Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf

Adolf of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf

Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (born September 15, 1600 in Gottorf , † September 19, 1631 in Eilenburg ), the second son of the ruling Duke Johann Adolf von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf , was one of those princely adventurers who saw the time of the Thirty Years War is rich.

Elected sub- coadjutor in the Diocese of Lübeck in 1621 , Adolf soon entered the imperial service and, since 1623, fought against the Protestant estates and King Christian IV of Denmark at the head of an equestrian regiment he had recruited under Tilly and Wallenstein , which is why his brother gave him , Duke Friedrich III. , withdrew his appanage. He, on the other hand, sought to win the royal share of Holstein , and indeed the Kingdom of Norway , plans that were put to an end by the Peace of Lübeck in 1629. In 1621 he had fought in Poland for a while, then again under Tilly in Germany against Gustav II Adolf . In the battle of Breitenfeld on September 17, 1631, his regiment was almost completely wiped out and the duke was badly wounded. He died two days later in Eilenburg , his body was brought to Schleswig and buried here in the cathedral .

source

• Georg Waitz :  Adolf . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 1, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1875, p. 113 f.

literature

• Handelmann in: Yearbooks for regional studies of the duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg VIII , Kiel 1866, G. Waitz.