Rzeszow domicile document
Hermann obtains full rights at age 21
So what Hermann was up to in 1906? Among the documentation I have there is also a fascinating Polish language document that is a certification of Hermann’s place of origin. This is dated on August 13, 1906, a few months before Hermann’s twenty-first birthday. This document will play an important role again later when Elly uses it in 1940 to obtain a Polish passport during her flight from Europe.
But in 1906 it seems that Hermann had a need to document his legal status as the German-born son of Austrian parents. He must have applied to the municipal authorities in Rzeszów, his father’s ancestral home, and received this formal certificate of his status as a citizen of (or depending on translation, “a national of” or “belonging to”) the municipality of Rzeszów in the kingdom of Galicia. Around the border we see all the geographical designations: Royal Free City of Rzeszów, District of Rzeszów, Kingdom of Galicia, Austrian-Hungarian Monarchy.
This document provided proof of Hermann’s legal status at the time of his birth. Together with a copy of his 1885 birth certificate with the 1888 amendment, which Hermann obtained four months later, he now— shortly after reaching his twenty-first birthday—had the necessary documents to satisfy the Brandenburg legal requirements to obtain German citizenship.
