After 1859, when the absolutist regime in the Habsburg Monarchy fell and gave way to the age of constitution, the Austrian half of the state saw in 1868 the establishment of districts in compliance with the principle of separation of judiciary from the administration. Individual crown provinces established districts which were placed under the rule of district governors. In the district of Litija, the period from its establishment to 1881 was marked by German liberal district governors who would often come into conflict with the local Slovenian population. The struggle between the German and Slovenian side reflected on political, social, national and religious level, until the German liberals lost both state and provincial power. The placement of Slovenes at the helm of the province of Carniola and Litija's district administration in the early 1880s brought about a new wind of change which blew away German supremacy.