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

THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR TOWN ARCHIVES

police, the educational, ecclesiastical and medical staff kept their offices, all the official letters to the town were placed in the archives unopened. At the re-election in May 1867 the majority of offices were elected by acclamation. Vote counting was needed only on few occasions, for example at the voting for the mayor's and the archivist's post. Four persons were proposed for the archivist position, but only Domonkos Geiger and Henrich Bambek were voted for. Geiger won bv the majority of votes (564).

64 Geiger held his post till 21 October 1869, when he was appointed the secretary of the savings-bank. István Pölhosi became his successor.

65 Following the compromise of 1867 the re-elected municipal management worked till the organising of the new administration in 1870. The work to reform the municipality accelerated after the promotion of Lord Lieutenant József Zuber. His inauguration took place on 1 1 August 1871 at the extraordinary general assembly. The municipal organisation, which was formed on the basis of the municipal law

66 rated the archivist among the staff of town-administration. As such he was a member of the general assembly with elective franchise. The organisational description of 27 February 1872 however, did not regulate his duties. The Lord Lieutenant position was new in the municipal towns or to be more exact the former royal free towns. Earlier the central government had enforced authority "against" the royal free towns through the royal commissioner system, in fact this control had been eliminated during the reorganisation of 1848. It is understandable that these towns received the new position with aversion. In the case of Székesfehérvár it eased the tension that the town's Lord Lieutenant was appointed from a family holding important offices in Székesfehérvár. At the same time he became Lord Lieutenant of Pécs as well.

67 The reorganisation of 1 870 separated the county- and the municipal town Lord Lieutenant posts, because the Lord Lieutenant of the countv could not be at the same time the Lord Lieutenant of the municipal town, which was enclosed by the territory of the county. The appearance of the Lord Lieutenant position lessened the power of the local government because he as the representative of the executive power supervised the work of the local government. He acted as the