"Verwesern" title, what does it mean?

Question

I recently needed to translate some old texts from King Frederick I of Prussia and his son Frederick William I.

I saw several times a word Verwesern between a list of honorifics, but translating this word brings me something like To Decay or To Rot.

Anyone can figure what it means in this context?

Examples:
Here in the Leben und Thaten des Königs von Preussen Friederici Wilhelmi, Volume 2

Or here in Von Policey

Google translate gives me (correctly), “acting head”. “To decay” in German would be “verwesen” (no second “r”). — Konrad Rudolph, Oct 17 '17 at 09:37
The problem was that I was looking for 'Verwesern' which doesn't yield any results. Not knowing that I can look for 'Verweser' which is the same word only in singular form. — Yisroel Tech, Oct 17 '17 at 12:08

Stephie · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-17T06:18:32.873

A Verweser is a substitute, someone who either

temporarily fills in until a permanent person for a position is found or
regularly takes over a monarch’s duty during his or her absence.

The latter is the meaning in your case. Note that the title or description is no longer used in contemporary German, except in Swiss German in the former sense for temporary jobs or for protestant priests. It can be used in bureaucratic lingo in the former sense, but it's probably not something the average person would actively use.

As you are asking for Verwesern, that’s simply dative plural.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 17 '17 at 04:36

1

This is an old word. As we can read in Wikipedia it describes a supervisor or custodian.

answered Oct 17 '17 at 04:36

harper

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"Verwesern" title, what does it mean?

2 Answers2