The archive of the von Schiber family from Munich: "It was a dear time, the good old time before anno 14. In Bavaria even cooked. The beer was still dark, the people warned typically; the lads dashing, the dirndls decent and the dignitaries a bit distinguished and a bit casual. There was still a lot in order back then". This is how Georg Lohmeier characterizes his Success series "Königlich bayerisches Amtsgericht" the Prinzregentenzeit, historically, the time of the bourgeoisie. Today the beer is no longer dark and many other things have changed a lot. Thus the last relics of this time gradually disappear, the time of the Bildungsbürgertum with its pronounced status consciousness from the traditional Munich, which in retrospect turned out to be an extraordinary stroke of luck, when in the summer of 2013 Wolfgang von Schiber was in the State Archives Munich asked about the possibility of archiving his family archive, that he wanted his father's life's work to be in good and professional hands. Already the first very rough sighting of the wooden crates made especially for the archiving of the documents let assume, that this is a very extraordinary, with much love and expertise invested family archive of an educated citizen from the 19th century. and the beginning of the 20th century. To anticipate: the first impression was surpassed by far after a more intensive inspection and development. After the archive had been transferred to the State Archives in Munich, it was possible to begin the indexing of the holdings in the premises there. In the case of such cataloguing activities, an attempt is first made to reconstruct a pre-archival order, which promises a first clue for a meaningful thematic structure of the documents. In the case of the Schiber´schen archive, this was quite simple, since a numbering was attached to the wooden boxes. The very first files brought to light almost unbelievable things: Files on the tectonics of the archive, on the classification according to family history topics, on the storage of the archive in wooden boxes and finally the number books. In these books were all over 25 books handed down in the family archive.000 documents with consecutive numbers were entered and the note was also added, under which case reference the letters had been filed. The file numbers themselves also had their own structure, mainly according to genealogical aspects. In addition, there is also an archive usage order and an order scheme graded according to colour characteristics. The creator of this comprehensive order was Wilhelm von Schiber (1889-1963), the father of the donor. Wilhelm, a native of Munich, graduated from the Theresiengymnasium in Munich and then studied in Heidelberg, Munich, Kiel and Erlangen, and was subsequently an active combatant from 1914-1918. From this time approx. 1000 field letters from and to him; in addition he kept a war diary, which the passionate draughtsman occasionally enriched with sketches. But that's not all: to the war diary there are still four plant volumes in which Wilhelm von Schiber collected everything that seemed important to him: Postcards to the places of action, photographs of the troops, orders for action, tickets, emergency money, etc. After his demobilization he found a job as a government councillor at the Bavarian Insurance Chamber. After his marriage to Margarete Fischer in 1934 and the outbreak of war in 1939, he was drafted again and came as local commander of the local commander's office I/635 to the north of France. After the end of the war and an internment of almost one year he took after some time and After a long period of quarrelling with the military government, he resumed his work at the Bavarian Insurance Chamber. Throughout his life Wilhelm von Schiber was anxious to achieve this, to organize his family archive and supplement it with documents, that were transferred to him by relatives or that he actively "took over". He maintained an extensive correspondence with all his relatives, and other family members, especially on genealogical and genealogical questions. First and foremost, however, he endeavoured to create the most extensive genealogical tables and genealogical series for his ancestors, spending a lot of money commissioned by genealogists, which provided him with corresponding source excerpts and strain series, who drew them from archives of the most diverse provenance. He himself could not always devote himself to this task with the intensity he hoped for, for he came to it, as he ironically writes to the Amberg State Archives, on the always planned visit of two world wars in between. In this way numerous family files with excerpts from church books, marriage records, personal files, photographs, original letters were created, completely worked out stem rows, coat of arms drawings, Seal imprints, but also hair curls, everything arranged according to the scheme worked out by him. In addition to this activity, he also devoted himself to his literary inclinations, so he wrote - mostly under the pseudonym "Wilhelm Burkhardsberg", the place of origin of the first tangible ancestors - numerous genealogical and family history works, partly also of extensive nature, like "Die Ahnen des Wilhelm von Schiber" (1932), the "Münz- und Schaumünzkunde für Familienforscher" (1937), the story "Der von Steinsdorf" (1930), "The Ernst of Hagsdorf, the Ernst from Vohburg and their relatives" (1931), "The descendants of Johann Baptist Simon Ritter von Schiber from the house Burkhardsberg" (1957) and not to forget his "preparatory work for the family chronicle" (1911-1917). In addition, he took part in numerous prize competitions and wrote the poetry cycles "Rote Blätter" (Red Leaves), "Nature and eroticism" and "Revolution cycle" as well as numerous other poems and short stories not summarized in cycles, who usually lie dormant unpublished in his family archive. Wilhelm von Schiber probably had his passion for the family and also his level of education; he was fluent in English, French and Latin, in which he even wrote his diaries in his youth, inherited from his father, Franz Xaver von Schiber (1834-1920). "Xavier" or "Boraxl," as his nicknames were, was also a lawyer and could have made a great career in the diplomatic service due to his excellent grades, but remained in the Bavarian administrative service at the express request of his father. From April 1868 he was the youngest Bavarian district official in parish churches, subsequently in Fürth, Wasserburg and Berchtesgaden from 1878-1888 Bezirksamtmann in Lindau. He was reluctant to leave his beloved Lindau for Munich, but his troubled health made a retreat into private life seem advisable. He had to go to the neurology clinic.wittelsbach" in Munich and devoted himself entirely to his self-chosen tasks, primarily the publication of an Italian dictionary. The rejection of the Lexi-kon by the publishers again brought him one of his severe personal disappointments. In addition, the guitar and piano played, so that in his estate there are a number of notes and songs especially for the guitar. In addition, the family archive contains his extensive diary series, numerous letters and photographs as well as a collection of business cards. He was married to his base, Sophie Maillinger (1865-1951), who came from Landau i.d. Pfalz. After the families moved to Munich in 1877, she belonged to the Barlow family's closest circle of friends, later Brown House). Here she also met Franz von Schiber, whom she married in 1888. Via Sophie von Schiber, a large part of the estate concerning the Maillinger family also came to the family archive. For the family archives, the The parents of Franz von Schiber are Gustav Achilles von Schiber and his wife Caroline Baumüller. Gustav Achilles Schiber, called "Gustl" was born in 1812 in Amberg. His father, Johann Baptist Simon Ritter von Schiber, was at that time a legal adviser at the Appellate Court in Amberg, But after his appointment the family moved to Munich in 1819, where Gustl attended the cadet school. In 1831 he became Junker in the Infantry Body Regiment and married Karoline Baumüller in 1833 in Munich's Dom. Since Gustav was an extremely talented draughtsman and gifted hobbyist, he made the traditional sewing kit temple for his bride's wedding. His skills in technical drawing were very much in line with his professional career, he was transferred to the Topographic Bureau in 1842, which at that time was housed exactly where its written and graphic legacy is once again kept today: at the Munich State Archives, the former War Department. After further career jumps to captain and major he left the association in 1863. In the private sphere Gustav, Caroline and "Xavier" were very fond of travelling, spent much time at the Ramsdorf headquarters in Lower Bavaria, which belonged to their friend Ludwig Freiherr von Verger, which is immortalized several times by Gustav in his numerous sketchbooks as well as in the Chiemsee region. In addition, there are several oil paintings from his brush in the family property. Of course, Wilhelm von Schiber had photographic reproductions made for his family archive. Following his sociability, he was a founding member of the Harbni Order (1850), a society against the animal seriousness to which a number of well-known Munich personalities belonged, e.g.B. Max von Pettenkofer. There is also a rich tradition of this in the family archive. He was also the first in the family, who, on the basis of his personal acquaintance with Franz Xaver. Gabelsberger and a penchant for the shorthand this also used, as later above all the archive founder Wilhelm von Schiber did this excessively. After her wedding, his wife Caroline Baumüller confined herself to raising children and doing the housework. She enriched the family archive with her friendship album, which shows not only the beautiful miniatures and aphorisms but also their extensive circle of friends and family. Father of Achilles and progenitor of the present line of Schiber was Johann Baptist Simon von Schiber (1770-1836) from Burkhardsberg in the Oberfalz (Lkr. Schwandorf). After studying jurisprudence and obtaining his doctorate in Ingolstadt, he initially worked as a land commissioner in Munich, from 1804 State Directorate Council to Amberg. Since 1808 he was crown fiscal at the Appellation Court in Amberg and in 1819 he was promoted to the General Fiscal Council in Munich, in 1826 to crown attorney at the K. State Ministry of Finance. Johann Baptist von Schiber died in Munich in 1836. Some of his originals have also been preserved in the family archives, especially an exchange of letters from the end of the 18th century. It deserves to be mentioned here. In addition, numerous archival documents from the State Archives Amberg, Munich State Archives and the Bavarian Main State Archives z.T. literally copied or excerpted and are attached to the personal file of Johann Baptist von Schibers. In addition to the numerous "ego-documents", such as diaries and letters, which have been described as such in current research, the friendship albums and sketchbooks a more than extensive photo library forms a crowning conclusion of the family archive. Photographs of all members of the family and all branches of the family are gathered here in two larger cartotheques. The oldest photographs certainly date back to the middle of the 19th century. So this is not only a highly remarkable source in terms of family history, but also in terms of technical history, which documents the influence of technology on the status and self-confidence of the educated bourgeoisie. That there is also a name, object and place index for the entire archive, who refers back to the number books, was no longer too surprised by the meticulousness of the archive founder. The "Schiber Family Archive" invites cultural historians, genealogists and those interested in cultural history, to trace the great time of the bourgeoisie but also its decline on the basis of its own sources. It is truly an invaluable treasure trove. Munich, August 2016 Dr. Christoph Bachmann
