Amt Reinsdorf

and predecessor (pre-1812) Gerichte

A significant number of villages south of Köthen were not owned by any of the Princes of Anhalt in 1606 when the principality was divided, but were placed under the sovereignty of Anhalt-Köthen. Rather than being placed in an Amt, the administration of those villages was the responsibility of the owners. The villages in multi-village Gerichte were under the same administration, similar to an Amt. The villages in “Samtgerichte” were not under the same administration, but I combined those in geographical proximity to one another into collective (Samt) entities comparable in size to the multi-village Gerichte. None of those entities were organized into formal Ämter until 1812, when they were consolidated into a new Amt Reinsdorf.