Ordinance, issued by the Interior and Police Ministry of Prussia [Present-day Germany]: “9. Whereas experience has shown that foreign merchant-Jews in particular are eager to obtain Prussian passports, and that once they have been issued such, demand their renewal or extension under all kinds of pretense, in order to roam across the country in all directions; thus it is decreed, in particular consideration of these Jews, that an extension of their passports, or any issuance of new Prussian passports or, in their place, letters of transit, may only take place under the most special circumstances, and only with the approval of the government of the [Prussian] state in which they are staying. Any replacement for a supposedly lost passport can only consist of a limited passport for a straight return to their hometown, including a specific travel route. 10. Regarding Jewish merchants residing in Prussia, it is also ordered, so as to prevent them from any unauthorized roving, that passports may be issued to them only by the police department of their hometown, or by the superior agency to which that department reports. Should such a passport expire while its bearer is somewhere other than his hometown, an extension my be granted for only 6 weeks, unless there is reason to send him back home immediately.”
Kletke, M.G. (ed.). Organisation des Judenwesens im Großherzogthum Posen (Organization of Jewish Affairs in the Grand Duchy of Posen). Heymann: Berlin, 1843. Page 314. Researched by Dominik Jacobs 4/15/2020