Kreis Osterwieck:

Städte, Gerichte, and Ämter

that were never part of Regenstein

Osterweick and Hornburg arose in the 10th century within the secular realm of the Bishop of Halberstadt. Several of the surrounding Ämter had connections to religious bodies other the bishop. Amt Dardesheim was controlled by the Halberstadt cathederal provost, Amt Zilly was controlled by the cathederal chapter, and Amt* Stötterlingenburg had been monastery. (It became a formal Amt in 1604—hence the * after Amt. Records before that date place certain nearby villages in different Ämter than do records after that date. I use 1604 as the date those assignments changed.) The Ämter of Hornburg and Wülperode were associated solely with the Bishopric. Gericht Berßel consisted of two villages privately held by the same family and never became a formal Amt.

 

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

 

In 1816, beyond the scope of this project, the Kreise were reestablished. The villages of the former Ämter of Dardesheim (except Roklum) and ZIlly (except Abbenrode) were initially assigned to Kreis Oschersleben. The rest were restored to Kreis Osterwieck. However, in 1825, Kreis Osterwieck was abolished and all of the villages in the above Ämter, except Badersleben, Huy-Nienstedt, and Vogelsdorf, were assigned to Kreis Halberstadt, which remain intact until 1932.

 

In 1941, Hornburg, Isingrode, Roklum, and Tempelhof were traded to Kreis Wolfenbüttel in the Duchy of Brunswick, which became part of Lower Saxony after the war.