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

THE HISTORY OF SZÉKESFEHÉRVÁR TOWN ARCHIVES

which was put in the place of the document. Both inspection and copying were however restricted for private persons. In lack of instructions from the council the mayor was authorised to give permission. Testaments and other important documents were kept separately in a safe, and a register was kept about it. The orphans' court files were also kept and handled separately. The archivist was not allowed to disclose the content of the files in transcripts, he could only declare if it was available or not. The abbreviated and the certified copies could be issued with the permission of the council or the mayor.

71 Following the turn of the 19

th-20

th century the archivist's duties were defined in details bv the organisational regulations. The archivist continued to be the member of the general assembly. In 1901 new rooms for the archives were mentioned in connection with the reconstruction of the town-hall.

72 In 1904 the issue of building new headquarters was raised when the supplemental construction of the archives were discussed. The period between the two world wars brought the flourishing of town-history writing, and archivist Viktor Juhász had the credit for it. Information about this topic can be found in the chapter on town-history writing, here we limit ourselves primarily to giving information about handling documents and archival work. The publications of Viktor Juhász on the role of the town archives and the significance of the archival documents must be pointed out from his versatile work. He was among the first ones who turned his attention towards industry-history sources. Székesfehérvári Szemle published a notable discourse by him titled Data on the Life of Guilds in Székesfehérvár Found in the Town Archives;

73 he also dealt with one important administration task of the town, fire-protection.

74 Beyond that he published the letters patent of nobility that were kept in the archives,

75 and he was also interested in the topography of Székesfehérvár.

76 He wrote the first brief introduction to the archives. We get some information about questions concerning the town archives and some archivists from the supervision of the body of civil servants' activity in 1929. Viktor Juhász chief archivist also managed the registry office. The archives were available for town-hall clerks between 8 and 1 I in the morning, then for the clients till 1 in the after-