1 History of the authorities 1.1 Military Provinces 1813-1815 On 15 March 1813, for strategic military reasons, the entire Prussian territory between the Elbe and the Russian border was divided into four military provinces in order to wage war against France. At the same time, the Upper Government Commission founded in Berlin on 20 January 1813 (cf.: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 102 Oberregierungskommission zu Berlin) and the General Commission for Accommodation, Meals and Marschesen formed on 24 April 1812 (cf.: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 85 General Commission for Accommodation, Meals and Marschesen) were dissolved. Initially, four military provinces were formed for the following areas: 1) for the country between the Elbe and Oder rivers in Berlin, 2) for the country between the Oder and Vistula rivers in Stargard, 3) for the country between the Vistula and the Russian border in Königsberg and 4) for Silesia in Breslau. After the further advance of the Prussian and Allied troops, the formation of the military government for the Prussian provinces took place on the left bank of the Elbe. This was soon divided into the two military provinces for the state between the Elbe and Weser in Halberstadt and for the state between Weser and Rhine in Münster. The military governorates were classified according to purely military or geographical criteria, irrespective of the historical administrative divisions that existed to date. The individual military governorates were directly subordinate to the king or the state chancellor. The ministries lost their competence for all matters concerning warfare for the duration of the military governorates. All authorities in the district were subordinate to military or civil governors in military matters. Only in operational matters of the army was the commanding generals in command. For each military government, one military governor and one civil governor were appointed as equal leaders. In the event of disagreement, the King alone had the power of decision. In the event of imminent danger, however, the military governor had the decisive vote. Part of the tasks of the military government, especially with regard to the provision of food for Russian troops, was transferred to the Major General Friedrich Karl Heinrich Graf von Wylich and Lottum as General Director for the provision of food for Russian troops in Germany on 11 March 1813 (cf.: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 128 Registratur[by Friedrich Karl Heinrich Graf von Wylich and] Lottum über Armeeverpflegungsangelegenheiten in den Kriegen 1813 - 1815). After the First Peace of Paris, the four Eastern Elbe military provinces were dissolved by the cabinet of 3 June 1814. The two Westelbian military provinces remained in place for the time being. 1.2 Military and civil government for the provinces between the Elbe and Weser The "Military government for the Prussian provinces on the left bank of the Elbe" was formed by the Kabinettsordre of 9 April 1813 and Wilhelm Anton von Klewiz was appointed civil governor. Major General Philipp of Ivernois was appointed military governor, but he died on June 1, 1813. The new military governor was Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig von Krusemark. Since most of the West Elbian areas were still occupied by French troops, it took some time before the military government was able to take up its activities in full. The seat of the military government was initially still in Berlin and was moved provisionally to Halle/Saale only in October 1813. As a result of the advance of the Prussian and Allied troops, the area to be administered by the military government had assumed too great an extension. For this reason, the Cabinet of 19 November 1813 divided it into two independent military provinces for the provinces between the Elbe and Weser and between the Weser and Rhine. The former civilian governor of Klewiz, who held this office until the dissolution of the civilian government, was appointed civil governor of the military government for the provinces between the Elbe and Weser rivers. The new military governor was Major General Ludwig Wilhelm August von Ebra (1759-1818). The military government now comprised the following former Prussian territories: the Altmark, the Duchy of Magdeburg, the Principality of Halberstadt, the County of Mansfeld, the County of Hohenstein, the Principality of Eichsfeld and the Principality of Erfurt. The seat of the government administration was moved to Halberstadt in December 1813. Although a division of responsibilities between the military governor and the civilian governor would have been legally permissible, all business of the military government was handled jointly and amicably by both governors. In the event of absence, there was mutual representation. The office and the registry were managed jointly. Even after the peace agreement of May 30, 1815, the military government remained in place and was not dissolved until July 12, 1815. The military tasks were transferred to the General Command for the provinces between the Elbe and Weser rivers. The remaining business was provisionally continued by the former civil governor of Klewiz until the appointment of the chief president and the district presidents on 1 April 1816. The main task of the military government was to reorganize the administration and ensure the efficiency of the Prussian army in the provincial district. These included above all the formation of troops, feeding the Prussian and Allied troops and supplying the military hospitals. For this purpose, the military government had to raise the necessary funds through tax collections and carry out requisitions. The higher and security police were also directly exercised by the military government. However, the mining and metallurgy sector was directly subordinated to the Minister of Finance and the postal sector to the General Postmaster. In order to carry out individual tasks of the military government, several subordinate offices and authorities were formed, which were also based at the civil governor's place of work in Halberstadt. This included the Finance Commission, which exercised control over the management of direct and indirect taxes, domains and forests. This commission was dissolved on 24 February 1814. Its tasks were largely transferred to the Provincial Commission, which was also based in Halberstadt. This commission consisted of six councils and served to advise the civil governor, on whose decisions it was also dependent. It was therefore not an independent intermediate instance between the civil governor and the subordinate authorities. On behalf of the Military Government, the Higher Regional Court Council Dalkowski conducted investigations against a number of persons suspected of espionage and spying for the French or Westphalian High Police or army. The basis for these investigations was the Royal Order of 17 March 1813 for punishment of crimes against the security of the armies (cf.: Collection of Laws for the Royal Prussian States, 1813, p.34f.) and the Decree of 15 January 1814 for investigation and punishment of the illicit traffic with the enemy (cf.: Collection of Laws for the Royal Prussian States, 1814, p. 5-7.). However, under Article 16 of the First Paris Peace of 30 May 1814, these investigations had to be stopped. In November 1813, the Provincial War Commission was formed to carry out the requisitions and supply the Prussian and Allied troops. This office, headed by the provincial war commissioner Rhades and, from February 1814, his successor Lehmann, existed until 1816 and a surgical staff was formed for the organization of the provincial hospital system. This staff existed until November 1815 and was responsible, among other things, for the purchase of medicines and hospital utensils, the recruitment and remuneration of medical personnel and the supervision of the individual provincial hospitals. At the end of 1813, the territory of the military government was divided into three departments, each headed by a national director. These national directorates were intermediate instances between the civil governor and the district administrators or the subordinate authorities. The three departments can be regarded as predecessors of the administrative districts that were later formed. The first department roughly corresponded to the former Westphalian Elbe department and consisted of the districts Salzwedel, Stendal and Neuhaldensleben. Due to the occupation by French troops, the city of Magdeburg was no longer under direct administration until May 1814. The second department, which roughly corresponded to the Westphalian Saale Department, consisted of the Saalekreis and the districts of Wansleben, Calbe/Saale, Mansfeld, Eisleben, Halberstadt and Osterwieck. The 3rd department consisted of the Prussian parts of the former Westphalian Harz Department and was divided into the districts of Heiligenstadt, Duderstadt and Hohenstein. In addition, there was the area of Erfurt and Blankenhain, which formed its own circle and was administered by its own vice director (as permanent representative of the country director). The national directorates in the 1st and 2nd departments were dissolved in February 1814 and the competencies were transferred to the civil governor or the responsible councillors. However, due to the long distance until the dissolution of the civil government on 31 March 1816, the Regional Directorate of the 3rd Department remained in place. When the administrative districts of the province of Saxony were later formed, the previous territorial structure of the three departments was largely retained. The administrative district Magdeburg corresponded approximately to the 1st department, the administrative district Merseburg to the 2nd department and the administrative district Erfurt to the 3rd department. 1.3 Senior Officials Military Governors: April 1813 - June 1813: Major General Philipp von Ivernois (1754-1813) (Cf.: Priesdorff, Kurt von: Soldatisches Führertum, Hamburg 1937-1942, Vol. 3 (Part 5), p. 275f.) Oct. 1813 - Nov. 1813: Major General Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig von Krusemark (1767-1822) (Cf.: Priesdorff, Kurt von: Military Leadership, Hamburg 1937-1942, Vol. 3 (Part 5), pp. 329-331) Nov. 1813 - July 1815: Major General Ludwig Wilhelm August von Ebra (1759-1818) (Cf.: Priesdorff, Kurt von: Military Leadership, Hamburg 1937-1942, Vol. 3 (Part 5), pp. 368-370). Civil Governor: April 1813 - March 1816: Wilhelm Anton von Klewiz (1760-1838) (Cf.: Straubel, Rolf: Biographisches Handbuch der Preußischen Verwaltungs- und Justizbeamten 1740 - 1806/15, Vol. 1, Munich 2009, p. 497f.). Regional Director in the 1st Department of Stendal and Magdeburg: End 1813 - Febr. 1814: Friedrich von Koepcken (1770-nach 1825) (Cf.: Straubel, Rolf: Biographisches Handbuch der Preußischen Verwaltungs- und Justizbeamten 1740 - 1806/15, Vol. 1, Munich 2009, p. 515). State director in the 2nd department of Halberstadt: End of 1813 - February 1814: Friedrich Freiherr von Schele (1782-1815) (Cf.: Straubel, Rolf: Biographisches Handbuch der Preußischen Verwaltungs- und Justizbeamten 1740 - 1806/15, Vol. 2, Munich 2009, p. 857f.). Country director in the 3rd department of Erfurt: End of 1813 - March 1816: Joseph Bernhard August Gebel (1772-1860). Vice-Country Director for the area of Erfurt and Blankenhain: End of 1813 - 1816(?): August Heinrich Kuhlmeyer (1781-1865) (Cf.: Straubel, Rolf: Biographisches Handbuch der Prußischen Verwaltungs- und Justizbeamten 1740 - 1806/15, Vol. 1, Munich 2009, p. 541). 2. inventory history After the dissolution of the military government, some of the files were taken over by the head presidential registry and were transferred via the Magdeburg government archive to the Magdeburg state main archive. The files, which concerned the areas of the later administrative districts of Merseburg and Erfurt, were first transferred to the responsible government archives in Merseburg and Erfurt and were later added to the holdings of the Magdeburg State Main Archives. By order of the Director General of the Prussian State Archives of May 1, 1883, the files of the military government (with the exception of the military government for the land between the Elbe and Oder or Oder and Vistula) were either transferred from the Secret State Archives to the provincial archives concerned or left in their original state. In the state capital archive of Magdeburg the archival material of the military government was divided into the following holdings (cf.: Gringmuth-Dallmer, Hanns: Gesamtübersicht über diebestände des Landeshauptarchivs Magdeburg, Vol. 3,1, Halle/Saale 1961): - Rep. C 1 Preußisches Militärgouvernement für die Provinzen zwischen Elbe und Weser zu Halberstadt - Rep. C 1 a Prussian military government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt - Rep. C 1 b Prussian military government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt concerning administrative district Erfurt - Rep. C 1 c Prussian military government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt - Civil administration - Rep. C 2 Prussian Civil Government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt - Rep. C 2 a Prussian Civil Government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt concerning the later administrative district Magdeburg - Rep. C 2 b Prussian Civil Government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser to Halberstadt concerning the later administrative district Erfurt - Rep. C 2 c Prussian Civil Government for the provinces between Elbe and Weser at Halberstadt concerning the later administrative district Merseburg (Saalkreis and Mansfeld) - Rep. C 3 Commission of the Higher Regional Court Council Dalkowski for the investigation of political offences - Rep. C 7 Finance Commission at Halberstadt - Rep. C 8 Government War Commission (War Commissioner Lehmann) - Rep. C 11 Surgical Staff. On 26 and 27 April 1972 the above holdings were transferred by the Landeshauptarchiv Magdeburg to the Deutsches Zentralarchiv, Dienststelle Merseburg (see: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 178 E Geheimes Staatsarchiv PK, Dienststelle Merseburg, Nr. 331 Aktenzugänge, Bd. 1). However, not all stocks from the transitional period were transferred. Thus, for example, the holdings of the three state directorates remained in the Magdeburg State Main Archives. On 21 October 1986, 0.1 running metres of files were subsequently taken over and assigned to the holdings (cf.: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 178 E Geheimes Staatsarchiv PK, Dienststelle Merseburg, Nr. 1037 Bestandsakte I. HA Rep. 91 C). The holdings taken over from the Magdeburg State Archives were combined into one holdings and initially recorded in a find file by employees of the German Central Archives, Merseburg Office. In the process, the contemporary titles were obviously adopted without any discernible new titles being formed. In addition, the portfolio was rearranged according to thematic criteria. It has not yet been possible to determine the date of the order, the original distortion and a later revision of the file titles. This revision, which was still carried out on the index cards, led to a partial correction and standardisation of the file titles, which however remained incomplete and inconsistent. Following the retroconversion of the find file by typists of the Secret State Archives PK, the holdings were edited in 2008 and 2009 by archive employee Guido Behnke. The classification has been revised. In addition, the existing file titles were checked and, if necessary, standardized or corrected. In some cases, individual files had to be redrawn. The existing place names were adapted as far as possible to the current spelling. 3. note on use The holdings were arranged according to subject matter. However, the files of classification group 02.01.03 are sorted by the names of the individual towns. These are files relating to the accounting, the debts, the public buildings, the leasing of land and the local taxes of the respective municipalities. Also the files of the classification group 03.03.01.03, which concern the church, parish and school affairs, are arranged according to place names. The files relating to staff matters (e.g. employment, remuneration, dismissal, misconduct) of officials should be sought in the various thematic classification groups. For example, the files on civil servants employed directly by the Military Government are in classification group 01.02, municipal civil servants in classification group 02.01.04 and judicial officers in classification group 02.03.01.09. 4. References to other holdings and bibliographical references 4.1 Holdings in the Secret State Archives PK A larger number of files relating to the Military Government between Weser and Elbe are in the holdings: - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 87 Ministry of Agriculture, Domains and Forestry - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 151 Ministry of Finance. In some cases, files are still available in the following holdings: - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 89 Secret Civil Cabinet, recent period - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 93 B Ministry of Public Works - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 103 General Postmaster or General Post Office - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 121 Ministry of Trade and Commerce, Mining, Iron and Steel Works Administration - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 128 Registratur[des Friedrich Karl Heinrich Graf von Wylich und] Lottum über Armeeverpflegungsangelegenheiten in den Kriegen 1813 - 1815 - GStA PK, I. HA, Ministry der Auswärtigen Angelegenheiten - GStA PK, III. HA, MdA - Ministry of Foreign Affairs - GStA PK, V. HA Kingdom of Westphalia. The archival records of two other military provinces can be found in the following holdings: - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 91 A Military Government between Elbe and Oder - GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 91 B Military Government between Oder and Vistula. 4.2 Holdings in other archives The following holdings from the transitional period 1806-1816 are available in the main archive of Saxony-Anhalt, Department Magdeburg (see: Gringmuth-Dallmer, Hanns: Gesamtübersicht über diebestände des Landeshauptarchivs Magdeburg, Vol. 3,1, Halle/Saale 1961): - Rep. C 4 Landesdirektion des I. und II. Departments (former Elbe and Saale Department) - Rep. C 5 Regional Directorate of the IIIrd Department (former Harz Department) of Heiligenstadt - Rep. C 6 Vice-Department of the IIIrd Department of Erfurt together with the chamber of Blankenhain - Rep. C 9 Commission of the Francke Provincial Council - Rep. C 10 War Commissariats - Rep. C 12 Lazarette - Rep. C 13 Magdeburg Tax Directorate - Rep. C 19 Commissions of the Military Government for the provinces between EIbe and Weser. The following holdings are located in the Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, Abteilung Westfalen, Münster (cf.: Die Bestands des Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen - Staatsarchiv Münster, Münster 2004, p. 272): - B 99 Civil Government between Weser and Rhine. The holdings of the military government for the land between the Vistula and the Russian border (most recently in the Potsdam Army Archive) and the military government for Silesia (most recently in the Wroclaw State Archive) were probably destroyed during the Second World War. 4.3 Literature (selection): - Gouvernementblatt für die königlich-preußischen Provinzen zwischen der Elbe und Weser, Halberstadt 1814-1816 - Intelligenz-Blatt für den Bezirk des Königlichen Appellationsgericht zu Halberstadt, Halberstadt 1814-1849 - History of the organisation of the Landwehr in the Militair-Gouvernement between Elbe and Weser, in the Militair-Gouvernement between Weser and Rhine in 1813 and 1814, Supplement to the Militair-Wochenblatt, Berlin 1857 - Gringmuth-Dallmer, Hanns: General overview of the holdings of the Landeshauptarchiv Magdeburg, vol. 3.1, Halle/Saale 1961 (Sources on the History of Saxony-Anhalt 6) - Tumbler, Manfred: Lazarethe in the Prussian provinces between Elbe and Weser by number of patients, cost of money and mortality 1813-1815, in: Deutsches medizinisches Journal, vol. 15, Berlin 1964. 5. 5. notes, order signature and method of citation Scope of holdings: 5427 SU (128 running metres) Duration: 1721 - 1820 Last issued signature: 5398 The files are to be ordered: I. HA, Rep. 91 C, No () The files are to be quoted: GStA PK, I. HA, Rep. 91 C Militär- und Zivilgouvernement für das Land zwischen Weser und Elbe zu Halle bzw. Halberstadt, Nr. () Berlin, December 2010 (Guido Behnke) finding aids: database; finding guide, 4 vol.
