Vráto, Česká republika One Place Study

Date: 1528 [unknown]
Location: Vráto, okres České Budějovice, Česká republika

Brod/Vráto

Vráto is a small village about 4 km north-east of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia. It appeared for the first time in a written record in 1375 with its German name Brod. The Czech name Wrata can be found as early as 1479. The village was subject to Budweis/České Budějovice as confirmed by Vladislav II Jagiello, king of Poland and Bohemia, in 1498 as "long-standing property". In 1543 Wrata, together with other villages, was entered in the Desky zemské^[1] as property of Budweis/České Budějovice.

The village consisted of 15 farmsteads in 1384 and did not grow much for a long time. In 1600 it had 18 farmsteads^[2] In 1840 Brod/Wrata had 31 houses with 220 mostly German speaking inhabitants.^[3] After the Czech orthographic reform in the mid 19th century the Czech name became Vráta and in 1924 it was changed to the current Vráto.

Since the abolition of seignorialism in 1848 Brod/Vráta/Vráto was variously merged and divided again with various surrounding villages such as Hlinz/Hlinsko and Neu Brod/Nové Vráta resulting in large shifts in population and ethnic composition. For the purpose of this study the focus will remain on what was now often referred to as Alt Brod / Stará Vráta which in 1921 had 44 houses with a majority German speaking population of 265.^[4][5]

The following sources were used for this study:

• Land registers - Pozemkové knihy, starting in 1528
• Seigniorial registers - Soupisy poddaných, starting in 1589
• Parish registers - Matriční knihy, starting in 1600

The Seigniorial register for Brod for the year 1600 lists the then current holders of the 18 farmsteads.^[2] Land and seigniorial registers were used to establish ancestors as much as possible, Parish registers were added for descendants.

Sources

1. ↑ Literally translated "land tables", a Czech predecessor of land registers for hereditary estates. Available online at Národní archiv - Desky zemské vetší
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Státní oblastní archiv v Třeboni, Seigniorial registers: Archiv města České Budějovice, Book 1519, image 11
3. ↑ Obec Vráto
4. ↑ de.wikipedia.org, Vráto
5. ↑ cs.wikipedia.org, Vráto