The was used for official functions and ceremonies that were not held at the of the complex. It took over much of the intended use of the larger and more formal building from an early date, as the daily business of government ceased to be conducted in the presence of the emperor in the already at the beginning of the ninth century. Connected to this diminishing reliance on the official government procedures described in the code was the establishment of a personal secretariat to the emperor, the . This office, which increasingly took over the role of coordinating the work of government organs, was set up in the , the hall to the south-west of the .