Lucas Nunzer’s interest in the history of his home town of Spitz an der Donau (Krems district) was aroused even as a child in kindergarten: “I was five or six years old when I was allowed to go to the old municipal archive with my dad. It was dark and dusty there. Behind the mountains of files, between two boxes, we discovered three figures: the former fountain figures from the market square, which had been missing for decades,” the 17-year-old recalls. “It fascinated me even then and I wanted to know what else can be found in this archive.”
Nunzer is currently completing an apprenticeship as an archivist in the State Archives in St. Pölten. He also works on a voluntary basis as a community archivist, commissioned by the Spitzer community council. “The interest in Spitz is probably in my blood,” says the youngster, “my father is the mayor here and my grandfather, my great-great-grandfather and my great-great-grandfather were also mayors.” However, they all seem to have neglected the archive work: in several dark chambers store tens of thousands of files, the contents of which no one has known for a long time.
Finds from meat inspection to parchment documents
“Most of them are old registration forms, account books, meat inspection files and the like. But you can also find historical documents,” says the young archivist, who is now working through the archive: “The oldest find dates back to 1312. The government documents from the 17th and 18th centuries are particularly valuable. Some are written on parchment and have wax seals.”
Nunzer taught himself how to read the Kurrent script: “When I was a schoolboy, I found old letters from the Nazi era that were written by my great-grandfather. I really wanted to read it. That’s why I bought a little book called ‘Current for Beginners’.” Working with the historical documents is like a jigsaw puzzle for the young archivist. Every piece of writing is a part of the greater whole. The more you know about it, the clearer the picture of the past becomes, says Nunzer.
Photo series with 4 pictures
Revolvers and gravedigger uniforms
The fountain figures, which he found together with his father as a kindergarten child, were not the only extraordinary find: “Behind the cobwebs and under the layer of dust in the old archive, unusual objects keep appearing – for example an old rusty revolver that nobody knows about why it is in the archive,” says Nunzer. “I also find the old gravedigger uniforms that are hanging here in an old box interesting. They all have name tags written on them, as if the old gentlemen could come back at any time and put on their uniforms.”