Between village and state, the mayors of rural communities stood in the 19th century. They ensured the implementation of state directives on the ground while simultaneously advocating for the concerns of the village population. The author focuses on the administrative practices and styles of these local administrators. Through a microhistorical comparative approach, she examines the realities of administration using examples from France, Luxembourg, and Germany. This reveals differences between wine-growing and agricultural communities, as well as between small and large states. In all these states, mayors had to learn how to exercise their office in the 19th century before they increasingly understood and conducted it in a more political manner.