A ( ) or 'Circle' was an administrative division of the Habsburg monarchy and Austrian Empire between 1748 and 1867.
History
Creation
After the Prussian annexation of the bulk of Silesia following the First and Second Silesian Wars, it became apparent that Frederick II's administrative structures allowed him to take much higher tax revenues from the area. Therefore, in the years following end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, Maria Theresa and Joseph II enacted several administrative reforms with Prussia as a model, and the old territorial divisions were converted into new . These reforms were carried out by Maria Theresa's advisor Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Haugwitz and continued under chancellor Prince Wenzel Anton von Kaunitz-Rietberg from 1760. The bureaucratisation in the form of ('circle offices', ) lessened the influence of the estates by essentially separating them from the administration of the realms.
The origin of the as a unit of administration lay in Bohemia, where ( in German) had existed as territorial units since the 14th century (see Bohemia § Historical administrative divisions). Through the reform the system was further developed and applied to the Habsburgs' other realms (other than Hungary). In the Archduchy of Austria and Duchy of Styria the old quarters () served as a basis for the new (Waldviertel, Mostviertel, Industrieviertel and Weinviertel in Lower Austria; Innviertel, Hausruckviertel, Mühlviertel, and Traunviertel in Upper Austria; ).
The Hungarian counterparts were the ( or , formerly spelled ; ), which had existed for much longer and were dominated by the nobility.
In Lombardy–Venetia (1815–1859/66) there were "delegations", which gave rise to the later Provinces.
After 1848
The ('office districts'), or more precisely the ('district offices'), created in the reforms which followed the Revolutions of 1848 (specifically those of 1849 and 1853), largely took over the responsibilities of the . These were proposed as early as 1849 by Interior Minister Alexander von Bach as part of a necessary reform to the administrative apparatus to deal with the increase in the number citizens interacting with the offices following the final abolition of serfdom in 1848. The administrations were thereby subdivided into subordinate . Some smaller were abolished or merged. The system was also expanded to the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar (formerly part of southern Hungary) and the Grand Duchy of Transylvania in the course of these reforms.
The statutory cities were also excluded from administration, much like they are excluded from the modern districts ().
Abolition
With the creation of the political districts () in 1868, which go back to the December Constitution of 1867, the divisions were abolished and replaced with much more finely divided divisions; however, the newly created district commissions () were strongly influenced by the former administrations.
Organisation
With the there was for the first time a level of administration between the manors and free cities and the (in the crown lands the gubernatorial administration). At the head of every was a (roughly 'circle/district captain/head'; see ), whose officials were entrusted with clearly defined tasks, which significantly disempowered the estates in financial matters. The were the lowest level of political administration. This brought together direct oversight of taxation, as well as the conscription and recruitment system, the supervision of schools and poorhouses, the supervision of the individual municipalities and the protection of the peasants before the manor lords. The captains were obliged to travel to the at least once per year or allow the inspectors to visit. For this the captains received a state salary, but were not allowed to hold any other lordly or stately offices and were bound to their instructions.
The were subordinate to the (the administrative bodies of the crown lands, roughly governorates).
Legacy
Despite numerous reforms, the borders of the are still roughly visible in the 39 Austrian electoral districts. Also the divisions () of the district courts (; now regional courts – ) are essentially equivalent to those of the former . The 35 NUTS 3 regions are loosely aligned with the former divisions.
List of
The following is a list of the and statutory cities in the non-Hungarian lands of the Austrian Empire (Cisleithania in later terminology) ; pre-1848 are also listed where applicable.