Heimatrecht and the home municipality
The Austrian law of 3 December 1863 regulated Heimatrecht, the legal attachment of a person to a particular municipality. That status had administrative consequences for residence and poor relief and could be evidenced by a Heimatschein. The Vienna Magistrate's notice cites Sections 28 and 30 while requesting action from Neustadtl and reimbursement of provisional costs.[1, 2, 3, 4]
The file refers to a Neustadtl Heimatschein dated 9 July 1890, no. 4. A later Czech endorsement nevertheless states that the child did not belong to Neustadtl. The surviving item does not contain a final legal resolution of that contradiction.[1]
The sequence of care
The document gives Rudolf Figurak's birth date as 11 January 1896. A police record was made in Leopoldstadt on 10 September 1896. On 4 February 1897, according to the Magistrate's account, Rudolf was transferred for care because his mother, Maria Figurak, a servant born at Neustadtl in 1872, was ill and unable to care for him. The Vienna notice was issued on 10 February and received under a later filing note on 22 February.[1]
A later endorsement dated 16 March reports that the child had died, making the requested measure unnecessary. The municipal handling was closed on 26 May with the note disputing Neustadtl's home responsibility. The file does not give the date or cause of death.[1]
Institutions and provisional costs
Rudolf was first placed in the municipal asylum for abandoned children and then in the Lower Austrian provincial foundling institution. The notice states a provisional rate of 78 kreuzer a day for the municipal asylum and 8 guilders a month for the provincial institution. It distinguishes the municipality's claim for provisional expenditure from any possible civil liability of other persons.[1, 2]
What kind of document this is
This is administrative communication about care, transfer, costs and Heimatrecht. It is not a judgment on parental responsibility, a guardianship order or a final ruling that Neustadtl was legally liable.[1, 2, 3, 4]
Evidence and limits
The file does not establish the cause of Rudolf's death, neglect by his mother, the child's wider family circumstances or a final determination of municipal responsibility. The later Czech endorsements are reported as later administrative layers, not treated as a complete case judgment.[1, 2, 3, 4]
Sources & evidence (4)
- Primary source · composite administrative file Neruda Archives, NRA-L-000048, digital images, reviewed transcript, English translation and later Czech official endorsements. View the archive record Supports the people, institutions, chronology, amounts, statutory references and later report of death.
- Primary source · legislation Gesetz vom 3. Dezember 1863, betreffend die Regelung der Heimatverhältnisse, RGBl. Nr. 105/1863. View the 1863 law Provides the statutory text concerning Heimatrecht cited by the notice.
- Genealogical research guide Österreichische Gesellschaft für Familien- und regionalgeschichtliche Forschung, 'Staatsbürgerschaft - Heimatrecht'. Read the research guide Explains Heimatrecht, Heimatschein documentation and the general administrative mechanism.
- Municipal history reference Wien Geschichte Wiki, 'Heimatrecht'. Read the municipal reference Provides historical context for Heimatrecht in Vienna and the 1863 law.