Kreis Westerhausen:

Consituent Ämter

The Ämter of Westerhausen and Stecklenberg were subdivisions of the County of Regenstein-Blankenburg—a fief of the Bishop of Halberstadt. When Regenstein-Blankenburg was permanently partitioned in 1599, Westerhausen and Stecklenberg 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 two Ämter were turned over to other parties. Until 1643, that role was filled by the Prince of Brunswick-Harburg, then by the Count of Tattenbach. Halberstadt evicted the Count and assumed administrative responsibility in 1670.

 

At some point after Halberstadt’s 1701 absorption into the Kingdom of Prussia (I estimate 1775), the various Ämter were organized into Kreise. Westerhausen and Stecklenberg constituted Kreis Westerhausen, which survived until the end of the Holy Roman Empire, when the Westerhausen area was assigned to the Kingdom of Westphalia (a Napoleonic client state).

 

In 1815, beyond the scope of this project, the villages of the former Ämter of Westerhausen and Stecklenberg (excepting Regenstein castle) were assigned to Kreis Aschersleben, where they remained until 1901.