Matevž Košir

The oldest tax book (register) is the so-called »Gültbuch« (GB). It was introduced in the 16th century by the diets (province assemblies). In 1747, tax reform was carried out in the Habsburg monarchy. It was called the Theresian tax reform after the empress Maria Theresa. The aim of the reform was to abolish unequal taxation and to impose taxes on the nobility. A cadastre was introduced also. A cadastre is a description of all the land. It is made by a state so as to be able to determine the criteria for equal taxation of the land. The emperor Joseph II introduced the next cadastre, which brought some changes, in his patent in 1785. The basic unit which was used to describe the land became a cadastral commune. The land in a cadastral commune was divided in fallow lands, and those further on in land plots. The plots were measured in square "qlafters" or acres (an acre is 5.7 sq m). After the war with Napoleon, the Monarchy started an endeavour to build a stable cadastre. With the patent from the emperor Franz I in 1817, new cadastral surveys began on the basis of cadastral communes. The surveys were much more precise than before. The educated surveyors surveyed the land with instruments. They developed the coordinate system for all the Austrian provinces – including the land of current Slovenia. There were two important coordinate points for the Slovenian land: the first was Krim near Ljubljana, the second Schökel near Graz. The cadastre had two parts: a written part and maps. The first part included the register of building plots, register of land plots, register of landowners, a description of commune borders, and estimating protocol.

The graphic part of the cadastre included the original cadastral maps in colour. It was done in measure 1:2,880. Different cadastral crops were marked with different colours.

The other system of books is the real estate books, also known as land or cadastral registers. These registers contain information on legal relations to the real estate. Real estate books were introduced for the legal security of trade with real estate. They were introduced in the 18th century. There were three types of real estate books:

1. LT for landlords,

2. Town real estate books for towns,

3. Real estate books for peasants.

Magistrates managed real estate books for towns, landlords managed real estate books for peasants, and the province managed LT. Real estate books comprised a chronological collection of all the documents such as buying contracts, wills, marriage contracts, promissory notes, etc. The oldest real estate register is the so-called "Landtafel" (LT) - the translation in English would be "a country board". It had its beginnings in the Czech territory in the 13th century. LT was the real estate register for the land of landlords. The patent which introduced the LT in the Province of Carniola was published in 1747. LT was introduced only for diets - that is, above all, for the nobility. LT was a proof of the property ownership. LT included the transcripts of documents such as: contracts, wills, wedding contracts, donations, mortgage deeds, etc. These were important for property ownership. At the beginning of the 19th century the main book was introduced. In the main book the summaries were written of the documents that were in the quaterns. LT was abolished in 1930s and the data was transcribed to the real estate books.

Since 1851, real estate books have been managed by the district courts. In 1871, a general law on real estate books was introduced and, based on it, a provincial law on real estate in 1874. The law required a new main book, which started in 1878. Besides the letters of owners and of mortgages, the letters of property were also formed. The main book was ordered by the serial numbers of inserts. Each cadastral commune had its own main book.