I. Introduction 1 History of the authorities The existence of the General Civil Commissions is due to the Napoleonic Wars and the Stein-Hardenbergschen administrative reforms. After the military collapse of Prussia in 1806 and the Tilsiter peace of 7-9 July 1807, the question of civil and military reorganization of the state arose. Prussia had suffered great territorial losses in the peace of Tilsit, including those areas which it had only gained in the second and third Polish partition of 1793 and 1795. From these areas Emperor Napoleon formed the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The territory of Pomerania and the Neumark, on the other hand, was preserved and the network district was divided. The Immediate Commission for the Enforcement of the Tilsit Peace was established to implement the peace provisions. For Pomerania and the Neumark as well as for East and West Prussia, general civil commissionariats were established, which were subordinated to the Immediate Commission (Kabinettsordre of July 31, 1807). The General Civil Commission for Pomerania and the Neumark was headed by a proven financial specialist: It was August Heinrich von Borgstede (1757 - 1824) who was appointed to this post by King Frederick William III. After studying camera science and law at the University of Halle, Borgstede first worked in the Justice Department of the Kurmärkische Kriegs- und Domänenkammer before being appointed to the General Directorate, where he had been employed in various territorial departments since 1795. One of the decisive factors for his later appointment was probably the fact that he had been chairman of the department for the Kur- and Neumark and in the Pomeranian department since 1800. At the time of his appointment, Borgstede held the title of Privy Supreme Finance Council, War Council and Domain Council. The task of the General Civil Commission was to implement the conditions of the peace treaty in the provinces occupied by the French army. To this end, they had to maintain close contacts with the middle administrative level, which already included the newly established governments in addition to the war and domain chambers. In addition, interim chambers for the unoccupied regions of Kolberg and Treptow an der Rega have existed since 1807. They were dissolved after the withdrawal of French troops in September 1808. At the central level, the Civil Commissioners not only worked with their superior authority, but also with the corresponding territorial departments in the Directorate-General. They also had to cooperate with the French military and civil administration in their blasting operations. In addition, Lieutenant General Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher was appointed Governor General for Pomerania and the Neumark and moved into this capacity, first to Treptow an der Rega and later to Szczecin. The demarcation district, which is repeatedly mentioned in the document titles, are the areas in which Blücher's troops were accommodated. The border villages of the demarcation district are listed in the file GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 146 No. 141. Within this structure, the General Civil Commissioners' offices probably functioned primarily as'postmen', but also as a clearing house for financial issues and questions arising from the military occupation of their bloc. Accordingly, the documents of this authority reflect almost the entire range of tasks of the war and domain chambers: they were concerned not only with contribution and excise matters and with catering for the army, but also with customs, commercial and manufacturing matters, with the affairs of offices and cities, with salt and mill matters, with sovereign matters and with questions of good policey'. Time and again, the General Civil Commission offices also became the focal point for applications from subjects, with one group, namely the officials who had fled the ceded territories and were seeking reinstatement, standing out in particular. In general, personnel decisions as well as the supply of inactive soldiers and military personnel were the main tasks of the General Civil Commissionariats. Nothing is known about the internal organization of the General Civil Commission offices. Those who go through the archival records received get the impression that it was a small authority with a few officials, which perhaps did not need a strong internal structure. In the case of the General Commissariat for Pomerania and the Neumark, all business transactions obviously ran via Borgstede's desk. Together with the Immediate Commission for the Enforcement of the Tilsit Peace, the General Civil Commissionariats were abolished on 16.12.1808. As far as Borgstede was concerned as head of the General Civil Commission for Pomerania and the Neumark, he was put into retirement and retired to his estates. Towards the end of his life (1823), however, he was reactivated once again and appointed to the Prussian Council of State. 2. inventory history The files were originally listed by title in a file index from the 19th century. During a revision in the German Central Archives, Merseburg Department, serial numbers were assigned in 1962. U. transferred the titles to the archives database in 2010 (see also 3.) and reviewed the title formation of selected files in this context. 3) Instructions for use This reference book is not based on a re-listing of the holdings, but on the old reference book from the 19th century. The titles of the indexing units have been modernized and simplified in accordance with current archival standards. Source terms for old job titles and other special terms have been inserted in parentheses in normalized spelling. Place names were checked and reproduced in the current spelling. Place names that could not be identified were enclosed in quotation marks. 4th Literature Eberhard Lebender: August Heinrich von Borgstede. A Prussian official and his work in Pomerania, in: Gesellschaft für pommersche Geschichte und Altertumskunde (ed.): Baltische Studien N.F. 86 (2000), pp. 90 - 99. 5. Reference to other archives GStA PK: GStA PK, II. HA GD, Dept. 12 Pomerania GStA PK, II HA GD, Dept. 13 Neumark GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 72 Immediate Commission for the Enforcement of the Tilsiter Peace Other Archives: Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Rep. 3, Neumärkische Kriegs- und Domänenkammer Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Rep. 3 B Government Frankfurt (Oder) Archiwum Panstwowe w Szczecinie (State Archive Stettin), War and Domain Chamber Stettin State Archive Greifswald, Rep. 20 Interimistische Kriegs- und Domänenkammer Landesarchiv Greifswald, Rep. 65 a Government of Szczecin 6. notes, order signatures and citation Scope: 8 running metres (1310 UE) Duration: 1805 - 1818 The files are to be ordered: I. HA Rep. 146 No. (...) The files are to be quoted: GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 146 Generalzivilkommissariat für Pommern und die Neumark Berlin, 07.09.2010 Dr. Leibetseder (Archivrat) finding aids: database; collective finding book, 1 vol. (for I. HA Rep. 146 and 146 B)
