-lea, in “Revista Arhivelor”, nr. 1/1993, p. 43-51.
12
G. Herrmann, Das Alte und Neue Kronstadt (vol. 1: 2010, vol. 2: 1883, vol.3: 1886).
13
Tiberiu Coliban, Colecțiile de documente întocmite în trecut în arhivele brașovene, in „Cumidava”, IV, Brasov,
1970,p. 547.
14 G. Nussbächer, Preocupări de evidență contemporană şi de prelucrare arhivistică la Braşov în secolele XVI–XIX.
Contribuţii noi la istoria arhivei. Braşovului, in Ştefan Meteş la 85 de ani, Cluj Napoca, 1977, p. 161–165.
15
Franz Zimmermann, Ueber Archiv in Ungarn, Hermannstadt, 1891, p. 82-84.
16
This is only a theoretical view. In fact, an inquery from 1794 showed a lot of missing records in the archives. Also,
it was obvious a need for proper indexes and some archivists started to compile their own (like Johann Joseph
Trausch and his son, Joseph Franz Trausch).
17
See also, G. Nussbächer, Arhiva Brasovului la începutul secolului al XIX-lea, în “Arhiva Româneasca”, Tom I, Fasc.
1/1995, p.47-53.
11
tools) and to number the records. It is relevant that the first obligations for an archivist were to keep the
existent arrangement and to include in this previous order the new entered records. Further on, the
most protected records must have been those protecting legal rights of the town. Documents in archive
should be protected against unauthorized access and deliverance; the latter could be possible only with
permission from the Mayor, and a dummy should replace the document while loaned. A special remark
was about the place of archive that should have been the house of Council and not the house of
archivist. Some special sections in the archives must be created for economic or legal records, or for
“deposits” from individuals, with a separate finding aid. An interesting interdiction refers to selection of
records—the archivist might not appraise any record, no matter how insignificant, but to classify them
properly18.
7. 19th century. Registrary vs. archives
A few decades later, after many efforts to organize the archive of the town19, in 1812 it seems the
archives received a new classification framework. The main sections were 1. Protocols (and subseries for
each creating office); 2. Indexes (also with subsections on originating offices); 3. Contracts for rental,
evaluations (on economic brances: mills, mountains etc.); 4. Charters and older records; 5. Mortificatoria
— records concerning debts extinction; 6. (missing); 7. Papers about Dieta; 8. Miscellaneous. As it can be
seen, there are no consistent criteria. The records were arranged based on format and, when this is not
useful anymore, the topical criteria is used. But the large variety of records made it difficult to find the
proper classification.
The increasing number of records (20 documents in 1700, 3660 in 1800, 9230 in 1850) raised the
question of the aggregation of records, for a proper management. Eventually, the system based on
registration number continued to be used until the end of century, despite some attempts to create
“files” (cumulus) after 185020.
From many attempts to arrange the archive, the most relevant on the archival ideas level are those
made by some archivists of the town who tried to deal with old records, other than the charters, and to
group them together based on various criteria. In this regard, it should be quoted the actions of Eduard
von Fronius, who acted as archivist between 1818–1819. He collected some older records, less
important than charters, and bound them together in two volumes. Inside each volume, Fronius
intended to arrange the records chronologically21. The same approach belonged to Friederich Schnell,
who compiled three volumes of records, chronologically arranged. These two archivists showed their
interest for history and answered to the increasing awareness of researchers in this field22.
At the end of 1844, the same Fr. Schnell asked for the permission of disposal of “useless” records. The
main reason was the lack of space for new records. From Schnell point of view, useless records were
those “those which nor in farthest future will not serve as evidence or legal records”23, and they were
18
Nussbächer, Arhiva orasului Brasov la sfârsitul secolului al XVIII-lea, loc. cit.
Nussbächer, Arhiva orasului Brasov la sfârsitul secolului al XVIII-lea; G. Nussbächer, Arhiva Brasovului la începutul
secolului al XIX-lea, loc. cit.
20
G. Nussbächer, Arhiva Brasovului la începutul secolului al XIX-lea, loc. cit.
21
Ibidem.
22
Fr. Zimmermann, Das Archiv der Stadt Kronstadt in Siebenbürgen, “Archivalische Zeitschrift”, 5 (1880) p. 106-117.
23
G. Nussbächer, Arhiva Magistratului oraşului Braşov, în al doilea sfert al secolului al XIX-lea, in “Revista Arhivelor”,
2/1997, pp. 37-46
19
supposed to be appraised by a commission. The request was denied, after a large controversy, when
even the idea of elimination of parts of records older than 25 years and sell them as waste paper.
About the use of records, it must be noted a change of behavior from the administration. If, until 1845,
the records had been loaned to the users, since then, the Council of the town was the only authority to
advise the loan outside the archive and strictly forbade the loan to private persons. Also, it must be
noted that during the events in 1848, the most important part of the town archive was evacuated in
Sinaia (Walachia) in order to be protected by insurgences troupes that occupied Brașov24.
10. The end of 19th century: Friederich Stenner
After the introduction of modern institution of state and local authorities, after 1872, some new
developments took place also in what concern management of records and archives in Brasov. In a
fortunate coincidence, all along this time (1878–1903) archivist of the town was a young scholar,
Friederich Stenner (b. 1851). He studied Law at Graz and Budapest universities and, after being
appointed as archivist, he attended a three-month training course in Sibiu (Hermanstadt), taught by
Franz Zimmermann25. Zimmermann, at his turn, graduated Institut für Österreichische
Geschichtsforschung in Wien and studied the archival system in Munich and Graz26.
The new statute of the town27 determined the local administration to issue a new Regulation for the
town administration as well. In the section concerning the archive, some new provisions were inserted,
changing the way archives worked until then. Firstly, following a trend visible from the end of 18th
century, the registry and the archives are now two separated entities. Copying the obvious German
model of Registratur and Archiv, this new system was an absolute necessity. The increasing number of
records (9230 in 1850, 11 666 in 1878), the continuous increasing demand of historical documents for
research made obvious the need for separate (offices active and passive archive), bearing separate
mandates.
About the activity of registry, the Regulations makes explicit the change from chronological to topical
system of filing records28. With the contribution of Fr. Stenner29, the system became a smooth and
effective one. A document was registered and, based on its content, it was assigned to a certain file. The
file was classified using a filing plan of 4 (afterwards, 6) classes. The file reference code was from 1 to n
within corresponding class. The document subjects and topic were recorded in indexes of (person)
names and topics. On the front cover of each file, all the records within were listed, with their
registration number, abstract and number of annexes. The running number on the cover determined the
document number of order within that file. Finally, another tool made the connection between the file
24
Ibidem. See also idem, Arhiva magistratului oraşului Braşov între 1851-1861 in “Revista Arhivelor – Cluj”, ClujNapoca, 1-2/1995, 1, p.15-23.
25
G. Nussbächer, Prețuitori ai arhivelor: Friederich Stenner, arhivarul orașului Brasov, in “Revista Arhivelor”, 2/1978,
p. 204-206.
26
Fritz Sonntag, Franz Zimmmermann, în Figuri de arhiviști, București, 1971, p. 242, 244
27
Gemeindestatut des Stadt Kronstadt, Braşov, 1878, # 104–125; See also E. Marin, Instituţionalizarea arhivei
istorice a oraşului Braşov (1879) in "Acta Bacoviensis”, I, 2006, pp. 26-28; Peter Moldovan, Privire retrospectivă
asupra Arhivelor orăşeneşti Sibiu, Bistriţa şi Braşov in “Revista arhivelor”, 1/2009, pp. 86–89.
28
See Marin, Ibidem
29
Archives of Evangelic Community Brașov, Fr Stenner—Familien chronik (mss)., vol. 1, p. 26-27
code and the document number. In this way, access points could be document number, name of person,
name of topic, and all the documentation pertaining to a topic was aggregated together.
The Archive started after 60 years of current and semi-current use30; it was a change thinking that, at
the beginning of registry system, the transfer to passive archives occurred when the cabinets of the new
archive as filled up31. The Archive had many functions. The first one was to preserve and maintain the
arrangement for all the written goods it holds and to classify the current records in the proper files.
Several tasks consisted in checking if the person who require a certain document has the right to use it
and, if so, and if the document is loaned, the archive staff should follow its restitution. The archive had
also the mandate of issuing certified copies from the records held.
By the rules for Archives in 1881, the historical archive of the town was organized on the following
sections: 1. Old documents; 2. Recent documents; 3. Accounts; 4. Protocols; 5. Indexes; 6. Private papers;
7. Library of the Archives. In 1903, 4 more sections were added: 8. Plans and maps; 9. Deposits; 10.
Surveys and 11. Museum objects. These sections were almost similar with those used in Sibiu by Franz
Zimmermann32.
Stenner continued the work of this two predecessors, Fronius and Schnell, and made a collection of old
records found in the archives, based on the criteria of language.
From 1903, in the last year Stenner worked as archivist (before being elected local councelor), dates a
set of rules for the reading room of the Brașov town archives33. The Archive could be used for “scientific
purposes” by any researcher who had a research card, issued yearly by the Mayor of the town. The
purpose of research should be indicated. The access to “confidential” records could only be granted by
an “archival commission”. All the research should have been carried out inside the reading room, the
loan of records at home being forbidden. An interesting provision is that, if anyone would damage the
record, he/she would have been publicly exposed in the official publication of the Mayor’s Office….
11. Beginning of the 20th century. Tradition and continuity
In 1903, Stenner left the Archives, but the coordinates of his work for Registry and Archives remained
the same. Moreover, from his position, as town councillor, he remained close to his first job. In this
respect, it must be noted his endeavours for an appraisal and disposition of records from the Archives34.
In 1918, he proposed an appraisal for the records, to be undertake by the offices of origin. Despite the
rejection of his proposal, he insisted the next year, but only in 1920 his proposition was accepted. He
was the person who effectively was supposed to select the useless records, but he will present the
results in front of an administrative commission, that will decide in the end. The legal ground would
have been the Hungarian Law 20 from 1901. We do not know now if the selection took place or not.
The integration of the province of Transylvania and, also, of the town Brașov into Romania, after WWI,
brought some changes in the way administration works. For instance, in 1925, a ministerial order
30
Brașov County Archives, fond Brașov Mayor’s Office, Series Magistrat Records, no. 4697/41903
Nussbächer, Arhiva orasului Brasov la sfârsitul secolului al XVIII-lea, loc. cit
32
Fr. Zimermann, Das Archiv der Stadt Hermannstadt und der Sachsischen Nation, Sibiu, 1887.
33
Brașov County Archives, fond Brașov Mayor’s Office, Series Magistrat Records, no. 4697/1903.
34
E. Marin, Arhiva Brașovului în anii 1916-1920; 1936. Arhivarul Fritz Schuster (1916-1927), in "Cumidava", 27
(2004), p. 238.
31
changes the way registry worked35. The ground for a file was not the first record pertaining to a topic (as
before), but the last one. The 6 classes for filing records became 29, with other criteria for division. We
have no contemporary remarks about this system, but today, when trying to retrieve records from that
time, it is a huge discrepancy between the effective and precise system introduced by Stenner, and the
strange system introduced in 1925.
Despite such unfortunate measures, the lines of the tradition were preserved. In this regard, in 1930,
the local administration issued some new Regulations, both for the Registry and for Historical Archive of
the town36.
The registry of the town was unique for all branches of local administration. Its role was to register, to
track and to handle records, for the effectiveness of local administration.
The main goal of the town Archives, on the other hand, was to serve for Mayor’s office business, but
also the scientific research. The Archive could acquire: historical records; records from the local
administration older than 15 years, that "are no longer needed for current business and that will be
preserved and arranged based on the principle of provenance"; seals, heraldry of the town, official
publications. The Archives could make collection of any records pertaining to the history of the town.
Researches could be carried out only in the building of the Archives. Before starting the research, a
person should sign a statement about obeying the rules for the reading room, and a dummy for each
record loaned. The researchers should pay a fee (daily or monthly) for their access to the reading room.
Despite the interdiction to loan records outside of the Archives, in special circumstances, for trustable
institutions, this could be possible for maximum of 6 months. The access to records was free, except for
the records later than 1918, where the Mayor approval was necessary. The Archives was allowed to
dispose records only by observation of Archival law and Accountability law. The chief of the Archives had
the obligation to periodically publish finding aids, to make contacts with similar institutions abroad, to
organise a permanent exhibition with reproduction of the archival and library material.
The proper care and interest of local administration for the records, both active and inactive, was
appreciated in the age. In this regard, the Mayor’s office had the moral authority to decline the legal
obligation for concentrating historical archive of the town to the Regional Archives in Cluj37. Also, in
1935, valuable collection of old records taken in 1916 from town Archives by the retreating Romanian
Army, and then evacuated to Moskow, were returned in 1935, somehow contrary to the centralisation
trend of time38. Finally, in 1939, the town archives became the core of Brașov Regional Division of the
State Archives39, a tribute paid to the professionalism of the institution and its workers.
12. Conclusions
The archives of Brasov lasts for more than six centuries. The great advantage of learning its history is
that it gives as valuable lessons about the nature of archives, about the evolution of its management
and human interests towards it.
35
Brașov County Archives, fond Brașov Mayor’s Office, Series Magistrat Records, no. 5989/1925.
Published in “Monitorul municipiului Brasov”, 1930.
37
E. Marin, Fritz Schuster—arhivarul orasului Brasov, 1916-1927 in "Revista Arhivelor", 1-2/2004, p. 244-245.
38
E. Marin, Arhiva Brașovului în anii 1916-1920; 1936…, p. 238-239.
39
“Monitorul oficial”, I, nr. 89/18.04.1939, p. 2379.
36
One lesson learnt is that people did not care, in first place, about recording their past, except for those
recordings that might help in future, from legal point of view. Furthermore, they did not care to properly
arranged records; keeping them seems enough, as long as when needed, they are available.
Another lesson is that open-minded people understood from centuries the need for finding aids. One
may have the records, but, as long as one does not know you have it, it is like one has not them. Those
“visionaries” did their job, but one arrangement is not good enough, because the harder part is to
maintain the proper order. Which is always harder than just to keep the records.
The “passion” to keep the records stops instantly when that preservation starts to cost too much. And
then a great and instinctive temptation to throw away the “garbage” is very hard to stop. The problem
shuld be solved, but other centuries lasted until the rational appraisal and elimination become a fact.
On the other hand, it took a very long time for people to understand that records can be arranged in
many ways; a fight for the perfect order can be un histoire sans fin. What about respecting the
provenance?...
A good care for records seems to reflect the level of civilization of a community. Unfortunately, this is
only a by-product of civilization and not a milestone in itself. It just happens, naturally, to take care
about the Past. Because you have it.