Paměti a vzpomínky jako neopomenutelný historický pramen? Emil Kellner a jeho „železničářské“ vzpomínky

Abstract

The paper focuses on a hitherto untapped source of a subjective nature, which is on the borderline between private and institutionally requested provenance. Two manuscript memoirs of Emil Kellner, a long-time railway employee, can be found in the State Regional Archive in Prague within the fund of České dráhy, a. s., Prague [Czech Railways, JSC]. They were written in 1954 and 1955 at the instigation of the Railway Archive and the Ministry of Railways. They cover the period from the last third of the 19th century with gaps until 1941. The memoirs provide some interesting facts that were not previously known or, on the contrary, confirm some things already known. The memoirs give an insight into the (everyday), routine life on the railway. The characteristics of the employees and their fates, not excluding the social dimension, are extremely interesting. The memoirs also provide details of dealings with superiors (requests, personal presentations, interventions, patronage, visits to railway management in Vienna or Prague) and transcribed documents (correspondence) depicting railway administration during the monarchy.