CZECH-L Archives

Archiver > CZECH > 2001-01 > 0978372348


From: "G. Martisek" <>
Subject: Re: [CZ] Brno Archives
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2001 12:05:48 -0600
References: <58.5453589.27821c67@aol.com>


Karen,

This information was great!!!

I probably will never get to the archives, but just knowing about it is exciting.

How long have you been researching. You seem to have quite a bit of
information/knowledge about things in general pertaining to genealogy.

It is said that my husband's ggrandfather worked in the stables for King Franz
Ferdinand before coming to Texas. Any idea how to go about checking this out.
Would this have been a military position???

Thanks again,

Gerri Martisek



wrote:

> << Thank you Pat...I am going to Vienna, Austria and Brno, Czech in June
> 2001...guess I will need to search both names....Sheri >>
>
> Do not go to the Brno archive without having reserved a table in advance, see
> the report below. A Czech genealogist I have met lives in Moravia and he can
> give you some advice about making good use of your time in the Brno archive.
> Otherwise you will be very disappointed. Do not expect anyone there to speak
> English. Write to:
>
> (Karel Kysilka)
>
> Karel speaks English. He has been a speaker at two Texas Czech conferences.
>
> Karen
>
> Following is a posting from the German-Bohemian list on the subject of the
> Brno archives:
>
> 1.
> VIP !!!!!
> Try to book a research seat at the archives you want to visit WELL IN
> ADVANCE. And by that I mean three months in advance in the summer months.
> Since the Czech Archives were opened to the public and the collections
> properly indexed etc, they have been literally swamped by researchers, both
> private and academic. There are evidently loads of books being researched
> now (and PHd dissertations) that require research in previous iron curtain
> countries. It is the flavour of the day to research these archives and so
> they are terribly busy. I went to Brno, and although they got a lot of help
> from the Austrian Govt archivists to get their collections indexed, filed
> etc, they are still not very well staffed and there are long waits for
> requested material.
>
> In August last year I asked a Brno resident to try and book me a research
> seat for three days in early Oct when I knew I would be able to get to Brno,
> but the earliest he could get me a reserved seat (guaranteed place), was
> November, although he has some considerable influence with Brno archive
> staff.
> 2.
> If you dont have a confirmed guaranteed research seat, then make sure you
> get to the archive when the doors open first thing in the morning, which is
> usually 9 am. If you are there promptly and explain at the desk that you are
> a foreigner with limited time and opportunity, and you ask very courteously
> for some special consieration, you will probably go to the front of
> the queue for the "no show" seats. That is, anyone who has booked a seat and
> not tuned up by 9.10 loses out and someone in the queue gets the chance. I
> had luck this way on my first day in Brno, but not on the second. But luck
> was with me and a young man tipped me off that he would vacate his seat by
> 11am the following day although he had booked it for the whole day. So I
> hung around and had a coffee and came back at 11 and he swopped with me,
> which was great. My third day I got a seat after about an hour's wait. It
> is not a very satisfactory situation if your time is limited, and
> especially like me if
> you are coming from Vienna - you have to leave Vienna at 6.30 to make sure
> that you arrive in Brno for the 9am opening, and of course, if there is no
> seat then you have to come again the next day which means another train
> ticket etc.
>
> 3.
> If you have a reserved guaranteed place DONT BE LATE - your seat will be
> given to someone else within 5 - 10 minutes in a busy archive.
>
> 4.
> Some English is spoken in the bigger cities, but usually at fairly senior
> level of archivist and therefore if you need help in English, you might have
> to wait quite a long time to get to see the English speaking staff. They
> will NOT translate documents for you, but will help you if they can with the
> indexes. Take a Czech/English dictionary with you as an absolutely
> essential item, and whatever you do buy it in an English speaking country
> because you will not find one easily in a French or German speaking country
> in Europe, and you dont want to waste time trying to find one in a bookstore
> in the CR when you could use your time for more importants pursuits.
> German is quite well understood by quite a lot of the archivists although
> they do not appear to enjoy speaking it much probably becuase they dont feel
> they do so well enough.
> I spoke to an American in Vienna who told me he was taking an Austrian
> student with him to Prague to translate Czech and German texts for him while
> he researched there. He was paying the student's food, travel and lodging
> but no fee. I suppose that same concept could be adopted to visit other
> centres.
> 5.
>
> Try your best to write to the Archive in advance to check if they hold what
> you are looking for. But be warned, dont take no for an answer if you have a
> strong belief that what you are looking for is there, or have been advised
> by someone else with knowledge that it should be there. I wrote in advance
> of my visit (in German, although there is a translation service for Czech
> through the Internet) to ask if Brno Archives had my info. and although
> they replied quite quickly, I did not receive their letter before setting
> off from South Africa
> to Europe and eventually Brno. I did find some of what I was looking for in
> Brno (not all because of lack of time to look), but co-incidentally when I
> returned home and opened a letter waiting for me from Brno archives, I was
> amazed to find they wrote to say they regretted that they did NOT have what
> I was looking for.
> So, once again, I repeat that the way you ask a question is obviously very
> important, and that if you are not satisfied with the answer you get, then
> keep asking - but keep asking politely so that you dont give offence and
> intimate in any way that the archivist does not know his business.
> 6.
> All the archives seem to have a limitation on the number of documents you
> can request at a time. Usually only 3 - 5. So you need to make sure that you
> dont waste opportunities asking for the wrong stuff. That means you MUST
> consult their indexes very carefully to get exactly the right reference
> numbers for what you want to look through. This is where you really need
> help to get started. By writing in advance, you will probably get the
> reference numbers back in the letter of confirmation, which saves a lot of
> work and time.
>
> 7.
> I can only emphasise that it all needs careful planning and forethought. You
> need to keep your list of enquiries written down and carefully sorted
> through to avoid duplication, or, worst of all, failing to consult what you
> need to while you have the chance. Your list should have a checklist column
> so that you can mark off as you go through your checking and reading.
>
> 8.
> I bought in London at the PRO a very useful A4 size magnifying sheet which I
> find very useful indeed in reading archival material, particularly if on
> microfilm or microfiche. The usual kind of magnifying glass seems to me to
> be OK for the incidental word or two, but to read whole sections of
> documents this sheet is invaluable, I daresay it is available elsewhere and
> is worth searching out wherever you live if you intend to do research
> without partically blinding yourself in the process.
>
> 9.
> Its thirsty work (often very stuffy too), so I think you need to make sure
> that you have some refreshments in your locker that you can dip into every
> few hours, Or else you will have to exit the building to go in search of a
> coffee bar - also a waste of valuable time.
>
> 10. I am sure that I do not need to reinforce the warning that you MUST KNOW
> WHICH PROVINCE/PARISH ETC your research material will be lodged. And this
> too requires some hard work and letter confirmation in advance of you dont
> want to waste time and do a lot of moving about from town to town.
>
> 11
> The biggest problem and the hardest part of researching in the CR archives
> is that no matter whether you can or cannnot read Czech or German, the old
> handwriting and and cursive scripts are often, in fact usually, very
> difficult to decifer. As an example. my ggmothers name was Dorothea, but
> what it looks like written in English letters bears no resemblence
> whatsoever to what it looks like in old German script or Czech. The same
> applies to surnames, which you need to be able to spot quickly on pages if
> you are looking through countless pages of documents. So lots of careful
> homework and preparation is required to make sure you know what you are
> looking for - that is what names and places look like written in Czech or
> German or Latin script. I got someone to write out the names I needed and
> them enlarged them and memoriesed the look of the words and then kept these
> enlargements in front of me while I searched. And believe me I would have
> overlooked what I was really looking for if I had not done this preparation.
>
> 12.
> A final word of advice and caution, which applies to CR archive searches or
> any other. Always have two copies made of everything if you can, and as soon
> as you get them split them up and keep them separately- one in your suitcase
> and one in your handbag or somewhere else. My husband lost a lot of his
> research he had done in London by putting all his documents and notes in a
> case which went missing and was never found. Once bitten twice shy!
>
> Hope this all helps you.
> \Regards and best wishes from Felicity
>
>
> P>S>
> You may be interested in my observation over the past three years visiting
> Vienna and calling at various parishes (quite large ones in the city area),
> the City Archives etc. Three years ago the staff at these places were very
> helpful and courteous but really quite disinterested in the fact that I or
> anyone else should want to research my family history. It was evidently not
> a popular thing to do in Austria. But last year I noticed that whever I
> went, staff showed more interest and said that they had now become
> accustomed to locals and foreigners making these types of enquiries as they
> had become far more commonplace, including among Austrian citizens.I think
> that this just goes to proove the statement made my Internet service
> suppliers and others that genealogy is the fastest growing hobby and
> passtime in the Western world.
>
>
>
>
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