Źródła archiwalne do poznania wyposażenia gospodarstwa chłopskiego na Górnym Śląsku w XIX wieku
Archival Records as a Source of Knowledge on the Equipment and Furnishings of an Upper Silesian Peasant Farm of the 19th Century

Summary/Abstract: Reproduction of the nineteenth-century farm equipment of an Upper Silesia farmstead is possible due to ethnographic interviews. However, this method has some limitations, especially nowadays, when it is increasingly difficult to find informants remembering these times. The solution to this problem is to focus researches on written sources, especially archival ones. This article discusses the usefulness and content of documents produced by the courts operating in the regions of Lubliniec and Pszczyna. The purchase-sale contracts contain information about the value of the real estate, farm tools and animals belonging to the property. Peasants’ last wills provide us with knowledge about the placement of buildings within a farmyard and rooms in a house as well as list all valuable items passed on to heirs. Meanwhile, posthumous inventories list all assets and liabilities of the inheritance, including the detailed list of all objects belonging to the farmstead along with their value. Archival sources allow for a successful reconstruction of farm equipment, which is of particular importance when other sources fail in this regard.

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