Amt Schauen

Amt Schauen, consisting solely of the village of the same name, was a possession of the Abbacy of Walkenried (in Ecclesiastical Germany) after 1200. Sovereignty passed, along with the rest of Walkenried, to the County of Hohnstein in 1578 and to Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (in Guelphic Germany) in 1593. Until 1610, administrative responsibilities fell to the County of Stolberg, the Wernigerode portion of which was located on its southern border. After that, Schauen was owned and administered by Statius von Münchhausen, the Drost of Grohnde (hence, the simplified name of Wolfenbüttel-Schauen-Grohnde) until 1616, and then by the Halberstadt cathederal chapter. Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel lost sovereignty under the 1648 Peace of Westphalia (leaving Schauen in Lower Noble Germany), but administrative responsibilities still fell to foreigners—officials of Brunswick-Celle until 1665 and of Waldeck-Eisenberg until 1689. At that time, Schauen became fully independent and the “Amt” designation became meaningless.

 

In 1816, beyond the scope of this project, Schauen was incorporated into Prussia and was initially assigned to Kreis Osterwieck. In 1825, it was shifted to Kreis Halberstadt, where it remained until 1932.