Files of the Lower Austrian Bezirksbauernkammern ('farmers' chambers')

The files document the interactions between companies and agricultural apparatus.

Funding

Institute of Rural History (own project in cooperation with the Provincial Archive of Lower Austria)

 

Duration

September 2002 – December 2004

 

Coordination

Josef Redl

 

Researchers

Ernst Langthaler

Karl Simlinger

 

Description

The Lower Austrian Bezirksbauernkammern (farmers' chambers), installed in 1922, constitute an important mediating authority between the state’s apparatus and the farms. Agricultural funding and legislative lobbying are documented in the old files of the Bezirksbauernkammern. Occasionally, these boxes contain files of the Reichsnährstand (1938–1945). This material is particularly useful for microhistorical studies, as the files mostly refer to individual farms or persons. The IGLR sifted, saved and organised these files, which are now accessible in the Provincial Archive of Lower Austria. They now serve as primary sources for many other research projects at the IGLR.