For a long time German household servants and farm hands lived under special laws, the Gesindeordnungen. In Prussia a royal decree of 29 September 1846 introduced the Gesindedienstbuch, the servant’s service book. A servant who changed employers had to buy the book from the police for 10 Silbergroschen. He had to show it to each new employer. A servant who refused could be dismissed, fined up to 2 Reichstaler or jailed. When he left, the employer wrote into the book ein vollständiges Zeugnis über die Führung und das Benehmen, a complete report on his conduct and behavior. A book issued on 17 November 1858, now in a district archive in Saxony-Anhalt, shows that its holder worked four times as a maid.
On 12 November 1918 the revolutionary government, the Rat der Volksbeauftragten, published an appeal to the German people. One point read: Die Gesindeordnungen werden außer Kraft gesetzt, ebenso die Ausnahmegesetze gegen die Landarbeiter. The servant laws are repealed, and so are the special laws against farm workers.