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Duchy of Holstein | |||||||||
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| 1474–1864 | |||||||||
.svg) Civil Ensign[1]  Coat of arms | |||||||||
 Location and borders of the Duchy of Holstein by 1789 | |||||||||
| Status |
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| Capital | Glückstadt | ||||||||
| Common languages | German,Low German,Danish | ||||||||
| Religion | Lutheran | ||||||||
| Government | FeudalMonarchy | ||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||
• 1474–1481 | Christian I(first) | ||||||||
• 1863–1864 | Christian IX(last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Early Modern | ||||||||
| 5 March 1460 | |||||||||
| 14 February 1474 | |||||||||
| 1 February 1864 | |||||||||
| 30 October 1864 | |||||||||
| Currency | Rigsdaler | ||||||||
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TheDuchy of Holstein (German:Herzogtum Holstein;Danish:Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of theHoly Roman Empire, located in the presentGerman state ofSchleswig-Holstein. It originated when KingChristian I of Denmark had his County ofHolstein-Rendsburg elevated to aduchy by Emperor Frederick III in 1474. Members of the DanishHouse of Oldenburg ruled Holstein – jointly with theDuchy of Schleswig – for its entire existence.
From 1490 to 1523 and again from 1544 to 1773 the Duchy was partitioned between various Oldenburg branches, most notably the dukes ofHolstein-Glückstadt (identical with theKings of Denmark) andHolstein-Gottorp. The duchy ceased to exist when theKingdom of Prussia annexed it in 1866 after theAustro-Prussian War.
The northern border of Holstein along theEider River had already formed the northern border of theCarolingian Empire, after EmperorCharlemagne upon theSaxon Wars reached an agreement with KingHemming of Denmark in 811. The lands ofSchleswig beyond the riverremained a fief of the Danish Crown, while Holstein became an integral part ofEast Francia, theKingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.
| Holstein | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holstein-Kiel (1261–1390) | Holstein-Itzehoe (1261–1300) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holstein-Segeberg (1273-1308) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Holstein-Plön (1300–1390) | Holstein-Rendsburg (1300–1459) | Holstein-Pinneberg (1300–1640) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Duchy of Holstein (from 1474) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Imperial County of Rantzau (1650–1726) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adolf VIII, the lastCount of Holstein-Rendsburg andDuke of Schleswig had died without heirs in 1459. As Schleswig had been a Danish fief, it had to fall back to King Christian I of Denmark, who, himself a nephew of Adolf, also sought to enter into possession of Holstein. He was backed by the local nobility, who supported the continued common administration of both lands and by the 1460Treaty of Ribe proclaimed him as the new Count of Holstein.
Nevertheless, the comital Holstein lands south of the Eider River officially remained a mediate fief held by theAscanian dukes ofSaxe-Lauenburg. In 1474 Emperor Frederick III conferredImperial immediacy to Christian by elevating him to a Duke of Holstein.
In 1544, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were partitioned in three parts between Christian's grandsonChristian III of Denmark and his two younger half-brothers (who had to renounce the Danish throne), as follows:
In addition, significant parts of Holstein were jointly administered by the dukes of Holstein-Glückstadt and the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, mainly on theBaltic Sea coast.
In 1640, the County ofHolstein-Pinneberg, whose ruling house was extinct, was merged in the royal part of the Duchy of Holstein.
In 1713, during theGreat Northern War, the estates of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig includingSchloss Gottorf were conquered by royal Danish troops. In the 1720Treaty of Frederiksborg, DukeCharles Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp ceded them to hisliege lord the Danish crown.
His remaining territories formed the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, administered fromKiel. In 1773, Charles Frederick's grandson, EmperorPaul I of Russia finally gave his Holstein lands to the Danish king, in his function as duke of Holstein, in exchange for theCounty of Oldenburg, and Holstein was reunited as a single state.
With the dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire in 1806, the Duchy of Holstein gained sovereignty.
After the 1815Congress of Vienna, the Duchy of Holstein became a member of theGerman Confederation, resulting in several diplomatic and military conflicts about the so-calledSchleswig-Holstein question. Denmark defended its rule over Holstein in theFirst Schleswig War of 1848–51 against theKingdom of Prussia. However, in theSecond Schleswig War (1864) Prussian andAustrian troops conquered Schleswig.Christian IX of Denmark had to renounce both Schleswig and Holstein in theTreaty of Vienna (1864) on October 30.
At first placed under joint rule in a condominium, Prussia and Austria then assumed administration of Schleswig and Holstein, respectively, under theGastein Convention of August 14, 1865. However, tensions between the two powers culminated in theAustro-Prussian War of 1866. Following thePeace of Prague (1866), the victorious Prussians annexed both Schleswig and Holstein by decree of December 24, 1866, and later established the unifiedProvince of Schleswig-Holstein.
The Danish king in his function as duke of Holstein, and duke of Schleswig, appointedstadtholders (German: Statthalter; Latin: produx; Danish: statholder) to represent him in the duchies. The stadtholders fulfilled the tasks related to the ducal power as patrimonial lords in the royal shares of Holstein and Schleswig, as well as the royal part in the condominial government with the houses of Gottorp and Haderslev (the latter extinct in 1580) for all the duchies of Holstein (until retreat of Gottorp in 1773) and Schleswig (until Gottorp's deposal from dukedom there in 1720).
| Ecclesiastical |  | |
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| Secular | ||
| Cities | ||
1 until 1648. 2 until 1701. 3 from 1648. 4 until 1731. 5 until 1705. 6 until 1596. 7 from 1708. 8 until 1773. 9 until 1640. 10 until 1695. 11 from 1701. 12 until 1734. Circles est. 1500:Bavarian,Swabian,Upper Rhenish,Lower Rhenish–Westphalian,Franconian,(Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512:Austrian,Burgundian,Upper Saxon,Electoral Rhenish · Unencircled territories | ||
