After visiting the archives in Antwerp and Brussels at the end of June, this time the journey took Senior Assistant Dr. Maja Perić to the Austrian State Archives in Vienna (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) in early September. Given that the Viennese court invested in the founding of the Privileged Company and the Rijeka sugar refinery, it is logical that numerous useful documents can also be found in the state archives.
Over the course of a week, she managed to photograph more than 9,000 folios preserved in more than fiteen boxes, further confirming the importance of the Company for the Habsburg authorities.
The photographed documents include not only correspondence, but also acts, minutes, numerical data, and other materials that provide a better insight into the agreements made during the founding of the Company and the extension of its privileges after 1775, as well as into the daily life of the factories in Rijeka.
While photographing various documents, Dr. Maja Perić also noticed that the senders and recipients of the letters, as well as the handwriting, sometimes match those found in previously studied documents located in the archives in Antwerp and Brussels. All indications suggest that in the next phase of the project, it will be possible to uncover the trade network along the Vienna–Rijeka–Antwerp route, and our colleague will very likely be able to connect different letters with one another!
We find it appropriate […] to promote the establishment of a Trading Company, which, by uniting its strength, knowledge, and care, will strive […] to develop the various branches of a necessary and profitable commerce.
