Krakow Directories 1930 to 1953 are online

The years 1930 to 1953 of the Krakow Directories have been digitized in cooperation with the Vienna University Library and Ueberreuter Publishers and can now be viewed online in the Findbuch for Victims of National Socialism.

The Krakow Directory was a directory published by Carl Ueberreuter’s publishing house which, in addition to a calendar (with weekly overviews) an annually updated comprehensive list of Austrian offices and authorities, political parties, clubs and organizations, associations and more, the important addresses for the respective period and information regarding laws, charges and taxes. As such, the Krakow Directory served as a model for the modern Austrian Amtskalender (official handbook on public offices and institutions).

The Krakow Directory was first published in 1641 at the University of Krakow, from where it takes its name. At that time, astronomers provided a calendar for every season. In 1754, Johann Thomas Edler introduced the numbering of the Krakow Directory on an annual basis. It was published for a total of 336 years. During the National Socialist era, the directory was renamed “Ostmark Year Book”. In 1943, the directory was published with reduced contents under the name “Vienna Calendar and Directory” for reasons of wartime economy, as can be read in the foreword of this issue. It was not published in 1944 or 1945. After the end of the war in 1945 the directory was published under the new name “Austrian Directory”.

The changes in title reflect Austria’s eventful history. At the same time, the subtitle “The Old Krakow Directory” was retained throughout, meaning that continuity was maintained. Similar applies to the contents. They document the caesurae in Austrian history – 1933, 1938 and 1945 – particularly on an administrative level, as well as the continuities of this period on both an institutional and individual level.

As such, the issues of the Krakow Directory from the years 1930 to 1953 constitute an important source for investigators of contemporary history, researchers of Austrian administrative history and genealogists. We hope that the Krakow Directory continues to be a “trusty companion and helper” – as described in the foreword to the 1946 edition – for your research.

Thanks to the Vienna University Library and the Ueberreuter Publishers for making the publication of the Krakow Directory – now in digital form – in Findbuch possible.