Autocracy or the Negotiation of Power? Prince Leopold III. Friedrich Franz of Anhalt-Dessau (1758-1817) and his practice of government

利奥波德三世·弗里德里希·弗朗茨王子（1758-1817）尤其以他的“花园王国”Wörlitz而闻名。在历史研究中，他被认为是18世纪末启蒙运动和重大政治改革的倡导者。他作为开明改革者的名声主要是由温克尔曼、歌德或巴塞多等当代作家的言论创造的。然而，他的政治统治的日常实践还不是任何详细研究的一部分。因此，他的政府实践是这个研究项目的一部分。弗朗茨王子的“Kabinettsprotokolle”是深入了解他具体治理方式的独特来源。它们包含了所有写给统治者的请愿书以及他的回应和决定（大约105000条条目），因此可以详细了解从七年战争到拿破仑帝国崩溃之间的独裁统治者的统治实践。这个研究项目应该第一次分析“Kabinettsprotokolle”，并使我们能够重新考虑利奥波德·弗里德里希·弗朗茨作为其领土的开明改革者的观点。他的政府实践可以理解为他自己、他的官员和他的臣民之间的一种权力谈判。将安哈尔特-德绍的统治实践与神圣罗马帝国的其他领土进行比较，以确定谈判权力的典型和特殊因素，这将是调查的一部分。经过两年半的工作，王子的决定和回应比任何其他关于神圣罗马帝国德意志领土请愿的调查都要多。然而，对“Kabinettsprotokolle”的调查以及对决策和响应的编目花费的时间比我们第一次申请时预期的要多。如果我们能把资助再延长一年，我们就能完成对弗朗茨王子的决定和反应的编目，我们就能把调查结果发表在一本准备出版的专著中。

Prince Leopold III Friedrich Franz (1758-1817) is particularly famous for his so called “garden kingdom” of Wörlitz. In historical research he is known as an advocate of enlightenment and of substantial political reform at the end of the eighteenth century. His reputation as an enlightened reformer was mainly created by statements of contemporary authors like Winckelmann, Goethe or Basedow. The daily practice of his political rule, however, was not yet part of any detailed research. His practice of government is therefore part of this research project. The “Kabinettsprotokolle” of prince Franz are a unique source of getting deep insights in his specific way of government. They contain all petitions addressed to the ruler and his responses and decisions (approximately 105.000 entries) and therefore open a detailed insight in the governing practice of an autocrat ruler in the time between the Seven-Years-War and the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire.The research project should analyze the “Kabinettsprotokolle” for the first time and should enable us to reconsider the view of Leopold Friedrich Franz as an enlightened reformer of his territory. His governmental practice could be understood as a kind of negotiation of power between himself, his office-holders and his subjects. It will be part of the investigation to compare the ruling practice within Anhalt-Dessau with other territories of the Holy Roman Empire to identify rather typical as well as particular elements of negotiating power.After two and a half year of work more decesions and responses of the Prince are yet registered than in any other investigation about petitioning in German territories of the Holy Roman Empire. The investigation of the “Kabinettsprotokolle“ and the cataloguing of the decisions and responses has been more time spending, however, than expected at the time of our first application. If we will get a prolongation of funding for a further year we could complete the cataloguing of the decisions and responses of Prince Franz and we could present the results of the investigation in a monograph ready for print.