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The Courland Governorate, also known as the Province of Courland,The English Cyclopaedia By Charles Knigh
/ref> Governorate of Kurland (german: Kurländisches Gouvernement; russian: Курля́ндская губерния, translit=Kurljándskaja gubernija; lv, Kurzemes guberņa; lt, Kuršo gubernija; et, Kuramaa kubermang) and known from 1795 to 1796 as the Viceroyalty of Courland was one of the Baltic governorates of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
, that is now part of the Republic of Latvia. The governorate was created in 1795 out of the territory of the
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...
that was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the province of Courland with its capital at
Mitau Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united D ...
(now Jelgava), following the third partition of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
. Courland and Livonia were united to form new state Republic of Latvia on 18 November 1918.


Geography

The governorate was bounded in the north by the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
, the
Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main c ...
and the Governorate of Livonia; west by the Baltic Sea; south by the Vilna Governorate and
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 e ...
and east by the
Vitebsk Governorate Vitebsk Governorate (russian: Витебская губерния, ) was an administrative unit ( guberniya) of the Russian Empire, with the seat of governorship in Vitebsk. It was established in 1802 by splitting the Byelorussia Governorate an ...
and
Minsk Governorate The Minsk Governorate (russian: Минская губерния, Belarusian: ) or Government of Minsk was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. The seat was in Minsk. It was created in 1793 from the land acquired in the partiti ...
. The population in 1846 was estimated at 553,300. It was situated between 55°41' and 57°45' N. Of its total border of 1,260 versts (1,344 km), the sea border is 320 versts (341 km). The border with Prussia is only 6 versts (6.4 km) long and lacks natural boundaries. The surface area of the province is 23,977 square versts (27,290 km2).


Subdivisions

After the annexation to the Russian Empire, the Kurzeme Governorate united the lands of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia and the Piltene district, both of which retained their previous administrative divisions. After the administrative reform of 1819, the area of Pilten was incorporated into the territory of the province as the district of Windau (Hauptmannschaft Windau) and the district of Hasenpoth (Hauptmannschaft Hasenpoth). After the reform of 1819, the castle lord of Kandava moved to Talsi. The area of Palanga up to the Prussian border was also added to the Kurzeme province from the Vilna governorate. The province was divided into ten districts, or Hauptmannschaft, whose administrative authorities were located in the towns of the same name, with the exception of Talsi and Ilūkste, which had only the rights of towns. Each district had its own court with a local police force. Until 1864, every two districts were merged into Oberhauptmannschaft, which contained the Oberhauptmann and the Evangelical Lutheran Church dean's districts under the authority of the Oberhofgericht (Court of the Governor's Court). The counties of the governorate were:


Law

The highest court is the Courts of Kurland (Kurländisches Oberhofgericht), the courts of appeal are the Higher Hauptmanns Courts (Oberhauptmannsgericht), The courts of first instance are the Hauptmannsgericht, the county courts (kreisgericht) for the peasantry, and the lowest level of the court system for the peasantry are the parish courts (Gemeindegericht).


Administration

The province of Courland was governed by a governor appointed by the emperor. The representative body of local government was the Landtag (Kurländischer Landtag), which consisted of parish commissioners (Kirchspielsbevollmächtigter, Konvokant) elected by the parishes (Landtagskirchspiel, Parochie) by parish assemblies (Kirchspielsversammlung), In the parish meetings (Kirchspielsversammlung) all large landowners of the parish could participate, the executive body - a noble committee headed by a land commissioner (Landesbevollmächtige) was elected to conduct its sessions. The residence of the governors was in Jelgava Castle, where the governorate's administrative offices were also located. During the existence of the Baltic Governorate (1801-1876, 1906–1909), the governors of Kurzeme were subordinate to the governor-general of the Baltic Provinces (German: ''Generalgouverneur der Ostseeprovinzen'')., who resided in the Riga Castle. Until Russification, almost all governors of Courland were German-Baltic noblemen. Until then, the language of administration in the highest authorities and courts of the province was German, but in the parish courts, according to the Courland peasant laws, the records were also kept in Latvian. *1795 – 1796 Baron Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen (temporary governor-general of Courland and Pilten) *1796 – 1798 Count Gustav Matthias Jakob von der Wenge genannt Lambsdorff *1798 – 1800 Baron Wilhelm Carl Heinrich von der Oest genannt Driesen *1800 – 1808 Nikolay Ivanovich Arsenyev *1808 Jakob Maximilian von Brieskorn (acting governor on 18–21 May 1812) *1808 – 1811 Baron Jan Willem Hogguer *1811 Jakob Maximilian von Brieskorn (acting governor in August–September 1812) *1811 – 1816 Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Sivers (1748–1823) (in exile in Riga during Napoleonic invasion of Courland in July–December 1812) *1812 Jules de Chambaudoin and Charles de Montigny (French intendants of Courland, Semigallia and Pilten on 1 August-8 October 1812) *1812 Jacques David Martin (French governor-general of Courland on 8 October-20 December 1812) *1816 – 1824 Emannuel von Stanecke *1824 – 1827 Paul Theodor von Hahn (1793–1862) *1827 – 1853 Christoph Engelbrecht von Brevern *1853 Aleksandr Petrovich Beklemishev (acting governor on 10 May–14 June 1853) *1853 – 1858 Pyotr Aleksandrovich Valuyev *1858 (acting governor on 10–21 May 1858) *1858 – 1868 Johann von Brevern *1868 – 1885 Paul Frommhold Ignatius von Lilienfeld-Toal *1885 Aleksandr Alekseyevich Manyos *1885 – 1888 Konstantin Ivanovich Pashchenko *1888 – 1891 Dmitry Sergeyevich Sipyagin *1891 – 1905 Dmitry Dmitriyevich Sverbeyev *1905 – 1906 Woldemar Alexander Valerian von Boeckmann *1906 – 1910 Leonid Mikhailovich Knyazev *1910 Nikolay Dmitriyevich Kropotkin *1910 – 1915 *1915–1917 Tatishchev, Pyotr Vasilyevich Gendrikov, Strakhov (in exile in Tartu after the German invasion of Courland in July 1915).


Economy

In the 19th century the province was predominantly agrarian. In 1817, serfdom was abolished in the province and peasants were granted personal freedom, but all land remained the property of landlords. In 1863 the peasants received the right to buy land as personal property, and a class of land owning peasants began to form. The land owning peasants, along with the German landlords, were the main suppliers of commercial agricultural products. The main crops grown in the province were rye, wheat, barley, peas, oats, and potatoes. Horticulture and gardening are well developed. Industry of the province is mostly manufacturing. In 1912 there were about 200 factories and plants (mills, vodka mills, sawmills, tanneries, brick mills, flax-spinning factories, etc.) and about 500 cottage industries. Railway construction was developing on the territory of the province. The Riga - Mitava railroad was built in 1867 and in 1871-76 a section of the Libava - Romena railroad. All in all the length of the railway lines in the province was over 560 versts. Education in the province was better than the Russian average. In the 1910s there were 8 secondary schools (over 3 thousand students), 13 special secondary schools (over 460 students), 790 lower secondary schools (36.9 thousand students) in the province. In the province in 1913 there were 33 hospitals with 1,300 beds.


Language

*By the Imperial census of 1897.Language Statistics of 1897
In bold are languages spoken by more people than the state language.


See also

*
Reval Governorate Revel Governorate or Tallinn Governorate (russian: Ревельская губерния) was an administrative unit in the Russian Empire from 1719 to 1783. History The Tallinn Governorate was originally formed in 1719, by the Russian Tsar Peter th ...
* Riga Governorate * Saint Petersburg Governorate *
Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia ...


References and notes

{{Authority control Governorates of the Russian Empire
Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia ...