Schwab writes:The Kommisse, today's tax office, rises opposite the town hall, but was originally built by Heinrich Julius, Bishop of Halberstadt and Duke of Brunswick, as a lodging house for distinguished guests. Various inscriptions, coats of arms and especially the strangely decorated high gables remind us of its former purpose. With Heinrich Julius 1578-1613 the Protestant doctrine had become native in Halberstadt, while under his predecessor, Alberecht V, the attempts to transplant it into the diocese had still been unsuccessful. Thus the time of the 30 Years' War had come and Christian of Brunswick, "the great Halberstädter", "God's friend, the Pfaffen's enemy", faced the imperial forces as a commander. However, the fortunes of war were not in his favor; he was defeated by Tilly in 1622 and 1623, and in 1625 Wallenstein moved into the city; he took up residence in the commissary. Both the own and the foreign armies imposed unbearably high taxes on the diocese, and famine broke in.The seizure of possession by Gustav Adolf in 1631 was reciprocated by the imperial forces with siege of the city, and plundered by friend and foe, it led a sad existence until the Peace of Westphalia awarded it to the Great Elector together with Magdeburg, Minden and Cammin. The history of the bishopric has ended with this date, and Halberstadt now belongs to Brandenburg as a secular principality.