Office (Duchy of Nassau)

In the Duchy of Nassau the offices were courts of first instance and lower administrative authorities.

Origin (1803–1806)

The Duchy of Nassau was created from 39 previously independent parts and territories of very different origins. In the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1803 Nassau had received a number of mediatized areas in connection with the formation of the Rhine Confederation . Nassau took over the (often very small) administrative structure of the predecessor territories.

On the upper level, seven governments emerged: In addition to the previous Nassau governments in Wiesbaden, Weilburg, Ehrenbreitstein, Hachenburg and Altenkirchen, a joint ministry was established and, on September 6, 1806, an administrative commission based in Wiesbaden was the first joint central authority for the territories of the mediatized princes , Counts and gentlemen. In 1806 the Nassau-Usingischen government in Altenkirchen was dissolved. The administration commission was repealed by edict of July 25, 1809 to September 1, 1809 and the Hachenburg government by edict of August 1, 1809. In addition to the common ministry, a middle administrative level was created from three administrative districts: Wiesbaden, Weilburg and Ehrenbreitstein.

At the level of the offices, too, the administrative structure of the predecessor territories was initially adopted.

When the duchy was founded, there were 63 offices:

Wiesbaden District (35) Braubach Office Braunfels Office Camberg Office Office Catzenelenbogen Office Caub Office Cleeberg Office of Cronberg Office Diez Office of Eltville Office Eppstein Office Greifenstein Office Heddernheim Office Hochheim Office Höchst Office of Hohensolm Hofheim Office Office Idstein

Kirberg Office Koenigstein Office Office Kransberg Limburg Office Nassau Office Office Oberlahnstein Office Oberursel Office of Reifenberg Office Rüdesheim Office Runkel Schaumburg Office Office Sulzbach Office Usingen Wallau office Office labor pains

Wehrheim Office Office Wellmich Wiesbaden Office Ehrenbreitstein Administrative Region (23) Altenkirchen Office Altenwied Office Office of Burbach Office Dierdorf Ehrenbreitstein Office Freusburg Office Office Friedewald Grenzhausen Office Office Hachenburg Hammerstein Office Office Heddesdorf Office Herschbach Office Linz

Office Maischied Office Meudt Montabaur Office Neuerburg Office Neunkirchen office Neuwied Office Office Nievern Schöneberg Office Office Schönstein Vallendar Office Weilburg Administrative Region (5) Atzbach Office Office Miehlen Reichelsheim Office Weilburg Office Office Hüttenberg

In the years 1803 to 1816, offices were merged in many individual steps and without a recognizable systematic in order to create a more effective administration. In 1812 there were still 48 offices.

The offices of Miehlen, Hofheim, Eppstein, Cronberg, Sulzbach, Heddernheim, Hüttenberg, Wehrheim, Kransberg, Reifenberg, Oberlahnstein, Nievern, Maischeid, Wellmich and Camberg were lifted.

• The Miehlen office was divided between the offices of Nassau, Montabaur, Kaub and Katzenelnbogen
• The Maischeid Office was merged with the Dierdorf Office
• The offices of Friedwald, Burbach and Neunkirchen were merged. However, it is unclear to what extent this was implemented. The individual offices were also later named as separate offices. In any case, the merger took place in 1816.
• The Nievern Office was incorporated into the Braubach Office
• The offices of Wellmich and Oberlahnstein also came to the office of Braubach
• The offices of Camberg and Kirberg were combined to form the office of Kirberg with the office of Camberg

The offices of Idstein, Kirberg and Wiesbaden were each referred to as the "Oberamt".

In 1812 there were 48 offices:

Wiesbaden Administrative Region (24) Braubach Office Braunfels Office Office Cleeberg Office Diez Office of Eltville Office Greifenstein Office Hochheim Office Höchst Office of Hohensolm Office Idstein Office Katzenelnbogen Office Kaub

Kirberg Office Koenigstein Office Limburg Office Nassau Office Office Oberursel Office Rüdesheim Office Runkel Schaumburg Office Office Usingen Wallau office Office labor pains Wiesbaden Office

Ehrenbreitstein Administrative Region (21) Altenkirchen Office Altenwied Office Office of Burbach Office Dierdorf Ehrenbreitstein Office Freusburg Office Office Friedewald Grenzhausen Office Office Hachenburg Hammerstein Office Office Heddesdorf Office Herschbach Office Linz

Office Meudt Montabaur Office Neuerburg Office Neunkirchen office Neuwied Office Schöneberg Office Office Schönstein Vallendar Office Weilburg Administrative Region (3) Atzbach Office Reichelsheim Office Weilburg Office

After the wars of liberation

After the Wars of Liberation, Germany and thus Nassau was reorganized again. Prince Wilhelm of Nassau-Orange received the Orange hereditary lands back on July 14, 1814 . Some of these fell to the Duchy of Nassau and some to the Grand Duchy of Berg . The Duchy of Nassau gave the seven offices of Dietz, Kirberg, Burbach, Neunkirchen, Schaumburg, Schöneberg and Cleeberg to Nassau-Orange. There were only 41 offices left. In the Grand Duchy of Berg, the offices in the cantons of Dillenburg , Herborn , Driedorf , Rennerod , Hadamar , Westerburg and Runkel were combined. After it was returned to Nassau-Orange in 1813, the previous Orange offices of Rennerod , Mengerskirchen , Ellar , Hadamar , Driedorf , Westerburg , Marienberg , Herborn and Dillenburg were re-established.

In the Congress of Vienna in 1816, extensive territorial exchanges were also agreed with Prussia and smaller ones with the Electorate of Hesse and the Grand Duchy of Hesse .

On May 31, 1815, Orange ceded the hereditary lands to Prussia. This and the Niedergrafschaft Katzenelnbogen were given to the Duchy of Nassau, most of the administrative district of Ehrenbreitstein and smaller other areas were given to Prussia. With the exchange, 20 offices (18 full, Ehrenbreitstein and Vallendar predominantly) were given to Prussia, while nine offices and the four offices from the Niedergrafschaft Katzenelnbogen went to the Duchy of Nassau. Thus there were 37 offices in the Duchy of Nassau plus the four offices of the Lower Counties, for a total of 41 offices.

Ibell's administrative reform (1816)

At the latest with the territorial changes resulting from the congress of Vienna and the subsequent intergovernmental agreements, a reorganization of the administration had become imperative. These were initiated by Minister of State Carl Friedrich Emil von Ibell . They were part of Ibell's liberal administrative reforms, which also included the reorganization of the churches and the simultaneous school . The standards were:

• The number of offices should be significantly reduced
• In the composition of the offices, the historical affiliation to Nassauer or other areas should not play a role
• The offices should have roughly the same size and population
• The offices should be designed in such a way that each resident could reach the place of office in half a day's journey (so that one could still return home after the official visit)
• There should be no more intermediate authorities

The new division of offices was decreed on June 4, 1816, and came into force on July 1, 1816. This initially provided for 25 offices, later the division into 28 offices took place. The Nassau offices were, as in some other German states, the forerunners of the later districts , but usually comprised a smaller area than these.

Braubach Office Office Diez Office Dillenburg Office of Eltville Office Hachenburg Hadamar Office Office Herborn

Office Hochheim Office Höchst Office Idstein Koenigstein Office Office Langen-Schwalbach Limburg Office Marienberg Office

Montabaur Office Nassau Office Office of Naststätten Reichelsheim Office Office Rennerod Office Rüdesheim Office Runkel

Office St. Goarshausen Office seltzer Office Usingen Amt Wallmerod (until 1831 Amt Meudt) Office labor pains Weilburg Office Wiesbaden Office

The offices comprised between 7,014 (Marienberg) and 13,986 (Weilburg) residents in 1817. The Reichelsheim exclave fell out of the ordinary with 1,136 inhabitants. The differences in area were greater: between 87,500 (Usingen Office) and 29,360 (Eltville Office) normal tax mornings (1 acre corresponds to 2500 m² ). With 3,412 acres, Reichelsheim was an extreme exception here too.

Due to the ducal edict of June 4, 1816, a comprehensive administrative reorganization came into force on July 1, 1816. In addition to the division of office, the roles and competencies of the administrative officials in the offices were also regulated. At the head of the administration stood the bailiff with the title of civil servant as director of the entire official administration (§ 4). As a single judge, he was responsible for adjudication in the first instance for civil law matters. In criminal proceedings, he was responsible for the arrest of the accused and their transfer to the criminal courts. This was the lower jurisdiction, which previously differed regionally z. B. by actuaries, city secretariats, parish and local courts was centralized. In addition, he was head of administration and responsible for all administrative questions in the office except (§ 10)

• Church affairs (the spiritual authorities were responsible here)
• Supervision of the schools
• Forest, mine and hut management and medical care
• Inspection of the road construction (the road construction inspections were responsible here)

The deputy of the bailiff was the Landesoberschultheiß (§ 9). He had a number of explicit duties. For example, he was an arbitrator and was responsible for caring for orphans. He drafted purchase and exchange contracts for real estate, was responsible for mortgage lending and ran public auctions. The office assessor or office secretary also belonged to the staff of the office. He was the "assistant in all branches of administration and administration of justice". An official accessist or private assistant was assigned to the office, particularly for the case law. It was a certified legal candidate who had to work for 2 years without a salary in the office as an "official acutarius". This corresponded to today's legal traineeship . Most recently, the office included an official who was also responsible as a prison guard in the official prison for the care of the prisoners.

The “administrative order for all the ducal official authorities” of June 4, 1816 regulated the functioning of the offices. The offices were subordinate to the state government (Section 11). An inspection was carried out once a year by an “official visitation commission” (§ 14).

Below the level of the offices, the cities and villages were divided into "community districts" with the edict of June 5, 1816. Every place that had a certain number of inhabitants formed a parish. Smaller villages and individual farms or mills were assigned to neighboring municipal districts. The boundaries of the existing parishes were taken into account. At the head of the community district were mayors (also city or high school leaders) appointed by the state government in accordance with Section 5 as head of administration, in accordance with Section 6 a community calculator (also council treasurer) as treasurer, headers elected in accordance with Section 7 to control the administration and in accordance with Section 8 field courts (consisting of mayor and court judge; also city and town councilors or councilors).

The medical administration established on April 1, 1818 was also based on the division of offices. Each office formed an independent medical district. In each district, the administration employed a licensed doctor as medical adviser as well as at least one doctor as medical assistant and a midwife. The official seat of the practicing state doctors was the respective main location of the office. A state pharmacy was also set up in this place . In addition to medical care, the Medical Council was responsible for disease prevention, food inspection and the control of hospitals and orphanages.

March Revolution and Reaction

→ Main article : District Office (Nassau)

Similar to the neighboring Grand Duchy of Hesse , there was a short-lived administrative reform towards the middle of the century. With the law of April 4, 1849, on July 1, 1849, jurisdiction and administration were separated at the lowest level. The administration took over 10 newly created district offices , the offices became pure courts of first instance as judicial offices. However, the reform was reversed on October 1, 1854, the districts abolished and the offices restored.

District Office Hachenburg Hadamar District Office Herborn district office District Office Höchst District Office Idstein

District Office Langen-Schwalbach District Office Limburg Nassau District Office District Office Rüdesheim District Office Wiesbaden

In addition, there was the exclave Reichelsheim the County Office Reichelsheim .

After the end of the duchy

With the annexation of Nassau by Prussia , the offices in their old form were also dissolved and replaced by circles . Only as part of this reorganization will administration and jurisdiction be separated. For the jurisdiction in the first instance, which had previously been carried out by the office, the judicial officials in the offices were initially responsible and on September 1, 1867, royal Prussian local courts were formed.

But even after the founding of the district, the previous office structure will be retained. The Royal Ordinance of February 22, 1867 regulated: "The administrative districts as narrower administrative districts exist in their previous limits" The former offices form the three districts of the district. According to § 13 of the district constitution, the districts sent the former offices six representatives to the new district council . The bailiff was in charge of the local police and the district administrator.

With the administrative reform of 1885/1886 the offices were finally dissolved.

literature

• Norbert Zabel: Spatial organization of the authorities in the Duchy of Nassau 1806–1866. 1981, ISBN 3-922244-39-4 .
• Thomas Klein: Hessen-Nassau. (= Outline of German administrative history 1815–1945. Volume 11). 1979, ISBN 3-87969-126-6 , pp. 121-131.
• Nassauische Annalen: Yearbook of the Association for Nassau antiquity and historical research . Volumes 9-10, 1868, p. 311 ff.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ VB 1809, p. 116.
2. ↑ VB 1811, p. 111.
3. ↑ VB 1815, p. 69.
4. ^ Norbert Zabel: Spatial organization of the authorities in the Duchy of Nassau 1806–1866. P. 38.
5. ^ State and address calendar of the Duchy of Nassau. 1813, p. 62, online
6. ^ Norbert Zabel: Spatial organization of the authorities in the Duchy of Nassau 1806–1866. P. 40.
7. ↑ State treaties of May 31, 1815 and August 23, 1816 VB 1815, p. 97 ff. VB 1816, p. 237.
8. ^ Ordinance sheet of the Duchy of Nassau, Volume 8 , 1816, p. 106 ( Google Books )
9. ↑ VBl, p. 105 ff.
10. ↑ VBl, p. 115 ff.
11. ↑ VB, p. 149.
12. ↑ Wolf Arno Kropat: Nassau's National Health Service . In: Historical Commission for Nassau (ed.): Duchy of Nassau 1806–1866 Politics · Economy · Culture . Historical Commission for Nassau, Wiesbaden 1981, ISBN 3-922244-46-7 , p. 247-251 .
13. ↑ VO of June 26, 1867, GS p. 1094.
14. ↑ Royal Decree of February 22, 1867 Supplement to the intelligence paper for Nassau of March 11, 1867, § 8 and 9
15. ↑ GS 1885, p. 229.