Amt Bilstein was an administrative district in what is now the region of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. Its territory corresponded more or less with the current municipality of Lennestadt. It was first mentioned in 1434 (''"Johan van dem Broike, Amtmann zu Bylstein"'' = "John of the Broike, Bailiff of Bylstein") and, until 1803, was part of the

Duchy of Westphalia The Duchy of Westphalia (german: Herzogtum Westfalen) was a historic territory in the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 1102 to 1803. It was located in the greater region of Westphalia, originally one of the three main regions in the Germa ...

and thus the

Electorate of Cologne The Electorate of Cologne (german: Kurfürstentum Köln), sometimes referred to as Electoral Cologne (german: Kurköln, links=no), was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire that existed from the 10th to the early 19th century. ...

, before it was transferred to the

Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

, from which, in 1806 the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

emerged. Following a ruling by the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

this association came to an end and, on 1 August 1816, the territory of the ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'' became part of the newly formed

Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg Arnsberg () is one of the five Regierungsbezirke of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the west-central part of the country. It covers the Sauerland hills as well as the east part of the Ruhr area. The region was founded in 1815 as a sub ...

in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

Province of Westphalia The Province of Westphalia () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1815 to 1946. In turn, Prussia was the largest component state of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, of the Weimar Republic and from 1918 ...

. It became a subdivision of the ''Kreis'' Olpe. The ''Amt'' was disbanded in 1969.

Literature

* Günter Becker und Hans Mieles: ''Bilstein - Land, Burg und Ort - Beiträge zur Geschichte des Raumes Lennestadt und der ehemaligen Herrschaft Bilstein'', Im Auftrag der Stadt Lennestadt zusammengestellt von Günther Becker, Lennestadt, 1975.

References

{{Authority control Bilstein Olpe (district)