was valid until the end of the St Gall rule and in some parts up to the introduction of the Badische Gemeindeordnung in 1832. During the second St Gall rule Ebringen was a domain of the Princely Abbey and was integrated into its political system. But unlike the abbey's Swiss territories, Ebringen remained part of Anterior Austria under Austrian supremacy. Austria was among other things responsible for the legislative, the high courts and for defence and had the right to levy taxes. The St Gall rule was formally secular. The governor ruled as Knight of Ebringen and Norsingen. As a knight he was part of the nobility, not of the clergy of the territorial estates of Anterior Austria, the so-called Breisgauer Landstaende. The local St Gall authorities, headed by the governor, were the supreme local executive, representing both the secular and ecclesiastical power. They were appointed directly by the Abbey of St Gall, independently from the Austrian government. The citizens were until 1782 de jure serfs of St Gall. During the second St Gall rule this meant, that the people had to pay local taxes instead of a corvée of three days per year, as corvée labour wasn't very efficient. Other forms of socage were still in use. In official documents the term Leibeigener (serf) was more and more replaced by Burger (citizen). The citizens were organized in the municipality of Ebringen, headed by a vogt (, derived from Latin advocatus). All municipal officials including the vogt were appointed by the governor in his own right. The municipality had self-government in matters that concerned the citizens themselves. This included both administration and civil jurisdiction. The court was the supreme municipal institution. The court consisted of twelve judges and the vogt as its chairman. The court also had some functions of a municipal council. During the aristocratic rule the ruling noble families changed quite often, so the municipality tried with some success to expand the rights of the commoners and the municipality and to reduce the rights of the nobility and clergy. When St Gall took over Ebringen in 1621, the local ordinance of 1560 remained valid. Between 1760 and 1785 Emperor Joseph II attempted to legislate a series of drastic reforms to remodel Austria in the form of the ideal Enlightened state. The josephinism with compulsory schooling, end of villeinage, reform of justice etc. also affected Ebringen as a mediate