Vințu de Jos (Hung: Alvinc): Israelite community, marriages 1869-1886
Description:
This item is a register for recording marriages used by the Jewish community of Vințu de Jos, known at the time as Alvinc, in Hungarian or Unter-Winz in German (also spelled Alwincz and several other variations). The book is entirely in German, both printed headings and handwritten entries, with the exception of an official closing remark made in Hungarian. The data recorded is somewhat less than in other such books: bride and groom biographical information is always requested together (rather than each person receiving their own field) and probably as a result, the information recorded is often incomplete or regards only one of the two parties. Requested data is date of ceremony; names and position (occupation - generally not completed) of bride and groom; ages; names and position of parents; names and position of witnesses; name and post of officiant; whether the marriage was publicly announced; and other remarks. The "position" or "status" fields probably represent vestiges of the social heirarchy system in the region; this book may have been the same format used by the German churches (where individuals were likely to still be divided by class rank; Jews, due to their position outside the system of nobles and serfs, were not ranked in the same fashion).