For purposes of tracking the countries that arose in the Anhalt region between 1606 and 1863, the following web pages proved exceptionally useful:
- Janik, Hans-Jürgen, “Territorial development of Anhalt between 1606 and 1863,” undated in three parts:
- Territoriale Entwicklung Anhalts zwischen1606 und 1611 (val-anhalt.de)
- Territoriale Entwicklung Anhalts zwischen1611 und 1793 (val-anhalt.de)
- Territoriale Entwicklung Anhalts zwischen1797 und 1863 (val-anhalt.de)
I defer to Janik when he contradicts Wikipedia articles. I disagree with Janik on only one issue—the geographic extent of Amt Kleutsch during the period in which it was part of Anhalt-Wörlitz. Based on Fabri (see below), I believe that it consisted solely of the village of that name—not the villages in Amt Pötnitz where Kleutsch landed after the demise of Anhalt-Wörlitz.
For purposes of assigning villages to Ämter, three books available on Google Books contain lists of villages by Amt and principality.
- Fabri, Johann Ernst (1793), Geographie für alle Stände – Google Books;
- Bäntsch, Lebrecht Ludwig (1801), Handbuch der Geographie und Geschichte des gesammten Fürstenthums Anhalt – Google Books;
- Lindner, Heinrich (1833), Geschichte und Beschreibung des Landes Anhalt – Google Books.
The three do not always agree on everything, but that is largely a matter of timing. Fabri published before the demise of Anhalt-Zerbet, Bäntsch published after the demise of Anhalt-Zerbst but before the major local government reforms in Anhalt-Köthen (1812) and Anhalt-Dessau (1819), and Lindner published after the reforms. Among the three of them, they provide reliable guidance for assigning villages to formal Ämter between 1793 and 1833. They also provide guidance on assigning villages outside the system of Ämter to Gerichte or Samtgerichte, but that required some judgement, which I explain in the relevant subdivision pages.
Other sources were required to determine when Ämter were abolished prior to 1793 (Freckleben) or created after 1833 (Jeßnitz). I can find no precise source for Freckleben, but Bertram (Geschichte des hauses und fürstenthums Anhalt – Google Books) recognized Amt Freckleben in 1780 while Fabri in 1793 did not. I propose splitting the difference and using 1787 as the date Freckleben was merged into Amt Sandersleben. In contrast, the Landesarchiv provides a clear description of the creation of Amt Jeßnitz in 1837 (Z 51 Justizamt Jeßnitz, 1796-1846 (Bestand)[Location: Dessau] (sachsen-anhalt.de).
Return to master list of countries and subdivisions in the Anhalt region