Paul Brüll

With their chronicles, the local historians of the past laid the foundations for making the town's history accessible to future readers. In doing so, they played a major role in the development of the Radebeul town archive into the "memory of the town". But simply writing down the history is not enough, it must be preserved for future readers. This is the task of the archives, and it was Paul Brüll who created the basis of today's Radebeul archives. Let us therefore take a closer look at the first town archivist, who took over the archives at the proud age of 66.

He was born in Lichtenberg/Kamenz district in 1892, grew up in Radeberg and trained as a teacher in Bautzen. Imparting knowledge and preserving cultural assets were matters close to his heart. He taught at the Schiller School in Radebeul from 1914-1933. He was also interested in politics and had been a member of the SPD since 1919. He was involved in the labour movement and manifested his participation in the city council in 1921. During this participation, he was instrumental in the construction and management of the first local youth hostel. This was built in 1920 in an outbuilding of the Oberlößnitz school and was intended to offer young people inexpensive accommodation regardless of party affiliation, origin or creed. In 1924, the premises of this centre were then extended to the Hoflößnitz.

Due to his involvement in the SPD, he was imprisoned for a month in 1933. In his memoirs, it can be read that the only solace he found during these uncertain days were visits from his loved ones and reading Karl May's Ölprinz. From 1933, he owned a small grocery shop and worked part-time as an accountant for the Madaus company. This was a medical company specialising in homeopathic preparations.

From 1945, he was deputy chairman of the SPD, but he did not let go of the school, because after the end of the Second World War he was appointed school councillor and vocational school director. In addition to this educational and political commitment, he was actively involved in the Kulturbund. Here he founded and headed the specialised group for monument protection and urban history. In connection with this work, he was appointed Radebeul's first town archivist in 1958.

In 1960, the archive was established in the "Haus Heimattreue" (Lößnitzstraße 16). For the first time, all historical municipal documents were catalogued and sorted in a finding aid. This rich utilisation of knowledge is still very much in use today. The town archive now houses a large number of files relating to the former original municipalities alone, which today form the town of Radebeul. The archive library can also be traced back to Paul Brüll's enthusiasm. However, his greatest achievement is the creation of a thematic index, because even though technology is on the advance everywhere in the archives, the machine is no substitute for the lateral thinking of an erudite mind. He also put a lot of energy into bringing archive work closer to the citizens by encouraging them to create a house chronicle or bring in old photos. The teacher in him particularly remembered the importance of pedagogy. He introduced children in particular to the world of archives. He himself wrote in this context: " how little use is still made by class teachers of the opportunity to visit interesting archives. Improving this is the most important task for me."

Paul Brüll died in Radebeul on 11 August 1983. He found his final resting place at the Heidefriedhof cemetery.

It can therefore be said that the various paths of Paul Brüll's life, who as a teacher, scholar, cultural spirit and entrepreneur had always been committed to knowledge, development and the future, were finally brought together in the archive.

Until 1991, the Radebeul town archive was located in the "Albertschlösschen" (Gohliser Straße 1), now it is located in Wasapark Haus 1 (Wasastraße 50).

Maren Gündel (City Archive)

(1) Stadtlexikon Radebeul - Historisches Handbuch für die Lößnitz, published by the Stadtarchiv Radebeul 2006.

(2) Radebeul town archive file S 16-16, S 11 - 07, S 11 - 08, and S 11-15.