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The first attempt at institutionally settling the issue of pensions in the Habsburg Empire, and consequently in Hungary, goes back to the reign of Maria Theresa. The idea of establishing a pension, and taking care of aged officials by giving them a regular fee originates from France. It was Henry IV who first bestowed such dues, and he even took care of the widows of officials. Pensions were established in the Habsburg Empire because the officials sent innumerable petitions asking for a pension and the treasury was very much burdened by these random pensions. Therefore, the establishment of regulated pension was as much in the interest of the prince. Maria Theresa made a statute in 1771 and with it she established the right to a pension. In Europe, besides France and Austria only Prussia had a pension regulation, in which another enlightened prince, Frederick the Great attempted in 1775 to secure the provision of the widows. Nevertheless, a general regulation was introduced only in 1825 in Prussia. After the death of Joseph II the number of superannuation acts increased. These did not change the regulation radically, but rather refined the previous regulation and added corrections that the practice of the regulations made necessary, and took care of the problematic issues that had arisen in the meantime. The regal decree of December 9, 1866 was a pension regulation and not a law as it had not been made in parliamentary conditions. And yet both the Austrian and the Hungarian party upheld it after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and this regulation served as the basis of pensionings for decades onwards. The statute of 1885: XI. "on the superannuation of government officials, official assistants and servants" was sanctioned by Francis Joseph I on May 13, 1885. In comparison with the previous regulations this superannuation act affected the largest extent of people, and it also established pension reciprocity which broadened the borders of the superannuation act, by increasing the number of people affected by it. One of the primary conditions of being a rightful claimant was having a permanent employment. The provision was based on two factors: the accountable time spent in service and the amount of the last accountable allowance. Even those years that one spent in the Austrian state service were taken into account as a pension reciprocity existed between the Hungarian and the Austrian halves of the empire. The regular provisions were not place specific within the boundaries of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, meaning that if a Hungarian citizen lived on the Austrian half of the empire, they still received their Hungarian pension. Those who lived outside the boundaries of the Monarchy required a special permit from the responsible minister as well as those who wanted to utilise the educational contribution of children who were living abroad. The widows and the orphans of government officials, official assistants and servants were not only qualified to receive a widow's pension and an educational contribution, but also to receive a funeral contribution. The regulation stated that a female employee can lay claim to her rightful pension or indemnification even if her husband is still alive, or if she gets special provisions after her husband. The female employee is entitled to keep her pension even if she receives provisions after her husband only later, or if she gets remarried. The pensions of municipal and communal employees were secured by the municipal pension funds. Local pension regulations depart from those of the state as every municipality and settlement regulated the issues of pension in their own municipal ordinances of pension. Article LXV of the year 1912 replaced the 1885 statute concerning civil servants, and it turned the thirty years that had elapsed to its advantage. The new statute followed in the footsteps of the early twentieth century international practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]