History of the authorities The legation in Hamburg was one of the most important diplomatic representations of Prussia in Germany. Its importance lay above all in the field of trade and customs policy and shipping. Special emphasis was placed on the economic geographic location of the embassy's area of responsibility as the starting point for German overseas trade and as the end point of the important inland waterways Elbe and Weser. The legation gained an additional significance in the context of colonial politics. The development of the competence of the Hamburg legation is quite complicated, but it should be noted that the three Hanseatic cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck as well as the two Mecklenburg usually belonged to the legation area. From the Tilsit peace of 1807 until the annexation of the Hanseatic cities and Oldenburgs by France in December 1810, the competence of the mission extended to Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz in addition to the states mentioned. After the dissolution of the Hamburg legation in 1810 due to the French annexation of the German North Sea coast, the diplomatic contacts of Prussia to Mecklenburg, bound to the person of the previous legation in Hamburg, were essentially perceived by the legation in Dresden. After the Paris Peace of 30 May 1814, the legation was newly founded and was given a large area of responsibility, which extended not only to the Hanseatic cities and Mecklenburg but also to Hanover, Brunswick, Oldenburg, Schaumburg-Lippe and Lippe-Detmold. In 1832 the representatives near Hanover, Braunschweig, Schaumburg-Lippe and Lippe-Detmold were taken over by the Kassel legation. In 1837 Oldenburg was included in the newly founded mission in Hanover. The area of responsibility thus narrowed to the Hanseatic cities and Mecklenburg remained constant until the dissolution of the Hamburg legation, which took place on 31 March 1920. Heads of Mission 1804 - 1811 Grote, Count August Otto from 1814 - 1830 1830 - 1832 Maltzan, Mortimer from 1832 - 1848 Haenlein, Johann Christian Ferdinand Louis from 1848 - 1859 Kamptz, Carl Ludwig Georg Friedrich Ernst Albert from 1859 - 1867 Richthofen, Baron Emil Carl Heinrich from 1867 - 1869 Kamptz, Carl Ludwig Georg Friedrich Ernst Albert from 1869 - 1872 Magnus, Anton from 1872 - 1875 Rosenberg, Baron Adalbert from 1875 - 1885 Wentzel, Robert Albrecht Friedrich Otto from 1885 - 1890 Kusserow, Heinrich from 1890 - 1894 Thielmann, Baron Max from 1894 - 1895 Kiderlen-Waechter, Alfred from 1895 - 1898 Wallwitz, Count Nikolaus from 1898 - 1902 Metternich, Count Paul from 1902 - 1907 Tschirschky and Boegendorff, Heinrich Leonhard from 1907 - 1908 Heyking, Baron Edmund from 1908 - 1915 Bülow, Gustav Adolf from 1915 - 1920 Quadt von Wyckradt und Isny, Albert inventory description: Inventory history The inventory consisted of five registry or (A-E), which came into the archive between 1834 and 1940. In 1840 a find book was created for Group A, in which the other tax layers were also entered. Accessions No. 8042 to 8168 were combined into groups in January 1870, some of them classified as worthless (cf. VI. HA Nl. Friedländer, G., No. 13, fol. 33). During the Second World War, the Rep. 81 Hamburg stock was transferred to the salt mines in Staßfurt and Schönebeck and brought to the Soviet Union at the end of the war. In 1955 he was returned to the Central State Archives in Merseburg. The stock was divided into the part before 1807 and the part after 1807. The latter part was newly recorded in 1968 by Joachim Nossol and arranged in 1969 under the guidance of Dr. Joachim Lehmann and Roswitha Nagel according to factual aspects. The lowest level of classification is arranged chronologically - while preserving factual contexts. The editorial work was done by the archivist Maria Lehmann, the find book was written by Magdalena Sabor. The history of the institution was written by Dr. Joachim Lehman. In the course of the re-listing of the I. HA Rep. 81 Hanover legation, a file was found which belongs to the Hamburg legation in terms of provenance (old signature Rep. 81 Hanover B 4 a). The Hamburg legation comprises a total of 1,350 files from the period 1804 to 1920, Merseburg, signed in June 1981. Nagel revised Berlin, signed in February 2011 Dr. Puppel last assigned number: ____ to order: GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 81 Hamburg legation: GStA PK, I. HA Rep. 81 legations and consulates after 1807, Hamburg legation finding aids: database; find book, 1 vol.
