In the second half of the 19th and at the beginning of the 20th century, governors and state presidents were the highest civil servants in the countries of the Austrian Empire (Cisleithania). They used to be understood as "emperor's deputies" and as direct subordinates of the Minister of the Interior, they were primarily responsible for the exercise of state power in the entrusted territory, in our case the territory of Austrian Silesia. Silesian regional presidents were representatives of the regional government based in Opava, which represented the highest instance of political administration in the country. After 1918, the function of regional president - as well as a separate regional office - existed for ten years within the administrative system of the Czechoslovak Republic, before Silesia was merged with Moravia in terms of political administration. The core of this book is the "life stories" of sixteen regional presidents (including one governor) and two interim administrators. The emphasis is on the Silesian activities of these bureaucrats, in the context of their careers in the civil service. The individual medallions not only bring a number of new insights into the official careers of regional leaders, but also enable the formulation of more general conclusions about the role of the "Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia" in the strategy of appointing top Austrian civil servants.