The state archives of Fribourg owns a whole series of registers of citizens(Bürgerbücher). The first two of these registers are the most important ones; they cover the period from 1341 to 1769 and are presented here in digitized form. The registers present the citizens of the city of Fribourg as they change from a citizenry that is very open for economic reasons at the turn of the 15th century to one that gradually closes itself off and then becomes a privileged patriciate in the 18th century. ‘Bürgerbücher' were a means of controlling the enrollment of new citizens through lists, which from the very beginning could be in book form. This allowed mostly large and medium-sized German cities that had achieved a certain political and economic development to react to and to regulate demographic trends and immigration during the late Middle Ages, after and even before the great plague (mid-14th century). The first register was not planned, but consists of separate booklets that were bound together probably in 1416. (utz)

Online Since: 06/23/2014