1. history of authorities: The nobility matriculation commission was established in 1818 by King Wilhelm I. within the Ministry of the Interior in order to guarantee the observance of the rights and duties of the Württemberg hereditary nobility (1). The commission's task was to create and continue the personnel and real registers as well as the electoral rolls for the First and, until 1906, the Second Chamber of the Württemberg State Parliament (2). On the one hand, the families had to prove their nobility status and rank, which usually took the form of a certified copy of the nobility diploma, and on the other hand changes in the family or ownership circumstances had to be reported. In return, some of the former aristocratic rights were preserved. Depending on their size, aristocratic estates were granted the rights of a class rule or a manor. In addition, they still had various landowner's rights, among other things. After an extensive renewal of the nobility registers in 1844 and 1845, the Commission was dissolved in December 1849 and its files handed over to the Interior Archive. In June 1857, however, it was reinstated under the leadership of Regierungsrat Golther (3).With the end of the constitution of the sovereign estate in Württemberg in connection with the revolution of 1848/49, the aristocratic owners of the manor, some of whom found themselves in financial difficulties after the redemption of the peasant taxes, sold a large amount of land, on the one hand to liberated farmers who remained in agriculture, and on the other hand to the state of Württemberg, which in the second half of the 19th century promoted the construction of fortified roads and above all the railway. In return, however, bourgeois people were now also allowed to acquire knights' estates, which for a time could certainly be regarded as prestige objects. After the end of the monarchy, the special rights of aristocratic estates and manors were finally abolished. In the course of this development the Adelsmatrikelkommission was dissolved in 1924. 2nd inventory history: The documents of the aristocratic matriculation commission were delivered by the Ministry of the Interior to the main state archives in Stuttgart in two deliveries in 1904 and 1924 (4). The first delivery was roughly indexed in 1913 in an archival register, whereby some documents of the knight cantons were taken from the time before 1806 (5). The original 481 file volumes and 170 volumes (land registers) received the inventory signature E 157, later divided into E 157/1 (files) and E 157/2 (land registers). The delivery of the commission of 1904, which contained in particular documents and registers covering several families, received in the meantime the signature E 157/3, but could not be clearly separated from the remaining stock, so that E 157/1 and E 157/3 were finally reunited. The typewritten archive directory from 1924, which was still used as a finding aid in the Main State Archives until the present repertory was processed, shows the systematic structure according to which the holdings were stored in the Ministry of the Interior. Accordingly, the documents concerning the Württemberg hereditary nobility as a whole were placed at the beginning. This was followed, in alphabetical order in each case, by series of special nudes on noble families, estates and manors. With the family files of the not wealthy hereditary nobility in each case the initial letter in the alphabet was combined to a federation. The exmatriculated knights' estates also received their own category: the respective file categories consist of quite uniform files, which, however, have a very different scope. The family files usually contain concepts of the personal record sheets as well as information about births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, occasionally also documented by newspaper clippings. Particularly noteworthy are the handmade representations of the coat of arms of the majority of the families, some of which were designed with a great deal of artistic effort and additional work, which presumably served as models for the aristocratic coat-of-arms book kept by the Cabinet Ministry (6). the files on estates and knights' estates usually contain reports of the upper offices and district governments on changes in ownership and other changes as well as completed questionnaires for the compilation of the real register or extracts from the land register for the exemten properties. With the manor files colored maps and / or detailed descriptions are often also available. 3rd processing report: In order to ensure a more targeted research in the stock, the archival indexing of the stock was started in spring 2004. This led to the division of the file bundles, some of which were listed only in summary form, into individual or factual files, which was carried out on the basis of quadranguulation. Also large file bundles starting from approx. 10 cm circumference were divided. The list of important changes in the noble families or estates and manors was made with the help of the notes containing them. Special features such as coat of arms drawings and ground plans / site plans were recorded in the notes. Since the hand-painted coat-of-arms drawings of numerous noble families seemed predestined for presentation on the Internet, their digitization took place in the period from October to December 2004 with the help of the archive inspector candidates Sandy Apelt, Katja Georg, Stefan Spiller and Christina Wolf as well as the intern Madeleine Schulze. The coats of arms are in this way directly observable in the online find book belonging to it, with the production of the classification the original arrangement of the existence served as basis. In order to obtain a more consistent step-by-step model, the files for the personal register (wealthy and non wealthy hereditary nobility) and the real register (class rulers, knights' estates, exmatriculated knights' estates) were combined in the virtual arrangement of the holdings in one superpoint each. Further documents concerning Württemberg aristocratic affairs and families in the 19th and 20th centuries can be found in the following holdings:E 40/33:Ministry of Foreign Affairs: AdelssachenE 60Königlicher LehenratE 105Verträge Württemberg mit seine Standesherrn und sonstigen AdligenE 146Ministerium des Innern III, Teil 1E 147Ministerium des Innern III, Teil 2E 151/2Ministerium des Innern, Abteilung II: Rechtssachen, Staatsangehörigkeit, PersonenstandE 156Ministerium des Innern: AdelssachenJ 30/2Sammlung Josef SeligJ 40/8Nachlass Hans JänichenJ 40/63Sammlung v. Seckendorff on the genealogy of noble familiesJ 250Collection of letters to the nobility and coats of armsJ 270Documents on the Württemberg book of nobility and coats of arms by O. v. AlbertiP 10Archive of the Freiherr Varnbüler von und zu Hemmingen (Depositum)P 14Family records of Grabiz and de Pers of Saneliseo and Grabiz (Depositum)P 21Family records Rolf Freiherr von Brand (Depositum)The holdings of Group Q 3 (Association and Family Archives) also contain a considerable proportion of records of Württemberg noble families.The land registers drawn up on behalf of the Commission, which are based on the real matriculation sheets submitted (fonds E 157/2), were made accessible at the same time as the present fonds (7). The delivery list for E 157 was therefore assigned to the inventory E 61x (8), the inventory was registered with the help of the programs MIDOSA 95 and Microsoft Access, the packing of the documents was done by Elisabeth Mainhardt and Rudolf Bezold. Some previous files (9) from the time before 1818 with a total volume of 0.2 linear metres were taken from the holdings for reasons of provenance and transferred to the State Archives Ludwigsburg (file no.: 7511.6/2769 and -3711). The collection now comprises 882 tufts of files (Bü. 1-180, 180a, 181-881) and 24.2 linear metres of shelving. In addition, the index was supplemented by concordances as well as a location, person and subject index, offers a considerably improved depth of indexing and is also available on the Internet as an online finding aid.Stuttgart, December 2004Johannes Renz Footnotes: (1) The documents for the establishment of the commission for the nobility register are in stock E 156 Ministry of the Interior: Nobility matters(2) On the constitutional circumstances of the former nobility of the German Reich see the preliminary remark on stock E 156(3) cf. E 156 Bü. 2(4) cf. File index E 157 (old) p. 28, now: E 61x vol. 146(5) Cf. file index E 157 (old) p. 73; holdings of the knight cantons: HStAS B 573- B 574, B 579 - B 582, StAL B 575, B 578, B 583 - B 586(6) Cf. E 156 Bü. 1(7) Cf. preface to fonds E 157/2(8) E 61x Bd. 146(9) Bisher: E 157/1 Bund 10-12 bzw. 475

History of the inventor: On 14 November 1897, the German Reich occupied the Chinese port of Tsingtau and, in a contract with the Chinese Empire dated 6 March 1898, leased an area of 550 km² with Tsingtau as its centre for 99 years - the Kiautschou protectorate. The province of Schantung, to which the leased area actually belonged, was declared a German area of interest and a neutral zone. In this area the empire received concessions for the construction and maintenance of railway lines and mines. However, as early as 30 October 1895, the German Reich had the right to establish branches in the international contracted ports of Tientsin and Hankou, which had existed since 1859/60. And of course the empire, like the other great powers and other states involved in China trade, also maintained a legation in Beijing. German missions were also active in the interior of China, as were German merchants, especially in Shanghai. The German Reich was therefore indeed heavily involved in China and saw itself as such. Against this background, the xenophobic riots in China in Germany that began at the end of 1899 and quickly became more serious were perceived as a threat. The regent, Empress Cixi, remained ambiguous at first in her measures against the "fist fighters united in righteousness", referred to by the colonial powers as "boxers" for short, units of the imperial Chinese army partly allied themselves with them. The uprising continued to increase from January 1900 onwards, with excessive acts of violence against Chinese Christians and foreigners. From May 1900 the foreign landscapes in Beijing were threatened by insurgents, the railway lines from Beijing to the coast were attacked. The Gesandschaften therefore requested military support. In May 1900, the German Reich sent a contingent of the III Sea Battalion stationed in Tsingtau to Beijing, two further companies were ordered to Tientsin, and the cruiser squadron moved to the roadstead before the Taku forts at the mouth of the river Peiho. Meanwhile, the situation in Beijing continued to deteriorate and further troops were needed. In June 1900, the troops of the colonial powers in China formed an expeditionary corps led by the British admiral Seymour (2066 men). However, this was stopped in mid-June by Chinese troops (boxers and regular army) and had to turn back. The foreigners and Chinese Christians in Beijing had meanwhile barricaded themselves in the Gesandschaftsviertel and were cut off from the outside world. The allied colonial powers (USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Japan) stormed the Taku-Forts on June 17, the Chinese government ultimatively called on all foreigners to leave China on June 19. On 20 June the German envoy, Baron Clemens von Ketteler, was murdered in Beijing. By edict of 21 June, China effectively declared war on the Allies, but this was not reciprocated by them. The Allied troops withdrew to Tientsin at the end of June 1900. In Germany, on 25 June, a naval expedition corps of 2528 men (under Major General von Höpfner) was formed from the members of the naval infantry. In addition, on 3 July the order was given to set up an expedition corps of volunteers from the army (under Lieutenant General von Lessel). The Allies had agreed to form an international expeditionary corps, with Germany as commander-in-chief. On 12 August 1900, the former chief of the Great General Staff, Field Marshal Alfred Graf von Waldersee, was appointed commander-in-chief of the international armed force, which finally comprised 64,000 troops. Waldersee used the "Army Command East Asia" as a staff. The East Asian Expeditionary Corps set sail with its first parts on 27 July in Bremerhaven, when Emperor Wilhelm II gave the famous "Hun speech" at their farewell. With the 19,093 men of its East Asian Expeditionary Corps under Lieutenant General von Lessel, the German Reich provided almost a third of the international armed forces. Structure of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps: 3 infantry brigades to 2 infantry regiments with 9 companies each 1 fighter company 1 cavalry regiment to 4 escadrons 1 field artillery regiment to 3 divisions with a total of 8 batteries 2 light ammunition columns 1 battalion heavy field howitzers with 2 batteries 1 pioneer regiment with 9 companies each 1 hunter company 1 cavalry regiment to 4 escadrons 1 field artillery regiment to 3 divisions with a total of 8 batteries 2 light ammunition columns 1 battalion heavy field howitzers with 2 batteries 1 pioneerBattalion of 3 Companies 1 Railway Battalion of 3 Companies 1 Corps Telegraph Department 1 Medical Company 1 Munitions Column Department with 7 Munitions Columns 1 Train Command with 3 Supply Columns, 1 field bakery company, 6 field hospitals 1 stage command with 1 horse depot, 1 military hospital depot, 1 stage ammunition column, personnel for 3 war hospitals and one hospital ship, several supply stations Already on the 4th day of operations, the first day of operations was at the hospital. On August 1, the Allied troops (about 20,000 men) gathered in Tientsin had once again set out and this time were able to fight their way through to Beijing. On August 14, Beijing was taken and then plundered for three days. The Chinese government fled to the south. When the international troops under Waldersee arrived in China, the situation was essentially settled, Beijing and Tientsin were horrified. Numerous "punitive expeditions" for the final destruction of the Boxers followed, in which the East Asian Expeditionary Corps was also intensively involved. The Allied approach was characterized by excessive brutality and numerous riots against the civilian population. On January 10, 1901, the Regent accepted the conditions of the Allies as laid down in the "Boxer Protocol" signed on September 7, 1901. The East Asian Expeditionary Corps was disbanded on 17 May 1901 and transformed into the East Asian Occupation Brigade stationed at Beijing, Tientsin, Langfang, Yangtsun, Tangku and Shanghaikwan. Structure of the East Asian Occupation Brigade: 1 command staff with administrative authorities 2 infantry regiments with 6 companies each, of which 1 company mounted 1 escadron hunter on horseback 1 field battery 1 pioneer company with telegraph detachment 1 field hospital The East Asian Occupation Brigade was further reduced in size and restructured on 1 May and 11 December 1902. On 6 March 1906, the East Asian Occupation Brigade was also dissolved and replaced by a battalion-strength detachment. This was replaced on 5 April 1909 by a naval infantry unit, which was wound up in 1910. The East Asian Department in the Prussian Ministry of War (inventory PH 2) was organizationally responsible. Processing note: The holdings initially comprised only three AE, which together with the few files of the Schutztruppen formed the holdings of RW 51 Kaiserliche Schutztruppen and other armed forces overseas. In 2008, nine further AE of different origins were added and a separate portfolio RW 61 was now formed. The inventory was developed in February 2010. Description of the holdings: The holdings contain the documents of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps and the East Asian Occupation Brigade, as far as they are available in the military archives. Characterization of content: The inventory contains hardly any real material files. It consists mainly of several German-Chinese place name glossaries. Worth mentioning is a publication about the locations Langfang, Yangtsun, Tangku and Schanghaikwan with numerous illustrations. State of development: The inventory initially comprised only three AE, which together with the few files of the Schutztruppen formed the inventory RW 51 Kaiserliche Schutztruppen and other armed forces overseas. In 2008, nine further AE of different origins were added and a separate portfolio RW 61 was now formed. The inventory was developed in February 2010. Pre-archival order: The documents of the East Asian Expeditionary Corps and the East Asian Occupation Brigade must essentially be regarded as lost in the fire of the Army Archives in 1945. Only pieces that have survived by chance have been preserved. These were supplemented by documents from the environment of the two associations, the branches in Tientsin, Hankou and Beijing. Citation style: BArch, RW 61/...

Contains: Letter from the Marineintendantursekretärs in Wilhelmshaven Ernst Voigt and the Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz concerning Voigt's application for a post in the governorate of Kiautschou; letter from the Mayor of the municipality of Friedrichroda concerning railway taxation.