The Alte Land consisted, in the old political setting, of twelve main local bodies (entirety of the farms) and six jurisdictions. The main local bodies nor the juristictions were communities as we know them today but only under-counties, 'districts'. The community was the Alte Land, their representation the provincial assembly.
The leader, in Low German dialect called 'Höfmann', was the representative of his district. The leader were members of the provincial assembly and conducted before the meetings the points of view of the 'interested parties' (owner of four or more acre of land) of their districts and were binded to the conclusion at the poll of the assembly. For the lord mayor the head of the Altlaender autonomy and auditor of the regional bank they were so to speak under-auditors, who had to collect for their district the fall of ones shares as well as the state contribution, which means the state tax. They didn't get any compensation for the administration but were reimbursed for their loss of time and their cash expences and were able to claim this in an 'village-invoice'. The village-invoice was written in a 'village-book' every year and checked by the auditors. For the consumption (beer, brandy and tobacco) a special sum was given. A small judicial authority was given to the leaders.
Visit our other information pages as well:
Community Lühe in the Alte Land - introduction
Worth seeing in Lühe - the heart of the Alte Land 
Schiffahrtsmuseum ( shipping museum)in Twielenfleth
The St. Marien church in Grünendeich
Guided tours through Alte Land
Deutschland
