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The Bourgeoisie Registration Registers of the City of Luxembourg
This note is not intended to exploit the data that the Luxembourg bourgeoisie registration registers may provide, but only to draw the attention of historians to one of the many sources that may escape them, both in the fields of demography and genealogy, the Kont documents still scattered and insufficiently inventoried (1).
The bourgeoisie registers of Luxembourg are kept at the town hall. Like the other documents entrusted to the care of Mr. Léon Zettinger, they are admirably maintained, restored, and classified in the basement vaults (2). They consist of three thick folio-sized volumes, bound and perfectly preserved.
(1) The bourgeoisie registers (poortersboecken, bürgerbücher) have given rise to many studies, in Belgium and especially abroad. We will limit ourselves to citing here, as an example, R. A. Parmentier, Indices op de Brugsche Poortersboeken, LXII-998-160 p., in-8°, Bruges, 1938.
(2) Cfr L. Zettinger, Coup d'œil sur les archives, les sceaux et les armoiries de la ville de Luxembourg, 36 p. in-80, Luxembourg, 1951
(2) Cfr L. ZETTINGER, A look at the archives, seals and coats of arms of the city of Luxembourg, 36 p. in-80, Luxembourg, 1951.
The first has a very varied content. On folio 1, the names of the mayors and aldermen of the city. On folios 2 to 16, those of the bourgeois, listed street by street, for the year 1615. On folios 17 to 104, admissions to the bourgeoisie for the period 1621-1691. The remainder of the register, unfoliated, records taxes and the prices of meat and bread from 1724 to 1755.
The second volume, folios 1 to 127, records the receptions of bourgeois, from June 14, 1684, to October 19, 1731. Folios 128-139 constitute a supplement containing mentions of converts to the Catholic faith and bourgeois admitted free of charge. On the cover page and on folio 77, there are oath formulas to be taken by newcomers.
The third, folios 3 to 285, records admissions from November 6, 1731, to 12 Frimaire, Year IV. From 1765 onward, the sum paid as a reception fee, usually 24 florins, is frequently noted in the margins. After 1767, we find the names and signatures of the bourgeois who, by virtue of an ordinance concerning foreigners, stood surety for the newcomers
The writing is most often cursive, marginal notes abound, and many scribes collaborated on the writing. The language used was originally exclusively German. In the second half of the 17th century, French appeared more and more often and even prevailed during the French occupation of 1684–1697. From 1714 onward, German experienced a resurgence in favor. Under these conditions, it is understandable that the acts of admission were not written according to a uniform model. In the majority of cases, they provide the following information:
1 date of admission;
2 first name and surname of the new bourgeois;
3 profession, especially when it comes to construction workers or unusual trades (bookseller, dancing master, billiard-hall owner). After 1717, the corporation in which the new arrival is registered is often specified;
4 place of birth, often indicating the province, provostship, or diocese;
5 first names, surnames, and sometimes the place of origin of the father and mother;
6 sometimes, the autograph signature of the new bourgeois;
7 acquired rights or mention that the new bourgeois was received free of charge (for example, following a recommendation from the governor) or that he married a bourgeois' daughter;
8 after 1717, mention that he took the oath;
9 sometimes attestation of Catholicism (for immigrants from Germany or Ireland).
Is more needed to judge the interest offered by these registers?
Historical interest first. Browsing through them, one notices the reflection of the efforts made by the powers to ensure the preservation of the fortress of Luxembourg: arrivals of Tyrolean masons busy building new bastions, installation of French craftsmen who, clearly, were part of the retinue of some great lord commanding the place.
From the point of view of Luxembourg history, it will be observed that after the annexation of Thionville, Marville, and Montmédy, Luxembourg remained, in the province, the only locality with a distinctly urban character. It is therefore not irrelevant to know to what extent its bourgeoisie renewed itself, from which elements it was recruited, and how it assimilated the newcomers. So many questions that only our registers could answer
Finally, from a demographic point of view, for more than a century and a half, they allow us to observe not only the rhythm and fluctuations of immigration, but also its origins. Contrary to what one might believe, the origins of the new bourgeois are extremely varied. Certainly, the German quarter and the provostships of Lower Luxembourg provide the largest contingents.
Next come the regions bordering the Moselle, both German and French, Lorraine, the Saar, Hundsruck, the regions of the Middle Rhine, and, of course, the Belgian provinces. Among the representatives of these, the Limburgers appear to be the most numerous. Finally, distant countries have sent immigrants to Luxembourg; this is the case of Tyrol, Switzerland, Hanover, Silesia, Bohemia, Italy, Savoy, and Auvergne
All of this would deserve to be clarified with figures or maps. In short, the registers of admission to the bourgeoisie provide historians with a perhaps unique opportunity to discover what migratory movements consisted of in Luxembourg under the Ancien Régime
Such an opportunity should not be neglected, even in a province where the abundance of demographic resources will allow, better than elsewhere, the development of a true history of populations.
ÉTIENNE HÉLIN
Archivist-paleographer at the State Archives in Liège.
The Bourgeoisie Registration Registers of the City of Luxembourg [Les Registres d'inscription à la Bourgeoisie de la Ville de Luxembourg]
Extract from Archives, Libraries and Museums of Belgium
Vol. XXVI - No. 1 (1955)
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