The chamber's reporting is the result of French legal tradition. Annual reports of the Cologne Chamber of Commerce have been published since 1823. For the first time reporting was made legally binding by the statute of the Chamber of Commerce of Elberfeld and Barmen in 1830. The Prussian decree of 11 February 1848 on the establishment of chambers of commerce made the reporting of the chambers obligatory. Section 24 reads as follows: 'Each year in January, the Chambers of Commerce shall submit a main report to the Minister of Finance on the situation and progress of trade and industry, and shall at the same time submit a copy to the President of the Office of Commerce and the Government. They are obliged to inform the traders and tradesmen of their district of their effectiveness and of the situation and course of trade and trade through the public papers by means of continuous notifications of extracts from the consultation minutes and at the end of each year in a special overview". Further laws of 24 February 1870 and 19 August 1897 expressly emphasised this obligation to submit a report. Since 1897 the reports had to be reproduced in print. Until 1914 the reports were steadily expanded and systematized. This corresponded to the interest of the chambers and the Minister for Trade and Industry, who had the reports published in a supplement of the Prussian Trade Archives until 1872. The Prussian Statistical Bureau, which evaluated the annual reports and based them on comparative overviews of trade and traffic from 1861 onwards, pushed for standardization. The law of 1870, which obliged the chambers to reconcile their interests, did not prevent them from using their annual report as a mouthpiece for their views on economic policy. Free trade and customs were discussed in the annual reports. Although a standardization of the annual reports could not be achieved, the separation of the sections "Views, expert opinions and wishes" (Part A) and "Actual" (Part B) recommended by the Director of the Statistical Bureau, Engel, prevailed. As a rule, Part B contains statistical material which, from today's perspective, provides important data on regional economic and social history. After the First World War, only in exceptional cases did the summary descriptions of the wartime period provided for in the decree of the Prussian Minister of Commerce of 27 October 1914 appear. It was not until 1919 that annual reports were required again. After 1920, many chambers began to produce monthly reports together with neighbouring chambers due to overloading of their scientific officials. The procedure was expressly approved by the Ministry of Commerce, which had been compiling the reports in its magazine "Handel und Gewerbe" since January 1921. Some chambers continued to print annual reports, others presented them in duplicate to the plenary meetings. The monthly reporting of the chambers lasted until 1936. From 1934 to 1939, the Chambers of Commerce produced internal reports every two or three months, some of which were incorporated into their periodicals. With the expansion of official statistics at the Reich, Land and local levels, the Chambers' annual reports lost weight and their character as a decision-making aid for state and municipal administrations. In addition, they were often already outdated when they appeared. Since about 1900 the chambers have countered this development by publishing periodicals, so-called newsletters. After the Second World War, the Law Provisionally Regulating the Law of Chambers of Commerce and Industry did not include a provision on annual reporting, but in practice all chambers publish annual reports and monthly newsletters from 1950 at the latest. The information contained therein is indispensable as a source of regional history. The following overview covers exclusively annual reports from the German-speaking area as well as from Austria-Hungary (before 1918) and the German colonial areas (before 1918). The name of the chamber is preceded by the respective signature in inventory S 6. The annual reports of the DIHT from 1951/52 onwards can be found under the signature S 7 No. 562. Reports of chambers of crafts can also be found in the stock S 7. Reports for the years 1860 to 1872 can also be found in the periodical "Jahresberichte der Handelskammern und kaufmännischen Korporationen des Preußischen Staates" (WWA Library P 11). 76 linear metres I Chambers of Industry and Commerce in today's North Rhine-Westphalia 959 Aachen 1854-1859, 1864, 1868-1870, 1874-1914, 1924-1932, 1949-1996 (1914-1918 "The Aachen Chamber of Commerce and the War") 945 Altena 1853-1854, 1856-1857, 1857-1858, 1859-1861, 1862/1863, 1875-1913 946 Arnsberg 1854-1859, 1873-1908, 1910 ,1911, 1913, 1924-1930, 1937, 1938, 1948, 1950-1956, 1965-1973 960 Barmen (seea. Elberfeld and Barmen, Wuppertal) 1875, 1876, 1881-1913 947 Bielefeld 1849, 1850, 1854-1859, 1864, 1868-1878, 1880-1913, 1926, 1946-1948 948 Bochum 1857-1864, 1871-1903, 1905-1911, 1913, 1925, 1927/28, 1946-1996 961 Bonn 1892-1913, 1949-1980, 1983-1996 892 Detmold 1878/79-1885/86, 1886-1890, 1892-1894, 1896-1913, 1960-1965, 1967-1971 (1955-1982 "Reports from the activities of the Detmold Chamber of Industry and Commerce") 949 Dortmund 1865-1867, 1869-1913, 1924-1932, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1948-1996 962 Düsseldorf 1854-1859, 1871-1892, 1894-1904, 1923-1937, 1947-1949, 1951-1996 963 Duisburg 1855-1859, 1867, 1868, 1870-1872, 1874-1913, 1920-1938, 1945/47-1996 964 Elberfeld and Barmen (seea. Barmen, Wuppertal) 1854-1859, 1870, 1873, 1876, 1881-1913 891 Essen 1853-1866, 1878, 1881-1913, 1922-1925, 1935, 1946-1996 950 Hagen 1849, 1853-1858, 1861-1913, 1949-1970, 1972, (structural report 1946) 951 Iserlohn 1851, 1852, 1854-1859, 1862-1906, 1908-1911, 1913, 1918-1921, 1924-1925, 1927-1928 1023 Cologne 1851-1860, 1862-1914, 1918, 1922- 1932, 1947-1996 966 Krefeld 1848-1913, 1924, 1925, 1935, 1936, 1947-1994 1025 Lennep (seea. Remscheid) 1845, 1847/50, 1853-1855, 1857, 1858, 1884-1913 952 Lüdenscheid 1851-1914, 1925, 1927, 1928 953 Minden 1850, 1854-1859, 1867, 1869-1871, 1873-1903, 1904/05-1913/14 1033 Mönchengladbach 1854-1859, 1871-1877, 1879, 1881-1884, 1904-1906, 1948, 1949, 1951-1971/72 967 Mülheim am Rhein 1872-1913 968 Mülheim a. d. Ruhr 1855-1859, 1868-1882, 1884-1898, 1899/1900-1901/02, 1903/04-1910 954 Münster 1855-1859, 1869-1913, 1934, 1945/47-1996 1036 Neuss 1862-1895, 1909-1913, 1924-1926, 1950-1975 1046 Remscheid (see also Lennep) 1952-1976 862 Ruhrort 1898-1904/05 1054 Siegen 1852, 1854, 1856-1859, 1881-1896, 1933-1936, 1954-1996 1055 Solingen 1854-1859, 1913, 1935, 1936, 1948-1975 1069 Wesel 1854-1859, 1871-1873, 1875, 1876, 1878-1906, 1908, 1910, 1912, 1913 1073 Wuppertal (see also Barmen, Elberfeld and Barmen) 1933-1936, 1948-1993 II Chambers of Industry and Commerce in the German Reich (in the borders until 1918) 933 Altenburg 1901-1913 929 Altona 1867-1871, 1881-1914, 1922-1935 902 Aschaffenburg 1949ff. 900 Baden-Baden 1950-1964 899 Bayreuth 1863-1896 910 Berlin, Corporation of the merchants 1852-1913 911 Berlin 1902-1913, 1924-1937, 1950ff. 938 Bingen am Rhein 1878-1913 912 Brandenburg a.d. Havel 1899-1913 907 Braunsberg/Ostpreuáen 1866-1872, 1885-1911 984 Braunschweig 1884-1895, 1931-1938, 1948ff. 988 Bremen 1865-1938, 1945ff. 985-1911 984 Braunschweig 1884-1895, 1931-1938, 1948ff. 988 Bremen 1865-1938, 1945ff. 989 Bremen, Chamber of Commerce 1878-1908, 1926-1928 990 Bremen Chamber of Retail Trade 1907-1913 940 Bremerhaven 1867-1880, 1891-1913, 1975ff. 916 Breslau 1850-1913 917 Breslau (joint report for the Lower Silesian Chambers of Commerce) 1921-1936 957 Bromberg 1876-1913 P 11 Buxtehude 1867-1868 o.No. Calw (1867-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart) P 11 Celle 1867 969 Chemnitz 1863-1910 893 Coburg 1954ff. 993 Colmar 1872-1873, 1880-1913 913 Cottbus 1854-1872, 1885-1913 906 Danzig 1854-1913, 1923-1936 980 Darmstadt 1862-1895, 1910-1913, 1924-1932, 1948ff. 935 Dessau 1890-1905 955 Dillenburg 1865-1871, 1877-1913, 1919-1920 970 Dresden 1863-1911 942 Dresden, Chamber of Commerce 1911-1916 1097 Dresden, Member of the Board of the Dresden Merchants 1866-1920 908 Elbing 1854-1908, 1912-1914 939 Emden 1866-1913, 1949ff. 922 Erfurt 1854-1871, 1884-1905 890 Eßlingen 1958-1970 965 Eupen 1860-1872 (P 11), 1888-1900 889 Flensburg 1963ff. 956 Frankfurt/Main 1854-1891, 1895-1896, 1904-1919, 1924-1926, 1948-1963 914 Frankfurt/Oder 1864-1912 974 Freiburg/Br. 1880-1909, 1951ff. 981 Friedberg 1899-1912, 1926-1930 o.Nr. Geestemünde (see Bremerhaven) 986 Gera 1851-1904 934 Giessen 1880-1901 P 11 Gleiwitz 1860-1872 918 Görlitz 1854-1900, (1921-1936 s. Breslau) 896 Göttingen 1867-1913 P 11 Goslar 1867-1868 931 Gotha 1898-1913 P 11 Greifswald 1865-1867 985 Greiz 1879-1921 P 11 Grünberg/Schlesien 1871 867 Halberstadt 1874-1888, (1924-199 P 11 Gliwice 1860-1872 918 Görlitz 1854-1900, (1921-1936 s. Breslau) 896 Göttingen 1867-1913 P 11 Goslar 1867-1868 931 Gotha 1898-1913 P 11 Greifswald 1865-1867 985 Greiz 1879-1921 P 11 Grünberg/Schlesien 1871 867 Halberstadt 1874-1888, (1924-19) Magdeburg) 924 Halle/Saale 1854-1894, 1903-1913, 1919-1937 991 Hamburg 1881-1913, 1918-1936, 1949ff. 992 Hamburg, Gewerbekammer 1875-1907 P 11 Hameln 1867-1870 958 Hanau 1871-1913, 1963-1969 876 Hannover 1867-1892, 1922-1938, 1946ff. 869 Harburg 1867-1913 975 Heidelberg 1880-1892, 1898-1904, 1912-1913, 1923-1925, 1930-1932 870 Heidenheim (1867-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart), 1962-1967 871 Heilbronn (1857-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart), 1961-1969 982 Hildburghausen 1888-1910, 1919-1920 868 Hildesheim 1867-1872 (P 11), 1949-1972 936 Hirschberg 1854-1872 (P 11), 1888-1908, (1921-1936 s. Breslau) 903 Insterburg 1856-1870, 1874-1912 864 Karlsruhe 1880-1892, 1956-1956 s. Breslau) 903 Insterburg 1856-1870, 1874-1912 864 Karlsruhe 1880-1892, 1956-1969 982 Hildburghausen 1888-1910, 191920 868 Hildesheim 1867-1872 (P 11), 1949-1972 936 Insterburg 1856-1870, 1874-1912 Karlsruhe 19580-1892, 1956 s. 863 Kassel 1871-1889, 1925-1933,1951ff. 930 Kiel 1871-1872 (P 11), 1877-1913, 1921-1930, 1950ff. 866 Koblenz 1854-1903, 1911-1913, 1925-1937, 1951-1976 904 Königsberg 1854-1913, 1924-1931 976 Konstanz 1896-1913, 1926-1930, 1960-1972 977 Lahr 1880-1929, 1956-1971 919 Landeshut/Schlesien 1854-1899, 1906-1913, (1921-1923 s. Wroclaw) 920 Lauban 1865-1913 P 11 Leer 1869-1870 971 Leipzig 1863-1913, 1925-1938 972 Leipzig, Chamber of Commerce 1873-1919 1026 Liegnitz 1854-1855, 1871-1872 (P 11), 1882-1909, (1921-1936 s. Breslau) 1027 Limburg 1868-1913, 1971-1973 P 11 Lingen 1867-1868 1030 Ludwigsburg 1963-1964 932 Ludwigshafen 1886-1887, 1890-1892, 1904-1911, 1949ff. 987 Lübeck 1865-1913, 1920-1921, 1934-1937, 1948-1952, 1957, 1958, 1964ff. 943 Lüneburg 1867-1913, 1949ff. 926 Magdeburg 1854-1913, 1924-1930 1031 Mainz 1853-1892, 1902-1908, 1959-1968 978 Mannheim 1864-1867, 1872-1913, 1923-1932, 1950-1971 905 Memel 1854-1913 994 Metz 1872-1880, 1883-1900, 1905-1913 927 Mühlhausen/Thüringen 1855-1872 (P 11), 1883-1913, 1921 1923, (1932-1933 s. Kassel) 873 Mulhouse/Alsace 1877-1905, 1911-1913 1035 Munich 1869-1892, 1980ff. 1036 Neuss/Rhein 1861-1894, 1909-1913, 1924-1926, 1950-1975 P 11 north 1867-1870 928 Nordhausen 1860-1872 (P 11), 1881-1899 1038 Nuremberg 1871-1876, 1950-1974 1039 Offenbach 1857-1901, 1965ff. 983 Oldenburg 1865-1866, 1873-1888, 1895-1913, 1951ff. 921 Opole 1883-1905, 1937-1938 1040 Osnabrück 1870, 1874-1913, 1950-1953, 1977-1991 P 11 Osterode 1867-1870 P 11 Papenburg 1867-1869 874 Passau 1879-1891, 1901-1913, 1919-1920 979 Pforzheim 1880-1913, 1927-1928 973 Plauen 1862-1913 915 Poznan 1854-1913 923 Potsdam 1898-1913, 1949-1951 1044 Ravensburg (1867-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart), 1957-1975 1045 Regensburg 1855-1893, 1901-1904, 1951ff. 1047 Reutlingen (1857-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart), 1958ff. 1049 Rostock 1899-1902 o.Nr. Rottweil (1867-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart) 888 Saarbrücken 1865-1902, 1951ff. 898 Sagan 1881-1913, (1921-1936 s. Stuttgart), 1951ff. Breslau) 1050 Schneidemühl 1925-1938 1051 Schopfheim 1889-1913, 1925-1929, 1951-1968 1052 Schweidnitz 1854-1872, 1889-1913, (1921-1936 s. Breslau) 1056 Sonneberg 1875-1931 861 Sorau 1871-1919 1057 Stade 1867-1870 (P 11), 1954ff. 1058 Stadthagen 1925-1928 (K 7), 1936-1937 878 Stettin 1854-1913, 1927-1938 1059 Stolberg 1855-1872 (P 11) 925 Stolp 1891-1914 1060 Stralsund 1911-1913, 1924-1931 995 Strasbourg 1871-1914 882 Stuttgart 1857-1889 and 1900-1904 (for the Chambers of Commerce in Württemberg), 1955ff. 1061 Swinemünde 1864-1872 (P 11), 1878-1891, 1905-1913 909 Thorn 1854-1900, 1904-1905, 1908-1914 1062 Tilsit 1854-1913 1063 Trier 1855-1872 (P 11), 1950ff. P 11 Uelzen 1867-1870 1065 Ulm (1857-1889, 1900-1904 s. Stuttgart), 1962ff. 1066 Verden 1867-1871 (P 11), 1886-1913 1067 Villingen 1897-1911 1068 Weimar 1880-1896, 1901-1913, 1928-1937 1069 Wesel 1854-1913 944 Wetzlar 1901-1913, 1924-1927 1070 Wiesbaden 1865-1913, 1950ff. P 11 Wolgast 1868 881 Worms 1857-1913 1072 Würzburg 1874-1881, 1886-1889, 1959ff. 883 Zittau 1862-1863, 1866-1875, 1879-1913 III Chambers of Commerce in the German colonies 1017 Kribi (South Cameroon) 1908-1911 1018 Tsingtau (China) 1900-1913 1019 Windhoek (Southwest Africa) 1910/11 IV Chambers of Commerce in Austria-Hungary and successor states 1008 Bolzano 1870/71, 1880, 1910-1917 996 Brno 1870-1902 (with gaps) 1021 Budapest 1870-1918, 1924-1940 1010 Budweis 1861-1890 997 Eger 1854, 1858-1895, 1910-1911 941 Esseg / Osijek 1904 1004 Innsbruck 1871-1880 1011 Klagenfurt 1870-1916, 1928-1935 998 Kronstadt 1889-1904 (with gaps) 999 Laibach 1870, 1875, 1880 1012 Linz 1898-1903, 1926-1930 1022 Neu-Sohl / Beszterczebánya [today: Banska Bystrica] 1895-1916 1001 Pilsen 1858, 1865, 1870-1890 1002 Bratislava 1866-1912 (with gaps) 1093 Reichenberg 1875-1914 (with gaps) 1013 Rovereto 1870, 1880 1014 Salzburg 1854-1919 (with gaps) 880 Temesvar 1851-1852 1015 Trieste 1871-1933 (with gaps) 1094 Troppau 1880/81, 1910-1918 1020 Vienna 1855-1930 V German Chambers of Commerce Abroad 1074 Barcelona 1923-1932 1075 Brussels 1936-1938 1076 Budapest 1920/21, 1938-1943/44 1083 Buenos Aires 1920-1938 1092 Cairo 1930-1937 1087 Manila 1924-1938 1086 Montevideo 1920/21, 1935, 1937 1088 New York 1912/13 1081 Paris 1930-1933 1082 Rio de Janeiro 1934-1935 1090 Shanghai 1926/27-1936/37 1078 Sofia 1942 1085 Tokyo 1937-1938 1084 Valparaiso 1920-1930

History of the inventor: Born 21 September 1865 in Baldenburg, district of Schlochau, died 31 December 1924 in Dresden. 1874 Admission to the Kulmer Kadettenkorps, then Prussian Hauptkadettenanstalt and in April 1885 entry as lieutenant second in the infantry regiment "von borcke" (4th Pommersches) No. 21 in Thorn. 1887 Transfer to the 2nd Lower Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 137 in September 1888, one year's leave of absence to go to Africa. After a short time working for the D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i kanische Gesellschaft as an officer in the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Ostafrika. On 18 May 1889 he took part in a battle at Dar-es-Salam as part of the suppression of the so-called Arab uprising. 1890 He rejoins the army. 1891-1904 Education at the Prussian Academy of War; 1895 transfer to the Grand General Staff. In the same year wedding with Luise Lindner. In 1898 he was promoted to captain during his command at the Reichsmarineamt, which from 1898 to 1899 included surveying work in the Kiautschou leasehold. 1900 Return to Germany and activity in the general staff. From 1902 company commander in infantry regiment 41. In 1904 promotion to major and transfer to the general staff of the stage command of the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika. There he participated in the so-called Herero and Hottentot campaigns. During the Nama Uprising, Maercker led the Schutztruppen units in the Battle of Nubib and was wounded. 1910 Farewell to the Schutztruppe and appointment as battalion commander in the infantry regiment "König Ludwig III. von Bayern" (2nd Lower Silesian) No. 47. 1912 promotion lieutenant colonel; 1913 appointment as commander of the North Sea island Borkum. 1914 Promotion to colonel. 1915 and 1916 as regiment commander participation in the position fights at the Kormyn and at the Styr, afterwards at the western front, among others Yser, in the Wyschaete arch as well as at St. Eloi. Wounded in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, then in positional battles on the Aisne. At the end of 1916 he took part in the battles on the Narajowka and Zlota Lipa; from 1917 he was deployed on the western front: Somme, Wytschaete Arc, Yser, Arras, Champagne and Flanders with renewed wounding. Awarded the Pour le Mérite Order on 1 October 1917 and the Pour le Mérite Oak Leaf Order on 3 May 1918. On 18 August 1917 promotion to Major General and appointment as Commander of the 214th Division. In December 1918 Maercker formed the Freikorps "Landesjäger" from parts of his division; deployment of the Freikorps during the suppression of the Spartakus uprising in January 1919 in Berlin, followed by deployments in Weimar, Gotha, Erfurt, Halle, Magdeburg, Braunschweig and Helmstedt. On 2 May the Freikorps was integrated into the Reichswehr as Reichswehrbrigade 16. On 28 April 1920 Maercker was released from active military service. In 1922 he founded the Deutscher Kolonialkriegerbund. Processing note: General Wehrkreis IV (Saxony)? Description of the holdings: Major General, documents, personal letters, training documents, portrait photos, colonial history: General der Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika. R e i c h s k o l o n i a l a m t , surveying Tsingtau, commander of the infantry in the First World War in France and Belgium, Wehrkreiskommando IV, Freikorpsführer Geb. 21. September 1865 in Baldenburg, Kreis Schlochau, died 31. December 1924 in Dresden. 1874 Admission to the Kulmer Kadettenkorps, then Prussian Hauptkadettenanstalt and in April 1885 entry as lieutenant second in the infantry regiment "von borcke" (4th Pommersches) No. 21 in Thorn. 1887 Transfer to the 2nd Lower Alsatian Infantry Regiment No. 137 in September 1888, one year's leave of absence to go to Africa. After a short time working for the D e u t s c h - O s t a f r i kanische Gesellschaft as an officer in the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Ostafrika. On 18 May 1889 he took part in a battle at Dar-es-Salam as part of the suppression of the so-called Arab uprising. 1890 He rejoins the army. 1891-1904 Education at the Prussian Academy of War; 1895 transfer to the Grand General Staff. In the same year wedding with Luise Lindner. In 1898 he was promoted to captain during his command at the Reichsmarineamt, which from 1898 to 1899 included surveying work in the Kiautschou leasehold. 1900 Return to Germany and activity in the general staff. From 1902 company commander in infantry regiment 41. In 1904 promotion to major and transfer to the general staff of the stage command of the Schutztruppe für Deutsch-Südwestafrika. There he participated in the so-called Herero and Hottentot campaigns. During the Nama Uprising, Maercker led the Schutztruppen units in the Battle of Nubib and was wounded. 1910 Farewell to the Schutztruppe and appointment as battalion commander in the infantry regiment "König Ludwig III. von Bayern" (2nd Lower Silesian) No. 47. 1912 promotion lieutenant colonel; 1913 appointment as commander of the North Sea island Borkum. 1914 Promotion to colonel. 1915 and 1916 as regiment commander participation in the position fights at the Kormyn and at the Styr, afterwards at the western front, among others Yser, in the Wyschaete arch as well as at St. Eloi. Wounded in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, then in positional battles on the Aisne. At the end of 1916 he took part in the battles on the Narajowka and Zlota Lipa; from 1917 he was deployed on the western front: Somme, Wytschaete Arc, Yser, Arras, Champagne and Flanders with renewed wounding. Awarded the Pour le Mérite Order on 1 October 1917 and the Pour le Mérite Oak Leaf Order on 3 May 1918. On 18 August 1917 promotion to Major General and appointment as Commander of the 214th Division. In December 1918 Maercker formed the Freikorps "Landesjäger" from parts of his division; deployment of the Freikorps during the suppression of the Spartakus uprising in January 1919 in Berlin, followed by deployments in Weimar, Gotha, Erfurt, Halle, Magdeburg, Braunschweig and Helmstedt. On 2 May the Freikorps was integrated into the Reichswehr as Reichswehrbrigade 16. On 28 April 1920 Maercker was released from active military service. In 1922 he founded the Deutscher Kolonialkriegerbund. Citation style: BArch, N 786/...

Max Lenz was born in Greifswald on 13 June 1850 as the son of Dr. Gustav Lenz, a judicial councillor. After his school education in Greifswald, he began studying classical philology and history (with Heinrich von Sybel and others) in Bonn. Interrupted by his participation in the Franco-German war, Lenz continued his studies at the universities of Greifswald and Berlin and in 1874 presented a dissertation on the topic "The Alliance of Canterbury and its significance for the Franco-English War and the Concil of Constance". In the same year he passed the senior teacher examination. In 1875 he began as a "unskilled worker" in the Marburg State Archives, where he worked on Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous of Hesse's political correspondence with the Strasbourg reformer Martin Bucer (3 volumes, Leipzig 1880-1891). In 1876 Lenz habilitated in Marburg on the subject of "Three Tractates from the Scripture Cycle of the Constance Concil" and was appointed extraordinary professor of medieval and modern history at the Philipps University in Marburg in 1881 and full professor in 1885. Further stations in his academic career were the universities of Breslau (from 1888), Berlin (from 1890) and Hamburg (from 1914), whose transformation from a colonial institute to a university he played a major role in shaping. After his retirement he returned to Berlin. Max Lenz died on April 6, 1932 and his scientific subjects were the Reformation, the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte and Otto von Bismarck. He presented very extensive works on all these topics. Max Lenz saw himself as an objectivist historian and always emphasized the importance of source-critical research. He is considered one of the main representatives of the so-called Ranke Renaissance in Germany. He was a member of the Berlin Academy of Sciences and the Historical Society of Berlin, founded in 1872, to whose chairman he was elected in 1912 and again in 1925. Max Lenz was married to the pianist Emma Rohde from Greifswald; of his children one daughter and two sons reached adulthood: Hildegard, Georg and Friedrich (1885-1968, national economist) The estate here consists almost exclusively of letters, partly of an extensive correspondence within the (grand) family Lenz / Rohde, partly of Lenz' letters to friends, colleagues and students. The collection is supplemented by manuscript parts of a lecture on the French Revolution, a transcript of a lecture on the Reformation and newspaper clippings. The family correspondence was mainly written by Bertha Rohde (the mother of Emma Lenz), her children Emma (Emmchen), Elisa (Lieschen), Bertha, Marie Jena, née Rohde, Minna, William and Max, their son-in-law Max Lenz and their grandchildren Hildegard, Georg and Friedrich (Fritz). After the death of grandmother Bertha Rohde in 1917, the correspondence becomes thinner, but does not break off. The most frequent addressee is Elisa Rohde, who lived unmarried in Greifswald's parents' house. She may be the author of the letter collection. Most of Max Lenz's professional correspondence consists of letters to his pupil Hermann Oncken (1869-1945) and to colleagues not mentioned by name, but possibly also Oncken. The title "Dear Friend / Colleague" can also be found in several of Lenz's letters in other bequests handed down in the GStA PK, for example to Albert Brackmann, Adolf Grimme, Paul Fridolin Kehr, Friedrich Meinecke, Theodor Schiemann. After Max Lenz's death, his son Friedrich tried to collect letters from his parents. Several letters from relatives of friendly families from the period November 1942 to January 1943 with "negative notices" are handed down in this estate (No. 35). From Karl Seeliger's answer available in this context it emerges that Friedrich Lenz planned to deposit his father's estate in the Prussian Secret State Archives, which also happened on 11 March 1943 (exc. 16 / 43; I. HA Rep. 92 Nl Max Lenz). On the other hand, Max Lenz himself does not seem to have cancelled any letters received; only a very small number of letters to Max Lenz have been passed down here (No. 34). Together with other holdings, bequests and collections that had been relocated from 1943 due to the war, the Max Lenz estate was transferred to the Central State Archives in Merseburg and returned to Berlin in 1993. With the exception of the separation of the letters from the other estate material, no order of the estate was discernible. In addition, the estate had been used several times in Merseburg and thus also got into disorder. In addition, the estate was enriched at a later point in time that can no longer be determined: At least one letter from 1963 (No. 62) has been added. The letters were divided into two correspondence series (private and professional correspondence) and arranged chronologically. Last no. given: The estate is to be quoted: GStA PK, VI. HA Family archives and estates, Nl Max Lenz (Dep.), No. The estate is to be ordered: VI HA, Nl Lenz, M., Nr. The following holdings, estates and collections should also be consulted when working with the Max Lenz estate: - I. HA Rep. 178 Generaldirektion der Staatsarchive Abt. XIII L Nr. 5: Personalangelegenheit Dr. Lenz (1875-76) - I. HA Rep. 235 Historische Gesellschaft zu Berlin - VI. HA Familienarchive und Nachlässe, Nl Friedrich Theodor Althoff - VI. HA Familienarchive und Nachlässe, Nl Carl Heinrich Becker - VI. HA Familienarchive und Nachlässe, Nl Albert Brackmann - VI. HA Familienarchive und Nachlässe, Nl Adolf Grimme - VI. HA Family Archives and Bequests, Nl Paul Fridolin Kehr - VI HA Family Archives and Bequests, Nl Friedrich Meinecke - VI HA Family Archives and Bequests, Nl Constantin Rößler - VI HA Family Archives and Bequests, Nl Theodor Schiemann Literature by Max Lenz (selection): - Martin Luther: Festschrift der Stadt Berlin zum 10. November 1883. Pub. 1897 (Service library GStA PK: Weltgesch. VIc 47) - Napoleon. Bielefeld, second edition 1908 (Dienstbibliothek GStA PK:32 N 4'2) - Rankes biographische Kunst und die Aufgabe des Biographen: Commemoration speech of the founder of the Berlin University King Friedrich Wilhelm III Berlin 1912 (Dienstbibliothek GStA PK:5 R 237) - History of Bismarck. Munich, 2nd ed. 1902 (Dienstbibliothek GStA PK: 5 B 86) - History of the Königliche Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin. 4 Vol., Halle 1910-1918 (Dienstbibliothek GStA PK: 19a 332:1-4) Literature about Max Lenz (selection): - Hermann Oncken, Gedächtnisrede auf Max Lenz, in: Sitzungsberichte der Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin. Berlin 1933 pp. 107-125 - Rüdiger vom Bruch, Max Lenz, in: NDB Vol. 14 - Hans-Heinz Krill, The Rankerenaissance: Max Lenz and Erich Marcks; a contribution to historical-political thinking in Germany 1880-1935. Publications of the Berlin Historical Commission at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of Freie Universität Berlin Vol. 3 Berlin 1962 Berlin, May 2008 Dr. Schnelling-Reinicke (Director of the Archive) Description of holdings: Biographical data: 1850 - 1932 Reference: Database; Reference book, 1 vol.

1st Biographical Information on Wolfgang Kapp Wolfgang Kapp was born in New York on July 24, 1858, the son of the lawyer Friedrich Kapp, who had played an important role in the bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1848 and had to emigrate to the United States because of his participation in the Baden uprising. Wolfgang Kapp's mother was Louise Engels and was the daughter of the Major General and Commander of Cologne Engels. The family was originally called d'Ange and immigrated from France to Germany in 1687 after the Edict of Nantes. In 1870 Friedrich Kapp returned to Germany with his family; he lived in Berlin and was a national liberal, later a liberal member of the Reichstag from 1872-1877 and 1881-1884; he also worked as a renowned historian. Friedrich Kapp died in 1884, his son Wolfgang studied in Tübingen and Göttingen. He completed his studies in 1880 with a doctorate. Probably in 1881 Wolfgang Kapp married Margarete Rosenow, the daughter of a landowner in Dülzen (district Preußisch Eylau). After his marriage Kapp seems to have familiarized himself with the administration of a large agricultural business on his father-in-law's estate, because it was not until 1885 that he began his actual professional career as a trainee with the government in Minden. In 1886 he joined the Ministry of Finance, Department II, Administration of Direct Taxes, as a government assistant. From 1890 to 1899 he was district administrator in Guben. In 1890, at the beginning of his time as district administrator, Kapp bought the Rittergut Pilzen estate near the Rosenov estate and thus entered the circle of the East Prussian Great Agrarians. Out of his interest for the interests of agriculture a work of agricultural policy content arose in Guben, which attracted a great deal of attention in the Ministry of Agriculture, so that an appointment as a government council followed in 1900. Kapp was appointed to the I. Dept. Administration of Agricultural and Stud Affairs, Department of Agricultural Workers' Affairs, but during the era of Reich Chancellor von Bülow as Commissioner of the Prussian Ministry of Agriculture he was primarily active in the preparation of the customs tariff of 1902 and in the initiation of the new trade agreements of 1904-1906. Kapp gained his first foreign policy experience in negotiations with representatives of foreign countries. Kapp soon gained a closer relationship with the then Reich Chancellor von Bülow, with whom he shared similar political views. During his time at the Ministry of Agriculture, Kapp seems to have had ambitious plans for his future professional and political career and at least aspired to the position of district president. That his plans went even further can be seen from the recording of a conversation between Kaiser Wilhelm II and the General Field Marshal von der Goltz, in which the possibility of Kapp's successor in the Reich Chancellery was considered. However, this conversation, whose date lies between 1909 and 1911, took place at a time when Kapp had already left the Prussian civil service. The reason for his resignation from the Ministry of Agriculture seems to have been his annoyance at not taking his person into account when appointing district presidents. On 5 April 1906, the East Prussian countryside elected the owner of the Pilzen manor as general landscape director. It is very characteristic of Kapp's personality under what circumstances he became known in East Prussia through a trial he conducted against the landscape. The landscapes of the Prussian provinces were self-governing bodies and as such primarily representations of landowners. But the landscape also served as a representative body for state fiscal policy. Its real task, of course, lay outside the political sphere in granting credit to cooperatives. However, the credit policy has had a decisive influence on the distribution of property and the social structure of the provinces and has thus had political repercussions. Through the incorporation of agricultural banks and fire societies in the 19th century, the landscapes had become efficient organisations at provincial level. Kapp took on the new tasks with his own vehemence. He continued the landscape in the specified direction, primarily by developing the branch network of the Landschaftsbank, by merging the landscape with the East Prussian Feuersozietät, by granting more loans, particularly for small property, and by increasing the landscape funds. His policy was aimed at freeing agriculture, which was in a serious crisis at the beginning of the 20th century, from its dependence on state aid and enabling it to help itself by means of credit policy measures. In the course of these efforts, Kapp tackled three major tasks. First and foremost the question of agricultural debt relief, which the Prussian state initiated in 1906 with the law on the debt limit. Kapp was the first to try to make this framework law effective from the initiative of the parties themselves without further state aid by showing different ways of debt relief. The inclusion of life insurance as a means of reducing debt proved particularly effective. Instead of debt repayment, the premium payment was made to an agricultural life insurance company. This ensured that a certain amount of capital was available for debt reduction in the event of death. The second task resulted from the former. The desire to combine public-law life insurance with debt relief necessitated the creation of a number of public-law life insurance institutions, which were merged into an association chaired by Kapp. These facilities were especially designed to prevent the outflow of premium money from the countryside to the large cities, where it had been used especially for the construction of tenements. However, the outflow of capital was only one danger, the other was the rural exodus that began in the 19th century. He tried to strengthen small agricultural holdings with a colonization and agricultural workers' bill, which was accepted by the General Landtag in 1908. This measure was based on the recognition of the untenability of the institution of instants and deputants, who were in the closest dependence on the lord of the manor and who emigrated from this situation in masses to the large cities, where they strengthened the ranks of the industrial proletariat. The organ for settlement policy should be a landscaped settlement bank. The third task that Kapp set himself was the creation of a public-law national insurance scheme following the public-law life insurance scheme. This measure was primarily directed against the Volksversicherungsanstalt "Volksfürsorge", created by the Social Democrats, and was intended to secure capital for agricultural workers to buy their own farms by means of abbreviated insurance. These plans did not lead to the hoped-for success, but ended in a bitter feud with the private insurance companies, especially the Deutsche Volksversicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft. In addition to his functions within the East Prussian landscape, Kapp was also active in various other bodies. In December 1906 he was appointed to the Stock Exchange Committee of the Reichsamt des Innern and in 1912 to the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank. The First World War gave Kapp's life and work a whole new direction. Kapp's biography is too little researched to judge how far he had buried his ambitious plans, which apparently pushed him to the top of the Reich government, or postponed them only for a better opportunity. Although Kapp had been a member of the German Conservative Party since at least 1906, he did not take the path of an existing party to make a political career. This path probably did not correspond to his personality, described as authoritarian, ambitious and independent. He made the great leap into high politics through his sensational conflict with Reich Chancellor von Bethmann Hollweg. In his memo of 26 May 1916 "Die nationalen Kreise und der Reichs-Kanzler", which he sent to 300 public figures, including Bethmann Hollweg himself, he sharply criticised what he considered to be the weak policy of the Reich Chancellor, to whom he v. a. accused him of his alleged pacting with social democracy, his reluctance to America and his rejection of the unrestricted submarine war demanded by extremely militaristic circles, but also of a false war economic policy. The sharp reaction of Bethmann Hollweg, who spoke in a Reichstag session of "pirates of public opinion", among others, who abused "with the flag of the national parties", Kapp perceived as a personal affront to which he reacted with a demand for a duel. On the contrary, Kapp had to take an official reprimand and his re-election as General Landscape Director, which had taken place in March 1916 on a rotational basis, was refused confirmation by the Prussian State Ministry. Since his friends held on to Kapp in the East Prussian landscape, he was re-elected in 1917. This time - since Bethmann Hollweg had been overthrown in the meantime - he was able to take up his post as general landscape director again. At first, the events of 1916 led him even more into politics. Here he expressed solidarity with a circle of extremely reactionary and aggressive military forces around General Ludendorff and Grand Admiral von Tirpitz, who pursued a ruthless internal perseverance policy that tightened up all the forces of the people and a policy of unrestrained annexation and total warfare towards the outside world. Emperor Wilhelm II, who in principle sympathized with this extreme direction, had to refrain from supporting this group out of various considerations of public opinion and the negative attitude of the party majorities in the Reichstag. Kapp and his comrades-in-arms assumed in their political ambitions the complete certainty of the German final victory. They closed their eyes to the already looming possibility of defeat for Germany, especially after America entered the war. The war and peace goals they represented, especially the annexation plans at the expense of Russia and Poland, which were later only surpassed by Hitler, were marked by uncontrolled wishful thinking that in no way corresponded to objective reality. His extreme attitude drove Kapp into a blind hatred against any social and democratic movement; his fierce opposition against social democracy was mainly based on the legend of the dagger thrust against the imperialist Germany struggling to win. This military and National Socialist sharpening, for which Kapp found moral and financial support in certain circles of military leadership, but also among a number of university professors, writers, local politicians, agriculturalists, industrialists and bankers, culminated in the founding of the German National Party, which took place on 2 September 1917 (the "Sedan Day") in the Yorksaal of the East Prussian landscape. Although Kapp was clearly the spiritus rector of this "collection party", two other persons were pushed into the foreground, intended for the eyes of the public: These were the Grand Admiral von Tirpitz as 1st chairman and Duke Johann Albrecht von Mecklenburg as honorary chairman of this party. The German Fatherland Party did not seek seats in the Reichstag, but saw itself as a pool of national forces to bring about Germany's final victory. The statute provided for the immediate dissolution of the party once its purpose had been achieved. In addition to mobilising all forces to achieve military victory, Kapp's founding of the party also had another purpose that was not made so public. Tirpitz, then 68 years old, was to be launched as a "strong man" to replace the "weak" chancellors Bethmann Hollweg and Michaelis. It was obvious that in this case Kapp would join the leadership of the imperial government as advisor to the politically ultimately inexperienced Grand Admiral. The November Revolution of 1918 and the immediate surrender of Germany put an abrupt end to these lofty plans. But Kapp and his friends did not admit defeat. Although the German Fatherland Party was dissolved in December 1918, it was immediately replaced by a new party, the German National People's Party, which developed into a bourgeois mass party during the Weimar Republic, but no longer under Kapp's leadership. After the fall of the Hohenzollern monarchy, Kapp immediately opposed the revolution and the Weimar Republic. He could not or did not want to accept the social and political conditions that had arisen in the meantime; his goal was clearly the restoration of pre-war conditions. The sources, which were only incomplete at that time, do not show when the idea of a coup d'état was born and how the conspiracy developed in all its branches. A close associate of Kapp's, Reichswehrhauptmann Pabst, had already attempted a failed coup in July 1919. Together with Kapp, Pabst created the "National Unification" as a pool of all counter-revolutionary forces and associations. This Reich organisation was to coordinate the preparations for the coup in Prussia and Bavaria, while Kapp was to develop East Prussia into the decisive base of counterrevolution. From here, with the help of the Freikorps operating in the Baltic States, the Reichswehr and the East Prussian Heimatbund, whose chairman was Kapp, the survey was to be carried to Berlin with the immediate aim of preventing the signing of the Versailles Treaty. The approval of the Versailles Treaty by the parliamentary majority has created a new situation. Now Ludendorff, one of the co-conspirators, proposed to carry out the coup directly in Berlin, whereby the Baltic people, who were disguised as work detachments on the large Eastern Elbe goods, were to take over the military support. Meanwhile, the conspirators, headed by Kapp and Reichswehr General Lüttwitz, tried to gain the mass base absolutely necessary for the execution of the coup d'état through a broad-based nationalist smear campaign. The company was already at risk before it could even begin. Kapp had demanded that his military allies inform him at least 14 days before the strike so that he could make the necessary political preparations. That the coup d'état had just begun on 13 March 1920 depended not so much on carefully considered planning, but on coincidences that were not predictable. One of the reasons for the premature strike was the dissolution of the Freikorps, especially the Ehrhardt Brigade, decided by the Reich government. This revealed the fact that, in the absence of a party of their own, the conspirators were unable to avoid relying on the loose organization of the resident defence forces, which to a certain extent were also influenced by social democracy. The whole weakness of the company was evident in the question on which forces the new government should actually be based. While the military saw an arrangement with the strongest party, social democracy, as unavoidable, Kapp categorically rejected pacting with social democracy. He wanted to put the Social Democrat-led government as a whole into protective custody. But now the government was warned; for its part, it issued protective arrest warrants against the heads of the conspirators and left Berlin on March 12. In the early morning of March 13, the Navy Brigade Ehrhardt marched into Berlin without encountering armed resistance, as would have been the duty of the Reichswehr. Kapp proclaimed himself Chancellor of the Reich and began with the reorganisation of the government. The order of the new rulers to arrest the escaped imperial government and to remove the state government if they did not stand on the side of the putschists was only partially executed by the local commanders. The proclamation of the general strike on 13 March and the reports arriving from the most important cities and industrial centres about joint actions of the working class prompted the indirect supporters of Kapp, the large industrialists and the Reichswehr generals, to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. Kapp had to see the hopelessness of his company. Eyewitnesses reported that Kapp had spent almost 3 days of his time as Chancellor of the Reich "with gossip". On March 15, the "adventure" was over. Kapp apparently stayed hidden with friends near Berlin for some time after the failed coup and then flew to Sweden in a provided plane. Here he initially lived under different false names in different places, at last in a pension in Robäck, but was soon recognized and temporarily taken into custody. The Swedish government granted asylum to the refugee, but he had to commit himself to refrain from all political activities. When the high treason trial against the heads of the March company in Leipzig began, Kapp was moved by the question of his position in court. At first, he justified his non-appearance with the incompetence of the Ebert government and with the constitution, which in his opinion did not exist. Kapp said that there was no high treason in the legal sense against the "high treason" of social democracy. When in December 1921 one of the co-conspirators, the former district president of Jagow, was sentenced to a fortress sentence by the Imperial Court, Kapp changed his mind. Still in Sweden he worked out a justification for the process ahead of him, in which he denied any guilt in both an objective and a subjective sense. On the contrary, he intended to appear before the court with a charge against the then government. It didn't come to that anymore. Kapp had already fallen ill in Sweden. At the beginning of 1922 he returned to Germany and was remanded in custody. On 24 April 1922, he underwent surgery in Leipzig to remove a malignant tumour from the left eye. Kapp died on 12 June 1922; he was buried on 22 June at the village churchyard in Klein Dexen near his estate Pilzen. 2. inventory history The inventory, which had been formed in its essential parts by Kapp himself, was transferred by the family to the Prussian Secret State Archives as a deposit in 1935. Here the archivist Dr. Weise started already in the year of submission with the archival processing, which could not be completed, however. In the course of the repatriation of the holdings of the Secret State Archives, which had been removed during the Second World War, the Kapp estate was transferred to the Central State Archives, Merseburg Office. In 1951, Irmela Weiland, a trainee, classified and listed the stock here. As a result of the processing a find-book was created, which was until the new processing in the year 1984 the kurrente find-auxiliary. 1984 the stock was to be prepared for the backup filming. It turned out that the processing carried out in 1951 did not meet today's archival requirements, so that a general revision was considered necessary. The graduate archivists Renate Endler and Dr. Elisabeth Schwarze rearranged and simply listed the holdings according to the principles of order and indexing for the state archives of the German Democratic Republic, Potsdam 1964. The found file units were essentially retained, in individual cases they were dissolved and new indexing units were formed. In addition, 0.50 m of unprocessed documents were incorporated into the estate. The old regulatory scheme, which was essentially broken down chronologically, was replaced by a new regulatory scheme based on Kapp's areas of activity. In the course of the revision, the portfolio was re-signed. The relationship between the old and the new signatures was established through a concordance. The new find book replaces the previously valid find book from 1951. The stock is to be quoted: GStA PK, VI. HA Family Archives and Bequests, Nl Wolfgang Kapp, No... 3) Some remarks on the content of the holdings The Kapp estate contains 7.50 running metres of archival material from the period from 1885 to 1922, including some earlier and later individual pieces. The holdings mainly contain documents from Kapp's official and political activities, to a lesser extent also correspondence within the family and documents from the administration of the Knights' Manor Pilzen. The density of transmission to the individual sections of Kapp's professional and political development is quite different. While his activities with the Minden government, in the Prussian Ministry of Finance and as district administrator in Guben are relatively poorly documented, there is a rather dense tradition about his activities as director of the general landscape and as chairman of the German Fatherland Party. The documentation on the preparation and implementation of the coup shows gaps which can be explained, among other things, by the fact that important agreements were only reached orally at the stage of preparing the coup. Moreover, Kapp, who had to flee hastily to Sweden after the coup d'état failed, was no longer able to give this part of his estate the same care as the former one. Overall, however, it is a legacy of great political importance and significance. Merseburg, 2. 10.1984 signed Dr. Elisabeth Schwarze Diplomarchivar Compiled and slightly shortened: Berlin, April 1997 (Ute Dietsch) The clean copy of the find book was made by Britta Baumgarten. Note After the reunification of the two German states, the Merseburg office was closed, the archival records and thus also the Kapp estate were returned to the Secret State Archives in Berlin (1993). From the inventory maps, this reference book was created after maps that no longer existed were replaced (post-distortion of files). XIII Bibliography (selection) Bauer, Max : March 13, 1920 Berlin 1920 Bernstein, Richard : Der Kapp-Putsch und seine Lehren. Berlin 1920 Brammer, Karl : Five days of military dictatorship. Berlin 1920 Documents on the Counterrevolution using official material: The same: Constitutional Foundations and High Treason. According to stenographic reports and official documents of the Jagow trial. Berlin 1922 Erger, Johannes : The Kapp-Lüttwitz Putsch. Düsseldorf 1967 Falkenhausen, Fri. from : Wolfgang Kapp. In: Conservative Monthly July/August 1922 Kern, Fritz : Das Kappsche Abenteuer. Impressions and findings. Leipzig/Berlin 1920 Könnemann, Erwin : Residents' Weirs and Time Volunteer Associations. Berlin 1971 Noske, Gustav : From Kiel to Kapp. Berlin 1920 Rothfels, Hans : Article "Wolfgang Kapp" in: Deutsches biogra- phisches Jahrbuch Bd 4 (1922) Berlin/Leipzig 1929, correspondence. 132-143 (Here also a drawing of the works Kapps) Schemann, Ludwig : Wolfgang Kapp and the March company. A word of atonement. Munich/Berlin 1937 Taube, Max : Causes and course of the coup of 13 March 1920 and his teachings for the working class and the middle classes. Munich 1920 Wauer, W. : Behind the scenes of the Kapp government. Berlin 1920 Wortmann, K. Geschichte der Deutschen Vaterlandspartei In: Hallische Forschungen zur neueren Geschichte. Volume 3, Hall 1926 Contents I. Introduction Page II 1 Biographical Information on Wolfgang Kapp Page II 2 History of the Collection Page X 3 Some Remarks on the Content of the Collection Page XI 4 Literature in Selection Page XIII II Structure of the Collection Page XIV III Collection Page XVII (Order Numbers, Title, Duration Page 1-106)) XVII III. holdings (order numbers, file title, duration) Description of holdings: Lebenssdaten: 1858 - 1921 Finds: database; find book, 1 vol.

History of the Inventory Designer: Introduction Prehistory up to 1933 The rapid increase in car traffic after the First World War meant that road construction in Germany had to face up to these new requirements. The aim was to rapidly improve the existing road conditions and adapt them to the new requirements of increasing motorisation by extending the existing country roads and building motorways. Contemporary statistics show that in 1924 every 321st inhabitant in Germany owned a "car", while at the same time in France every 90th, in Great Britain every 71st and in the USA already every 7th inhabitant owned a car. The private German vehicle fleet in the country doubled in the years from 1923 to 1926 from 100,340 cars to 206,456. In 1933, only seven years later, almost 800,000 motor vehicles were registered in Germany. The construction of the Berlin AVUS (Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungs-Straße) in 1921 as well as the activities of the Studiengesellschaft für Automobilstraßenbau (STUFA) played a special role, the latter in particular with regard to the extension of the existing country roads. However, the war and its consequences prevented a resumption of this discussion until the mid-twenties. With the founding of the association HAFRABA and its transition to GEZUVOR, plans for the new motorways in particular took shape, which, after the National Socialists took power, were quickly declared to be the "Führer's Roads". In the course of its work, HAFRABA drew up about 70 plans for a motorway network in Germany. The later central and territorial road construction administrations were able to profit from many results of their complex research, test series, but also from studies for the job creation of larger quantities of labour. The existing conditions with regard to the road administration in the respective sovereign jurisdiction on the one hand and the (Reich) legislator on the other, as well as the increasing blockage of road construction plans from Reich railway and financial circles, but also from the Länder and provinces, forced the necessity of a reorganisation of the road system in Germany to a certain extent, which did not take long after the seizure of power by the Hitler dictatorship. Adolf Hitler was not yet Chancellor of the Reich for two weeks when he put the construction of intersection-free motorways up for discussion in the cabinet. As early as 11 February 1933 he announced the "initiation and implementation of a generous road construction plan", with which both a modern transport system was to be created and unemployment effectively combated, but also reaped the opposition of Reichsbahn General Director Dorpmüller and Reich Finance Minister Count Schwerin von Krosigk. Nevertheless, he was determined to discuss the necessity of motorways with transport experts and leading representatives of the economy. In a conversation with HAFRABA managing director Willy Hof on 6 April 1933, he was informed in detail about the association's plans. As early as 27 June 1933, the Reich government announced, against the will of the Reichsbahn representatives, the formation of the company "Reichsautobahnen", which initially acted as a branch of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. One day later, Hitler appointed Dr. Fritz Todt, a highly intelligent civil engineer who was loyal to the line, as "Inspector General for German Roads". With the later "Decree on the General Inspector for the German Road System" of 30.11.1933, Todt was also transferred the business area of the company "Reichsautobahnen". The decree states: "For the execution of the construction of the Reichsautobahnen ... a supreme Reich authority shall be established with its seat in Berlin, the head of which shall be given the official title of 'General Inspector for the German Road System'. He is appointed by the Reich President at the suggestion of the Reich Chancellor and reports to the Reich Chancellor. Hitler was convinced of Todt's suitability after he had read his so-called "Brauner Bericht" (Brown Report), a memorandum on "Road Construction and Road Administration", in which Todt deals with the previous conditions of road construction in Germany and formulates objectives for the time of National Socialism. The new authority had the task to organize the construction of the "Reichsautobahnen" and the maintenance of the country roads, as far as they had belonged so far to the responsibility of the Reich Minister of Transport. Legal foundations The "Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Unternehmens Reichsautobahnen" of 27 June 1933, the first ordinance of 7 August 1933 and the "Gesetz zur Änderung Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Unternehmens Reichsautobahnen" of 18 December 1933 provided the Inspector General with a foundation of powers and authority which enabled him to implement the goals set by the Reich leadership as quickly as possible. This included the right to route and design the Reich's motorways as well as the right to levy charges, the right of expropriation and the assumption of state sovereign rights over the motorways. With the "Act on the Temporary New Regulation of the Road System and the Road Administration" of 26 March 1934, the division of roads into 1st motorways, later "Reichsautobahnen", 2nd Reich roads, 3rd country roads of the 1st order, 4th country roads of the 2nd order, was also introduced. The law of the land was amended in accordance with the provisions of the first order, and further regulations were made regarding the distribution of the road construction load, the administration of the Reich roads and the country roads of the first order, the road supervisory authority, etc. A general power of attorney to the greatest extent possible was granted to the Inspector General with the formulation written down in § 1 "The Inspector General for the German Road System determines which roads are subject to the provisions of this Act and which roads have the characteristics of Imperial roads and of Land Roads I. and II. I'll give you the order." The prerequisites created by the aforementioned legal bases were very soon reflected in the structure and organisation of the office of the Inspector General for German Roads. Organization and Structure In 1934, the Inspector General's Division comprised the two major areas of responsibility, Land Roads and Reich Motorways, as well as the resulting connections to the 30 Supreme Road Authorities with 176 State Construction, Road and River Offices of the Länder and Provinces on the one hand and the 15 Supreme Construction Supervisors with 65 Construction Departments for the motorways on the other. As a result, the internal service structure was as follows: Four departments were assigned to the Inspector General for German Roads. 1. department Landstraßen (L), 2. department Administration/Administration (V), 3. department Research/Exhibition/Congress (F) 4. department Reichsautobahnen (A) Furthermore, a landscape consultant was assigned to the Inspector General. In addition to a joint press and socio-political speaker, departments L and A were each assigned 5 speakers (L1 to L5 and A1 to A5), whose fields of work extended to cooperation with the road construction authorities in the Länder and provinces and with the supreme construction managers of the motorways. After that the following (territorial) competences arose: L1: Hanover, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Westphalia, Rhine Province, Hesse-Kassel, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe-Detmold L2: Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hohenzollern, State of Hesse, Hesse-Wiesbaden L3: Thuringia, State of Saxony, Upper Silesia, Lower Silesia, East Prussia L4: Brandenburg, Grenzmark, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Province of Saxony, Anhalt L5: General affairs of the rural road sector, special tasks Job creation Department A - Reichsautobahnen A1: Site management Stettin, Hannover, Altona, Königsberg A2: Site management Breslau, Dresden, Halle, Kassel A3: Site management Essen, Cologne, Frankfurt/Main A4: Site management Munich, Stuttgart, Nuremberg A5: Special tasks: In the summer of 1934 Todt presented his first report on the activities of his authority. An overview of the road construction authorities from 1935 under the authority of the Inspector General illustrates the striving for a strongly centralised connection of road construction tasks in Germany. After Hitler's declaration on January 30, 1937, that the German Reich had regained unrestricted sovereignty over the Deutsche Reichsbahn and that the Deutsche Reichsbahn had been converted into a pure Reich administration by the law of February 10, 1937, the Reichsautobahnen were to be given a position similar to that of the Deutsche Reichsbahn. This was done in the "Gesetz zur Neuregelung der Verhältnisse der Autobahn" of 1 July 1938 and by the "3. Verordnung zur Durchführung des Gesetz über die Errichtung eines Unternehmen 'Reichsautobahnen'" of 1 June 1938. Fritz Todt was appointed chairman of the board of the Reichsautobahnen. The offices of the company became direct Reich authorities. Thus the company Reichsautobahnen lost its character as a society. The "Führerprinzip" (leader principle) practiced in all authorities of the "Third Reich" dominated the organization of the Reich's motorways at the latest since the enactment of this law. With the rapid progress of the political and economic processes in Germany, with rearmament, with the creation of ever new political and organizational structures in the Reich territory, with the invasion of Austria and the Sudetenland, with the erection of the Westwall after the occupation of the demilitarized Rhineland and finally with the beginning and course of the war, ever new and different organizational units and focal points of work developed within the office. The supreme construction management of the Reichsautobahnen was extended by similar authorities in the occupied areas. In the construction of the Westwall from the middle of 1938 onwards, the 22 superstructure superstructure lines at the German western border were firmly integrated, after Hitler, under heavy accusations against the General Staff of the Army, had given this task to Todt without further ado - it was the hour of birth of the "Organisation Todt". It had its first seat as Abteilung West in Wiesbaden. In the files of the Inspector General for the German Road System, an interweaving of tasks with other ministries (e.g. Reich Ministry of Transport, Reich Ministry of Finance), the NSDAP as well as the cooperation with many other organisations is reflected in many ways, e.g. the National Socialist Association of German Technology (NSBDT), the German Labor Front (DAF), the National Socialist Motor Corps (NSKK) and the German Automobile Club (DDAC), and many others. The business distribution plan of the Inspector General of October 28, 1938 clearly expresses that the company was already at the level of political development. Directly subordinate to the Inspector General were now not only the 4 departments but also three other business areas: Research, NSDAP compounds, imperial defence and defence (cf. Fig. page XII). Fritz Todt held a number of political offices. From 1933 he was not only Inspector General for German Roads, but also Head of the Main Office for Technology of the NSDAP, 1938 he became General Plenipotentiary for the Regulation of the Construction Industry, 1940 Reich Minister for Armament and Ammunition as well as Inspector General for the Special Tasks in the Four-Year Plan, 1941 Inspector General for Water and Energy. At the height of his political career Todt died in a plane crash on 8 February 1942 near the "Führerhauptquartier" near Rastenburg/ East Prussia. Albert Speer took office on 9 February 1942. Inventory description: Inventory history The inventory summarised in inventory R 4601, General Inspector for the German Road System, consists of several parts from the former GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany. This includes around 2,300 files and almost 1,800 card index sheets from the former Central State Archives of the GDR, which were formerly kept there as holdings 46.01 and were recorded in a finding aid file, some of them with very general and inaccurate title records. The files of the holdings R 65 I to R 65 IV described below were added from the Federal Archives. Here, finding aids with precise title entries and notes on contents were available. In addition to Todt's "Brounen Denkschrift" (Brown Memorandum), the R 65 I holdings included 34 other files from US returns from 1934 to 1945, as well as files from the Building Department Wittlich 1941 (1), the Wiesbaden Department 1938-1943 (2), the Böttger 1938-1945 (11), Bonacker 1937, 1942-1944 (2), Dittrich 1926-1952 (67), Schönleben 1939-1944 (6), and supplements 1939 (1). The collection R 65 II contained 141 files of the Reichsautobahndirektion Berlin and was handed over to the Federal Archives by the Federal Minister of Transport in 1962 (official files of the Federal Archives, file no.: 3115/4, note dated 31 Jan. 1962). The inventory R 65 III was a collection of decrees of the Inspector General. The inventory R 65 IV contained personal files, of which 112 files have been catalogued and a further 12 running metres have not been catalogued. Archival evaluation and processing The inventory was indexed using the above-mentioned finding aids by entering it into the BASYS-S database of the Federal Archives for the purpose of making the finding aid data available online. A physical reception of the files did not take place due to time reasons with some exceptions. The archive signatures of the Potsdam holdings were largely retained during the indexing process, but each volume was given its own archive signature for found files with volume numbers. The signatures begin: at no. 1 for the former stock 46.01, at no. 3001 for the former stock R 65 I, at no. 4001 for the former stock R 65 II, at no. 5001 for the former stock R 65 III, at no. 10001 for the former stock R 65 IV. The 112 personal files already opened up have been newly recorded, but are not part of this finding aid book. The existing classification was largely renewed and is based both on the organizational structure of the inventory generator and on its functional responsibilities. The internal order of the files has been maintained. The inventory has already been moved from standing folders to folders. Characterisation of content: management and organisation of the road sector: legislation, decrees (57). Organization, administration and human resources: General (74), personnel matters (78), land and planning matters (15), public procurement (59), construction machinery, equipment and vehicles (29), motor vehicles (47), construction materials and fuels (47), traffic regulation and safety (27), winter services (90), tourism (25), statistics( 19), Mobilisation, war deployment, occupied territories (27), map system (37), hand-files of leadership (40), hand-files of the department L-Landstraßen (19), hand-files of the department A-Autobahnen (27), hand-files of the department V-Verwaltung (11), hand-files of administrators for special questions of the departments L and A (3). Department West, Wiesbaden (5). Potsdam Alte Zauche alternative (5). Country roads: Imperial roads: General administrative affairs of the Reichsstraßen (32), financing of the Reichsstraßen (90), technical execution of the road construction and execution of construction measures (136), construction project (48), index sheets Reichsstraßen (14), road books Reichsstraßen (133). Roads I. and II. Order: General administrative matters of the country roads I. and II. Order (28), Financing of rural roads - Öffa (20), Building projects (60), Roads map sheets (2). Bypasses, town crossings, feeder roads (105) Individual projects (45). Imperial highways: Legislation and general administrative matters of the Reichsautobahnen (83), financing of the Reichsautobahnen, budget and treasury matters (36), property and spatial planning matters (8), project planning and routing (46), landscape and urban architecture, animal protection, nature conservation, monuments (38), cooperation with other Reich services (27). Material-technical infrastructure and operational services: planning approval and reallocations (13), fuel and petrol stations (15), motorway and road connections with foreign countries (10), operational services (24), building materials, road surfacing (40), technical execution of road construction and execution of construction measures (9). Personnel infrastructure: deployment and accommodation of labour (61), wages, tariffs, special arrangements (29), personnel matters (27). Files of the Reichsautobahndirektion Berlin: Direktionsakten (18), Gebiete der Obersten Bauleitungen (124). Top construction management: Berlin (25), Wroclaw (15), Dresden (12), Essen (18), Frankfurt/Main (25), Halle (6), Hamburg (12), Hanover (3), Kassel (7), Cologne (12), Königsberg (3), Linz (7), Munich (13), Nuremberg (9), Stettin (4), Stuttgart (6), Vienna (5), Wittlich Construction Department of the Reichsautobahnen (1), Dresden (12), Essen (18), Frankfurt am Main (25). Public relations, press matters, lectures (21), accidents (20). Level crossings (45), bridges and structures (63), cycle paths and hiking trails (32), research, development, standardisation (182), congresses, conferences, exhibitions, work of professional associations (50). Personnel files A-Z 1938-1973 (112), 12 running meters untapped. Citation style: BArch, R 4601/...

Find aids: Findbuch von 1992 (online searchable) Registraturbildner: The Verein für den Halleschen Handel, which was originally founded in 1833 to build a packing yard, is to be regarded as the forerunner of the later Halle Chamber of Commerce. On the basis of proposals made by this association and its president Ludwig Wucherer, a chamber of commerce "for the city of Halle and the Saale-Örter" was established by edict of 18 October 1844. Its district initially comprised the cities of Halle, Wettin and Alsleben as well as the rural communities of Kröllwitz, Rothenburg (Saale) and Salzmünde. In 1856 Eilenburg was added, in 1873 the districts of Bitterfeld, Delitzsch (without the city of Delitzsch), Querfurt, Merseburg, Naumburg, Weißenfels, Zeitz, the Saalkreis, the Mansfelder See- und Gebirgskreis (without the former court commission Ermsleben) joined. In 1881 the city of Delitzsch followed, in 1894 the district Eckartsberga, in 1895 the districts Liebenwerda and Torgau, finally in 1920 the district Schweinitz. The Halle Chamber of Industry and Commerce thus comprised the entire administrative district of Merseburg without the district of Sangerhausen, which belonged to the Nordhausen chamber district, and the former Ermsleben court commission (Mansfelder Gebirgskreis) with the town of Ermsleben and the rural communities of Endorf, Meisdorf, Neuplatendorf, Pansfelde, Sinsleben and Wieserode, which were assigned to the Halberstadt chamber district. When it was founded, the Chamber of Commerce consisted of 9 members, and since 1897 it had 54 members elected in 7 constituencies in the Industry, Mining, Wholesale and Retailing sections. In 1936, the Mittelelbe Chamber of Commerce was created for the area of the Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Halle, Halberstadt, Magdeburg and Dessau, i.e. for the Free State of Anhalt, the administrative districts of Magdeburg and Merseburg, and the Braunschweig district of Calvörde. The Mittelelbe Chamber of Commerce was created, which combined the chambers mentioned for its district and corresponded to the middle level of the Reich Economic Chamber. After the order of 16 December 1942 had determined the establishment of the Gauwirtschaftskammer Halle-Merseburg, the Industrie- und Handelskammer Halle and the Wirtschaftskammer Mittelelbe were dissolved with effect from 31 December 1942. Also the rights and duties of the Wirtschaftskammer Mittelelbe were transferred to the Gauwirtschaftskammer Halle-Merseburg on January 1, 1943 - as far as they concerned the district of the former Industrie- und Handelskammer Halle. After the end of the war, the competence of the Halle Chamber of Industry and Commerce was extended to the newly founded province of Saxony, until the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the province of Saxony (from 3 December 1946: Saxony-Anhalt) was formed by decree of the Presidium of the Province of Saxony of 20 April 1946. Inventory information: The files grown up at the Halle Chamber of Industry and Commerce were probably subjected to an extensive cassation at the end of the 19th century, from which only those volumes of files were spared that were still needed for the current management at that time. Between 1953 and 1958, this older part of the collection, together with the later files, was delivered in three deliveries to the Merseburg branch of the State Archives. In 1968, this part of the collection was transferred to Magdeburg and supplemented with regard to the index data; in 1969, the remainder of the collection was finally taken over by the Magdeburg State Archives, listed and integrated into the existing collection. During the processing of documents of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce of the Halle district in the 1990s, further documents from the period before 1945 could be identified and assigned to the holdings. Additional information: A typewritten index is available for the examination documents of the individual trades (8.6.). Literature: The Chamber of Commerce building in Halle a. d. Saale. Memorandum on the inauguration on 12 May 1902 - W. Hoffmann, the Halle Chamber of Commerce. Memorandum on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Chamber of Commerce, Halle 1902 - The Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Halle, edited by the management, Leipzig 1937 - Dalchow, Irmtraud, Die Industrie- und Handelskammer Halle-Dessau: 150 Jahre Kammergeschichte in Mitteldeutschland 1844 - 1994 Festschrift der IHK Halle-Dessau zum 150jährigen Jubiläum, Halle 1995.