Preface
When reading a simplified place name from left to right, the levels always progress from lower to higher. If you’re an American (which I am), it might help to think of it in American terms—for example, the full place name that a genealogy program wants you to provide for Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania is as follows:
Drexel Hill, Upper Darby, Delaware, Pennsylvania, United States
Drexel Hill is part of Upper Darby Township, which is part of Delaware County, which is part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which is part of the United States. The type of jurisdiction, however, is not included in the simplified name—for that you need to consult the fully-specified name, which is displayed further down the results page in the right-hand column. When listing the fully-specified name of a jurisdictional level, I am deliberately inconsistent in my language choices:
- Below the country level, I use the German term for the jurisdiction type. I do that because the German terms frequently do not translate to English words that are typically associated with types of local governments (e.g., bailiwick, office, or circle). I don’t think that using the English terms would be very helpful and having the German term is helpful if you want to search German-language material for more information.
- At the country level, I use the English term for the jurisdiction type. Those jurisdiction types (e.g., principalities, duchies, and kingdoms) are generally understood in English to refer to countries. There are, however, a few sources of potential confusion:
- Counties are units of local government in English-speaking areas, but in the Holy Roman Empire, they were countries.
- Bishoprics (and archbishoprics) are familiar to English speakers as areas of ecclesiastical authority. But in the Holy Roman Empire, they frequently doubled as secular jurisdictions at the level of the country.
- Cities could be either independent countries or units of local government in the Holy Roman Empire. If I call it a city, it was an independent country. If I call it a Stadt, it was a unit of local government.
- Except in the case of the Kingdom of Prussia, I always include (in English) a level above that of the country to identify the place with Germany. But I never call that level simply “Germany.” My reasoning for that is the subject of an FAQ. Also, some places that are in modern Germany do not get a top-level name referring to “Germany” (for example, places that were in the Duchy of Luxemburg, which was significantly larger than the current Grand Duchy). Check out this FAQ for further discussion of that practice.
The glossary below focuses on German terms used for units of government below the country level. Most of the time, the second level is the only level of local government to appear in the place name. The absence of other levels does not mean that the name is incomplete—its just that most countries had no need of the other levels (Prussia being the most conspicuous exception).
“Smaller subdivision”—lowest level
Vogtei–literally “bailiwick”. When this level is present, it was always the lowest level jursidiction. I frequently ignore Vogteien (the German plural) when constructing full place names. It is only when they were large enough to eventually be promoted to an Amt that I account for them.
Quasi-Vogtei. On rare occasions, certain villages within an Amt were governed differently from others without with a separate formal level of government being created. In those cases, I organize villages that are governed similarly into “quasi-Vogteien”.
“Small subdivision”—second level
Amt–literally “office”. This was the most common level of local government in the German portion of the Holy Roman Empire. Some Ämter (the German plural) consisted of only one or two villages, while others contained dozens of villages. The term is still occasionally used in modern Germany—usually for a jurisdiction between the level of the Gemeinde (equivalent to an American township) and the Kreis (equivalent to an American county).
Sometimes, villages were left out of the system of Ämter—frequently because they were administered by parties other than the sovereign. In those cases, I grouped villages together as coherently as I could and labeled them something different, such as…
- Gericht–literally “court”. I used this term whenever the same nonsovereign administrator exercised jurisdiction over multiple villages. In government archives, it is not uncommon to see such units given the label of “Amt”, even though it did not formally apply to them. There are also cases where “Gericht” is a formal name applied to units at the “smaller subdivision” level.
- Samtgericht–literally “collective court”. I used this term when grouping single-village Gerichte together into units with some geographic coherence. Some geographers of the time created the same groupings and even used the label of “Amt,” but for the most part, such units are strictly my own creation. If you don’t like what I have done, you can delete them from the place name.
- Quasi-Amt. I used this term when an Amt was split, but never formally renamed. The units were not something I made up–they were very real. I’m just giving them unique names to avoid confusion.
- Amt*. I use this term when Gerichte or Samtgerichte were formally incorporated into the system of Ämter without modification. Rather than retroactively recognize the Gericht or Samtgericht as such, I simply label the unit an Amt and add the * to signal that it did not always have that status. I frequently could not find a date on which the transition occurred anyway.
Samtamt–literally “collective office”. This was a formal term for Ämter under the shared jurisdiction of two or more countries. The more common English term for such areas is “condominium,” although condominia could have multiple Ämter.
Stadt–literally “city”. Once a place received “city rights,” from the sovereign, it became a self-governing Stadt, independent of any Amt (even though it might serve as the seat of a nearby Amt). Virginia has similar rules today—hence the proliferation of independent cities in that state.
Stift. This term is typically used to denote a secular unit that is tied to an ecclesiastical unit. At the local level, it refers to a monastery or convent that has administrative responsibility for the territory it owns. (In other sources, you may see the term “Kloster” used instead of Stift. The terms are largely interchangeable, but Stift always implies a secular aspect, while Kloster does not.) Such units are generally equivalent to Ämter. The term “Stift” is occasionally used by historians for country-level jurisdictions (abbacies and bishoprics—archbishoprics were Hochstifte), but I use English terms in those cases.
“Large subdivision”—third level
Kreis–literally “circle,” but usually translated in this context as “district”. This level of government was introduced by the Prussians in the 1700s and consisted of multiple Ämter and Städte. The term is still used in modern Germany for the jurisdictional level equivalent to the American county.
“Larger subdivision”—fourth level
Landesteil–literally “land part”. I use this term to identify areas that used to be countries after they were subsumed by other countries. The residents of such areas typically identified with their former country (and cartographers frequently took note thereof) whether the unit retained any administrative responsibilities or not. Scotland (which does retain some administrative responsibilities) would be an example of a Landesteil in the English-speaking world.