Bezirksamtmann

Bezirksamtmann (plural Bezirksamtleute) is a German administrative title of gubernatorial or lower rank, roughly translating as equivalent to the British District Officer. It is derived from Bezirk ("district") + Amtmann ("official").

Colonial use

The title was used for colonial officials in the following minor German Schutzgebiete (i.e. colonial possessions of various status) in the Pacific: (probably incomplete list)

• Jaluit (Marshall Islands), subordinate of the colonial governor of German New Guinea
  • 1906 - 30 April 1907 Victor Berg (b. 1861 - d. 1907)
  • 1907 Joseph Siegwantz (acting)
  • 1908 - November 1909 Wilhelm Stuckhardt (d. 1909)
  • November 1909 - 1910 Berghausen (interim)
  • 1910 - 1911 Georg Merz; he stayed on as only Stationsleiter ('Station chief') (1911 - 3 October 1914), subordinate to the Eastern Caroline islands district, see below
• Nauru, until 1888 a tribal protectorate, till 1889 under a Reichskommissar
  • 2 October 1888 - May 1889 Robert Rasch (acting)
  • May 1889 - 1895 Christian Johannson
  • 1895 - 1898 Fritz Jung
  • 1899 - 1906 Ludwig Kaiser (b. 1862 - d. 1906); afterwards the jurisdiction was downgraded and administered by Station Chiefs (Stationsleiter), from 1911 subordinated to the administrators of Ponape district (in the Eastern Carolinas, cfr. infra)
• Marianen Inseln (German for 'Marianas Islands', i.e. the Northern Marianas, sold by Spain), as subordinate of the colonial governor of German New Guinea :
  • November 1899 - April 1907 Georg Fritz (on Saipan)
  • 1904 - 1907 Volker Reichel (on Rota island); afterwards administered by a Stationsleiter ('Station chief') who was subordinated to a district officer in Micronesia and thus to his superiors
• in Micronesia, which was 18 July 1899 - 7 October 1914 under the authority of the governors of German New Guinea (and their Vice-governors of German New Guinea, which had the general supervision over the island districts), there were two island districts, under District officers which from 1889 were styled Bezirksamtmann:
  • Western Caroline islands (Yap and Palau [and from 1907 Saipan)
    • 29 June 1886 - 18.. Manuel de Elisa
    • .... - .... ....
    • before November 1897 - after November 1898 S. Cortes
    • 1899 - 1909 Arno Senfft (b. 1864 - d. 1909)
    • 1909 Rudolf Karlowa
    • 1909 - 1910 Georg Fritz
    • 1910 - 1911 Hermann Kersting
    • 1911 - 1914 Baumert
  • Eastern Caroline islands (Ponape [and from 1911 the Marshall Islands, cfr. supra])
    • June 1886 - 1887 Capriles
    • 14 March 1887 - 1887 Isidro Posadillo (d. 1887)
    • October 1887 - January 1891 Luis Cadarso y Rey (d. 1898)
    • c.1894 Concha
    • before November 1897 - after November 1898 J. Fernandez de Cordoba
    • 12 October 1899 - August? 1901 Albert Hahl (b. 1868 - d. 1945)
    • 1 September 1901 - 30 April 1907 Victor Berg (b. 1861 - d. 1907)
    • 1907 - 1908? Girschner (acting)
    • 1908 - 1909 Georg Fritz
    • 1909 - 18 October 1910 Gustav Boeder (d. 1910)
    • 1910 - 7 October 1914 August Überhorst ...

German speaking countries

Germany

The Bezirksamtmann used to be the head officer of the Bezirksamt (district) in Bavaria and the Palatinate between 1862 and 1920.

Switzerland

Several cantons in Switzerland have a Bezirksamtmann or Bezirksammann as head officer of the Bezirksamt (district).

Sources and references

• WorldStatesmen- links to each nation