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The ''Amtmann'' or ''Ammann'' (in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
) was an official in German-speaking countries of Europe and in some of the Nordic countries from the time of the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
whose office was akin to that of a
bailiff
A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary.
Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...
. He was the most senior
retainer (''
Dienstmann'') of an ''
Amt''; the administrative office of a
territorial lord (''
Landesherr'') created to manage the estates of manors (''Gutshöfe''), castles and villages. The estates were both administrative as well as juridical districts. The ''Amtmann'' was usually a member of the nobility or a cleric. In towns, he was also often a member of the wealthy classes amongst the citizenship. He resided in an ''Amthaus'' or ''Amtshaus'' and collected taxes from the district (''Amtsbezirk''), administered justice and maintained law and order with a small, armed unit.
Later, the word ''
Beamter'' superseded the older word ''Amtmann'' and has come to mean "official" or "civil servant". The word ''Amtmann'' is derived from ''ambet-ambachtos'' - "one sent round", Celtic: Latin ''ambactus'' "envoy", "herold", "servant", French, ''ambassadeur'', "ambassador". By contrast, the Icelandic word ''ambátt'', "female slave" and the Norwegian ''ambått'' "room maid", "maiden", emerged from the Celtic-Latin via Old German/Old Nordic.
In
Holstein during the Danish era (to 1864) the ''Amtmann'' was the senior official of a sovereign department (''landesherrliches Amt''). As head of the administration he was subordinate from 1546 to the ministry (German Chancellery) in Copenhagen. The ''Amtmann'' was also a secular judge of the trial court (''erster Instanz'') and, together with the ''
Propst'' or
provost, made up the ecclesiastical court or
consistory (''Konsistorium''). In a literary testimony to the office,
Detlev von Liliencron wrote a ballad called ''"Pidder Lüng"'' in which there is an ''Amtmann'' of
Tønder, called Henning Pogwisch.
In Switzerland the ''Ammann'' (''Amtmann'') was an office, since the Middle Ages, elected by the citizens who was the leader of the executive of a
canton (''
Landammann''), a town (''
Stadtammann'') or a parish (''
Gemeindeammann'').
Official use today
Today in Germany, an ''Amtmann'' is the official title for an official (''
Beamter'') of
pay band (''Besoldungsordnung'') A 11 in the "upper service" level (''gehobener Dienst'') of the
German Civil Service, corresponding to an
Army Captain.
In the Austrian state of
Burgenland, ''Amtmann'' is the title of a municipal official.
The feminine form, ''Amtfrau'' (e.g. ''Regierungsamtfrau'' - ''RAmtfr'' - or ''Zollamtfrau'' - ''ZAF'') has become widely accepted. For a time the word ''Amtmännin'' was also used instead of ''Amtfrau''. This term was formerly the norm in several German states and the federal administration. It has however largely disappeared, albeit in the Federal Customs Administration the title ''Zollamtmännin'' (an alternative to ''Zollamtfrau'') has been chosen. Originally the introduction of official titles such as ''Justizamtfrau'' was started in the 1970s by a Lower Saxon female official/law enforcement officer who refused her posting order as long as it was not made out in the feminine form. In Switzerland, a female ''
Landammann'' is usually titled and referred to as ''Frau Landammann''.
See also
*
Amman (disambiguation)
*
Ammann (disambiguation)
* ''
Bezirksamtmann''
General and cited references
* Hans-Cord Sarnighausen: "Die alten Amtschreiber und Amtmänner", in: ''Zeitschrift für Niederdeutsche Familienkunde'', Issue 4/2000, pp. 147–152.
External links
Karl Kroeschell: ''Der Amtmann. Zur Kulturgeschichte eines Juristenberufs.'' 2000*
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