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AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, Fall 2000 Viennese Meldezettel
By Peter Lowe Contents:
What are Meldezettel ?In many European countries there is a legal requirement to register with the local authorities or police your current place of residence. In Vienna these were recorded on the Meldezettel. Thus, a new form was filled in, or a form was amended, each time a person changed residence. I do not have any knowledge of the laws behind Registration, but it appears that even quite temporary changes in residence, for example a holiday, might be registered. Although the primary information to be obtained from these forms is on a person's movements over a period of time, the great value of these documents to a genealogist is the additional information often included on birth, marriage & deathdates, places of birth & residence and names of other family members.Location and description of materialMicrofilms have been made by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) from the original Meldezettel records at the Stadt- und Landesarchiv Wien. The films are available on request at all LDS Genealogical Branch Libraries. There is a possibility that filming is still in progress and that further films will become available. According to the excellent "Beginners Guide to Austrian Jewish Genealogy" compiled by E. Randol Schoenberg (http://www.jewishgen.org/austriaczech/ausguide.htm), the documents themselves ( up to 1948) are at Magistratsabteilung 8, Wiener Stadt und Landes Archiv, Rathaus, 1082 Wien. Registrations after 1948 are at the Zentralmeldeamt der Bundespolizeidirektion Wien, 1092 Wien, Rossauerlaende 5. There
are two series of LDS films (see more details below), which differ significantly
in the format and content of the Registration Forms. Within one series
there are also more minor differences. The earlier series, covering roughly
the period 1890-1921, has several types of forms. There is a new form for
each move so one individual may have a dozen forms.
Earlier forms, entitled "Meldzettel" give the following information: Im Bezirke …..Gasse…. (In the District …, Street… - this is current address when form was dated)Later forms , entitled "Meldezettel" have the following:
The latter series, which is more uniform in Format, covers the period from about 1940-1948. The catalogue states that the Forms include names of husband and wife, children, birth dates, professions, religion, old and new place of residence. However this understates the information potentially available, when all parts of the farm have been completed (though of course in practice not all fields are completed either through lack of information, or lack of time/interest). The forms for men & women differ slightly, as indicated below. In contrast to the earlier series, there is a single form for each person. On the front of the form is: Name (surname):
Reichsarbeitsdienst (Pflichtjahr usw): (Compulsory work service for the Reich- Duty year etc )
Ehefrau (wife)
Ehemann (husband)
Zugezogen (moved from) Problems in identifying the relevant LDS filmThere are several problems in trying to identify the correct LDS film in which to locate the entries for your relatives.Firstly, the LDS has several different versions of their catalogue, e.g. on line on www.familysearch.org, in FamilySearch on computer at LDS libraries, on Microfiche in LDS libraries and on CD-Rom. These catalogues differ in the way these records are recorded. The CD-Rom "Family History Library Catalog" (cost about $5) described as "Includes catalog entries as of March 2000" is as up-to-date, complete and easy to use as any I have seen. Secondly, there is an inconsistency in the indexing of the titles for these records so a search for "Meldezettel" does not reveal all films. I found the best bet is to search for "Meldeamt" (i.e. Registration Office) as a keyword, which then shows similar records for a range of European towns, including Vienna. If one specifically wants to look for Vienna records, I suggest you perform a Place Search looking for Austria, Niederosterreich, Wien. Then look for Austria, Niederösterreich, Wien - Population. This brings one to links to the two series of Registration Forms. Thirdly the titles and overall description of the two series are misleading in places. The second series is catalogued as "Meldekartei 18.-20. Jahr." (i.e. Registration cards 18th -20th century), but in fact the forms appears to have been completed in the period 1940 to 1948 (with some earlier dates going back to 1915 probably included retrospectively) . The first series is catalogued more correctly as Meldezettel, 1850-1920 (i.e. Registration forms 1850-1920), though the earliest I have seen an entry from is 1890 whereas entries go up to at least 1921. Fourthly, and this is the most dreadful issue, the forms themselves are not filed in alphabetical order, and the order is not the same between the two series. This would not be a problem in a small series of documents but this is a massive collection; There are 3168 microfilm rolls in the first series and 1237 rolls in the later series. In both series male and female entries are (usually, but not always) on separate forms. In the earlier series, all the films containing male records are followed by films containing female records. Both are in the same (or at least similar) order. Whereas in the later series records for females follow those for males within each group of surnames. The LDS catalogue gives some initial clues as to how to find films. I quote from the Catalogue relating to the First Series ( there is no information for the Second series but suspect the catalogue order is based on similar principles, apart from the order of male & female entries): "Names are listed in two sequences: männlich (male) and weiblich (female). Names beginning with a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) are listed first. Umlauted vowels Ä, Ö are filed with E. Ü, J, Y are filed with I. Diphthongs are usually filed with the first vowel of the diphthong. After the first vowel sound, names are filed by the first consonant sound, grouped by the next vowel sound. Names beginning with consonants are filed according to the following groups: (B,P) (C,G,K,X,Ch,Cs,Cz,Ks,H) (D,T,Dh,Th) (F,V,W) (H) (L) (M) (N,Ng) (R) (S,Z,Sch,Sz,Tz). H is grouped with C when not the first letter of the name. After the first consonant sound, names are filed by the second consonant, grouped by the first vowel sound: A Au E Ä Ö Ai Ay Ey Ei Eu I Ie Ü Y J O Ou U B P C G K X Ch Cs Cz Ks H D T Dh Th F V W H L M N Ng R S Z Sch Sz Tz "
Finally, at least on the LDS films, many records appear to be missing. Thus, some people who I know had permanent residence in Vienna do not have Meldezettel, and others have a discontinuous series of Forms. For the more recent series, although I have found some Meldezettel for Jewish Residents (e.g. for Irene Sara JERUSALEM which states that she moved away on 24.10.41 to Litzmanstadt - i.e. the Jewish Ghetto of Lodz . The form itself is undated but the additional forename "Sara" indicates that the form was completed before 1945) the number is smaller than I would have expected. It would be interesting to know whether the Meldezettel for deported or deceased Jews were systematically removed during the Nazi period. Examples of information that I obtainedIn addition to the obvious information outlined above, I found a number of additional useful bits of information . For example, it is quite common for the Registration Forms to be signed by a member of the family, and hence one can obtain a sample of your relative's handwriting. On the earlier series, if a single woman was married this was indicated on the Form this status change was indicated on the form with the date of marriage and name of her husband. I presume then she would obtain a new Meldezettel in her married name. Similarly if someone died, the Meldezettel was stamped "Gestorben" with the date of death. This allows a cross reference with the Jewish Death Records. Surname changes are fully documented and again probably indicate the existence of further Meldezettel under the new names.The information does not only relate to Viennese inhabitants: Many Prague Jews travelled to Vienna and stayed there for short periods. These then appear on the Meldezettel and one can obtain the same detailed information about them and their families. Finally, by having the exact addresses one may distinguish with confidence people with the same given names, and at the same time identify their families and obtain birth dates and places. To contact
the author
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