Ministry of the Royal House
In many monarchies and especially in the states of the German Confederation there were ministries of the royal house . The name varied with the title of the ruler. Accordingly, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse there was a ministry of the grand ducal house or in the Empire of Austria there was an imperial and royal ministry and the foreign ministry .
The ministries were responsible for the private affairs of the monarch and his family, the control of the court state as well as for the administration of the crown estates and family fideikommisse . The exact assignment of tasks varied from country to country. Competencies included the heraldry , the archives of the royal house, the order's chancellery and the participation in pardons .
The Ministry was often (the majority with other ministries of Foreign Affairs ) summarized or was in personal union mitgeleitet of ministers of other ministries. In part, the Ministry was organizationally separated from the Cabinet or (as in Mecklenburg) was merely an administrative authority of the court.