A Historical and Archival Guide to Székesfehérvár (Székesfehérvár, 2003)

AN OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY WRITING OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR

treatment of events does not entirely suit the modern requirements of writing history, he pointed out the importance of data collecting. The books contain poems, letters, leaflets, advertisements too; in the appendix of the last volume we can find the biographies of illustrious artists and public figures of the town. On 30 December 1912 at their regular meeting the municipal board expressed their gratitude to the author, who was not only a distinguished chronicler of the town but an outstanding man of public life as well. For a longer period of time he was a member of the municipal board, of the parish school board and of the theatre board.

29 The four volume manuscript was intended to be published in the following year in 1913. Due to World War I, however, its publication was cancelled. Naturally, the publication was delayed by the fact that the monograph's volume on Székesfehérvár, which differed in structure and attitude, was published not much earlier in 1 898. On 26 October the municipal board confirmed their intention again to publish the manuscript. They planned to publish one volume per year and the preparations for printing were also made. The general assembly granted 50 million crowns for the first volume of the new almanac. Although Mayor Dr Aladár Zavaros supported publishing the monograph, the new almanac series titled Publications from the history of Székesfehérvár did not start with this work.

30 Yet, town historians were keenly interested in Lauschmann's monograph, especially when Mayor Dr Emil Csitáry had it typed and it was placed in the public collections of the town. Sometimes it was even overused as a source of research. Undoubtedly it furnished valuable data to researchers and visitors for decades, but its publishing was failed for many decades. Following the reorganisation of the Town Archives of Székesfehérvár in 1993 publishing the monograph was launched. The four volumes came out annually, then because of the great interest it was published again in 1998 with new illustrations. Between the two world wars town history research was primarily carried out by the town archives. Following Moenich's retirement Viktor Juhász held the position of chief archivist for decades.

31 One of his most significant works is the Proletarian dictatorship and its antecedents in Székes-