Die Pläne zur Neugliederung der Verwaltung in Siebenbürgen. Zu den Anfängen der Aufhebung der Siebenbürgisch-Sächsischen Autonomie nach dem Ausgleich
Plans for the Administrative Reorganization of Transylvania and the Beginnings of the Abrogation of the Saxon Autonomy after the Compromise of 1867

Summary/Abstract: In the modern era, European states conferred, by means of a centralizing policy, political meanings to the territory, henceforth perceived as a “national“ territory. The homogenizing tendencies of national states, however, often faced resistance from the embattled autonomies or the targeted nationalities. The debates on the administrative reorganization of Transylvania, including the reorganization of the “Königsboden“ in mid-nineteenth century and especially in the first years following the Compromise of 1867, are telling examples in this respect. The present article makes a detailed analysis of these debates. After a period of transition that witnessed heated debates between the promoters of the principle of state centralization and those of local autonomies, the great administrative reform from 1876 abrogated the autonomy of the “Königsboden“ and replaced it with several counties. The principle of centralism prevailed over the preservation of local autonomies, but this was a double-edged victory: on the one hand, it contributed to the strengthening of the state apparatus, but on the other hand, it weakened the adherence of nationalities to the new state organization as well as their participation in the political life.

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