Kreis Osterwieck:

Amt Westerburg (formerly part of Regenstein)

Amt Westerburg was a subdivision of the County of Regenstein-Blankenburg—a fief of the Bishop of Halberstadt. It was disconnected from the rest of the County, being well to the north of Halberstadt. When Regenstein-Blankenburg was permanently partitioned in 1599, Westerburg nominally reverted to Halberstadt. However, the Bishop of Halberstadt was also the Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and administrative responsibility was ambiguous. Then, beginning in 1635, ownership and administrative responsibilities for the Amt was turned over to other parties. Until 1643, that role was filled by the Prince of Brunswick-Harburg, then by the Count of Tattenbach. In 1650, shortly after the Bishopric was secularized, the ruling Hohenzollern family acquired Westerburg castle.

 

At some point after Halberstadt’s 1701 absorption into the Kingdom of Prussia (I estimate 1775), the various Ämter were organized into Kreise. Amt Westerburg, like other Ämter to its south and west, was assigned to Kreis Osterwieck, where it remained until the end of the Holy Roman Empire, when it was assigned to the Kingdom of Westphalia, a Napoleonic client state.

 

In 1815, beyond the scope of this project, the Kreise were restored. Westerburg and Rohrsheim were initially assigned to Kreis Oschersleben and Deersheim was assigned to Kreis Osterwieck. In 1825, however, all were reassigned to Kreis Halberstadt, where they remained until 1932.