Government of the Duchy of Nassau
The government of the Duchy of Nassau was the executive branch of the Duchy of Nassau from its founding in 1806 until its end in 1868. Until 1842 it was located in Schloss Biebrich , then in the ministerial building in Wiesbaden .
Initial situation and first common institutions
Overview
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, 7 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 The administration commission was repealed by edict of July 25, 1809 to September 1, 1809 and the Hachenburg government by edict of August 1, 1809.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.
The government of Nassau-Usingen
The Principality of Nassau-Usingen had moved its capital from Usingen to Wiesbaden in 1744 . The leadership of the government in Wiesbaden , which had been in the hands of Karl Friedrich von Kruse for decades , was transferred to Ernst Franz Ludwig Marschall von Bieberstein after the main conclusion of the Reichsdeputation Hauptschluss in 1803 .
In addition to the government, the following higher authorities existed in Nassau-Usingen:
- the court chamber with seat in Wiesbaden
- the court court with seat in Wiesbaden
- the consistory based in Wiesbaden
- the Altenkirchen government for the former county of Sayn-Altenkirchen
The government of Nassau-Weilburg
While the Usingen government already showed a considerable degree of centralization, the leadership in Nassau-Weilburg was very inhomogeneous. It passed
- for the previous Principality of Nassau-Weilburg
- the Weilburg government
- the Hofkammer based in Weilburg
- the court court with seat in Weilburg
- the consistory based in Weilburg
- especially for the former Kurkölnen and Kurtrierische areas on the Rhine and Lahn
- the Ehrenbreitstein government
- the Justice Senate in Ehrenbreitstein
- the court court with seat in Ehrenbreitstein
- for the former Orange areas
- the Hachenburg government
- the court chamber with seat in Hachenburg
- the consistory based in Hachenburg
Since 1788 the leading minister Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern was at the head of the Nassau-Weilburg government .
Common institutions in the founding of the duchy
Even before the founding of the duchy, the Lehenshof and the Hadamar Court of Appeal existed as joint institutions for the entire Nassau house .
The preliminary puncture
On September 3, 1806, the Nassau-Usingische government director and secret council Ludwig Christian Vigelius presented a memorandum on how the administrative organization of the duchy should be structured. The core of the proposal was a high degree of decentralization. The Usinger and Weilburger administrative organization should be preserved and "any unnecessary community" avoided. The background was the dual leadership of the duchy in which Friedrich August (Nassau-Usingen) had become duke, but his cousin Friedrich Wilhelm (Nassau-Weilburg) was co-regent.
Only the newly acquired imperial knightly territories should be administered jointly in the joint administration commission . The aim of the joint administration should be the introduction of the old Nassau administrative structures in these areas as well. The Secret Council, Court Court and Consistorial Director August Bernhard Huth , who had been asked for a second opinion on September 4, 1806, also agreed to these suggestions, but pointed out that this administrative commission should only work for a limited period and that the areas should only work in the medium term Usinger and Weilburger governments should be directly subordinated.
The duke and co-regent agreed with these suggestions and issued the preliminary punctuation on September 5, 1806 . With this, the administration commission and a joint ministry were created.
The common ministry
The joint state ministry consisted of four politicians. As the oldest Privy Councilor in years of service, Nassau-Weilburg's former Chief Minister, Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern , headed the State Ministry. Like Gagern, Ernst Franz Ludwig Marschall von Bieberstein held the title of Minister. Ludwig Christian Vigelius and August Bernhard Huth belonged to the State Ministry with the title of assistant council . All four were patented by both regents and both were responsible.
There was no clear division of responsibilities and departments. Gagern was in charge of domestic finance and economic policy, while Marschall's focus was on foreign policy and administrative reform.
The reform of the central administration from 1806 to 1815
The time between the founding of the duchy and 1815 was determined by uncertainty. The dependence on France (Emperor Napoleon , as the protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, was, so to speak, overlord of the duchy), the changing coalition wars and the conflict between the traditions of the old regime and the new ideas of the time led to the changes in the central administration taking place without any recognizable systematics.
As a first step, the government chancellery in Altenkirchen was dissolved in December 1806. The area was assigned to the Ehrenbreitstein administrative district as the Altenkirchen office .
With a rescript dated March 24, 1807, the court chamber in Hachenburg was dissolved and the two pensions belonging to it were assigned to the Weilburg chamber after Luise, the wife of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, had agreed. Luise was a born Sayn-Hachenburg and heiress of the county.
With the edict of July 25 / August 1, 1809 (the double date results from the fact that both regents signed the edict at different times), the administration commission as well as the government and consistory in Hachenburg were dissolved.
At the end of this process, there were three administrative districts of very different sizes. 168,000 inhabitants lived in the Wiesbaden administrative region, 134,000 in the Ehrenbreitstein administrative region and 24,000 in the Weilburg administrative region.
In May 1809, Marschall von Bieberstein became first minister, replacing Gagern.
Ibell’s administrative reforms
At the latest with the territorial changes due to the Prussian and Hesse agreements reached at the Congress of Vienna and the subsequent intergovernmental agreements , a reorganization of the administration had become imperative.
These were initiated by the Privy Council and Director of the Ministerial Chancellery 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 . Ibel was Marshal's closest collaborator and thus had the opportunity to ensure that the reforms were implemented.
The State Ministry
With the organizational edict of September 9/11, 1815, the first step was to reorganize the central authorities. At the head of the administration was the State Ministry and at its head the conducting State Minister. He had far-reaching powers and was superior to all other central authorities. He had the sole right to speak to the duke for all questions that required the duke's approval.
The Minister of State was responsible for a ministerial office and a commission to examine state employees.
The Council of State
The State Council was an advisory body consisting of the Duke, the Ducal Prince, the Minister of State and senior officials appointed by the Duke. His task was to check the state budget before it was handed over to the estates and other tasks at the request of the duke. The Duke did not use this instrument and the Council of State was of little importance.
The state government
The state government was subordinate to a district president (Ibell was appointed as such). She was the successor to all governments, consistories, directorates and deputations. In terms of content, it covered the majority of the administration and was divided into three departments:
- Church and school department with poor people
- Medical Department including penal institutions and
- a police department, which was also responsible for the supervision of the offices and municipalities.
Other central authorities
The Higher Appeal Court remained as the highest court. The court court in Dillenburg was subordinate to him .
The military administration remained entrusted to the War College.
The General Tax and General Domain Directorates were responsible for collecting taxes and duties.
The three governments were repealed. The offices were directly subordinate to the state government.
1848
While the central authorities formed the beginning of the reorganization in 1815, they were the last in the liberal reforms after the March Revolution of 1848. Only with the law on the organization of the Central Authorities of October 19, 1849 was the top management reorganized. A "simplification of state administration" was given as the goal. The conducting state minister lost his power. All central authorities were incorporated into the State Ministry, which in turn consisted of four ministries:
- Ministry of Justice
- Home Office
- War Department
- Ministry of Finance
The entire ministry worked as a collegiate body, the minister of justice presided over the entire government as prime minister.
A foreign ministry was not planned as it was assumed that this function would now be located at the level of the Reich.
Reaction era
In the reaction era, the new organization of the State Ministry was also reversed. The Duke used the resignation of Friedrich von Wintzingerode as Minister of State to release his successor August Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg from the management of a ministerial department in a provisional ordinance of February 7, 1852 in order to take him out of cabinet responsibility. A government bill of April 21, 1852 was supposed to bring this regulation into law. Both chambers did not agree on the assessment. While the second chamber called for a cautious approach to the pre-revolutionary form of organization, the first chamber considered coligial structures to be worth preserving. The law of July 24, 1854 ultimately led to an extensive restoration of the pre-revolutionary government organization.
However, an appeal instance was new. In the event of conflicts between the sections of the State Ministry or the sections with subordinate administrative authorities, these conflicts should be resolved in a joint meeting of the Ministerial Director, the War Department, the State Government, the Finance College and a Ministerial Council of the Ministry concerned.
Minister of State
| Minister of State | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Hans Christoph Ernst von Gagern | 1806 | 1811 |
| Ernst Franz Ludwig Marshal von Bieberstein | 1806 | 1834 |
| Carl Wilderich von Walderdorff | 1834 | 1842 |
| Friedrich Georg Karl Anton von Bock-Hermsdorff | 1842 | 1843 |
| Emil August von Dungern | 1843 | 1848 |
| August Hergenhahn | 1848 | 1849 |
| Friedrich Gerhard von Winzingerode | 1849 | 1852 |
| Prince August Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg | 1852 | 1866 |
| August Hergenhahn | 1866 | 1866 |
Individual evidence
literature
- Eckhardt Treichel: The Primacy of Bureaucracy - Bureaucratic State and Bureaucratic Elite in the Duchy of Nassau 1608–1866, 1991, ISBN 3515054464 , pp. 7–25, 51–62, 121–130, 181–185, 291–298, 306–311