Sołtysi we wsiach królewskich Prus Zachodnich w latach 1772–1872. Zarys problematyki
Village Administrators in the Royal Villages of West Prussia, 1772–1872: An Outline of the Research Problem

Summary/Abstract: The village administrator (Pol. sołtys, Ger. Schulz), assisted by two assessors, represented the lowest level of public administration and judiciary in West Prussia. At the same time, the administrator acted as the representative of the local community before higher authorities, forming an essential element of rural self-government. This office was abolished by the District Ordinance of 13 December 1872. Despite its significance, the operation of village administrators in West Prussia has not yet been comprehensively examined in Polish historiography. These matters are typically overlooked in monographs on municipalities and individual localities. The present article seeks to analyse the functioning of village administrators in the northern part of West Prussia between 1772 and 1872. The research focuses on village administration in royal estates, primarily due to the relatively well-preserved source material. The study draws mainly on files produced by domain offices, and to a lesser extent on records from Landrat offices, the Danzig (Pol. Gdańsk) Government Region, and printed official journals. The article discusses key issues such as the legal framework governing village administration offices, the procedure for appointing village administrators, categories of administrators (hereditary and elected), their remuneration, and the institution of village administration diets. Certain aspects, particularly the practical functioning of the head of the municipality office, are addressed only briefly and require more extensive future research.

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