Gottorf High Court

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The Gottorf Higher Court was the head of administration and the highest court in the Duchy of Schleswig .

history

During the Northern War , the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf , although he was formally neutral, made the important Tönning fortress available to the Swedes on February 14, 1713 . After the Swedish defeat in the Holstein campaign on May 16, 1713, the Danish king declared the annexation of the Gottorf parts of Schleswig-Holstein. In the Treaty of Frederiksborg this annexation was confirmed 1720th

The Gottorf administration was dissolved and, with royal instructions from November 4, 1713, the Gottorf Higher Court was established as the highest administrative authority. It was responsible for the entire Duchy of Schleswig and thus had the same function as the government chancellery of the same rank for the Duchy of Holstein . Administration and justice were not separated in Denmark at that time. The Gottorf Higher Court was therefore a court of second instance and the highest administrative authority rolled into one. In the administrative organization, it headed the respective offices and was responsible for police and welfare issues. Not part of the court, but independent of it, the governor was the king's representative in the duchy. The German law firm also existed in Copenhagen .

With the administrative reform of 1834, the Schleswig-Holstein-Lauenburg Higher Appeal Court was established as the highest court in the duchies and the Gottorf Higher Court lost its function as the highest court. It continued as a court of second instance. The Schleswig-Holstein government took over the administrative tasks at Gottorf Castle . This was the first time that administration and jurisdiction were separated.

Seat

Gottorf Castle , the seat of the court

After its opening on November 21, 1713, the court initially took its seat in the house of Count Heinrich von Reventlov . The count had been Gottorf's adviser and had fallen out of favor with his master. By royal decree of May 14, 1720, the seat was relocated to Gottorf Castle in the rooms of the former Gottorf government chancellery.

Councils

The first councilors of the Gottorf High Court were:

The following councilors were later active at the Gottorf Higher Court:

literature

  • Max Rasch: The Gottorf High Court in the first two decades of its existence; in: Journal of the Society for Schleswig-Holstein History, Vol. 53, P. 55 ff.
  • Jörg Rathjen (edit.): Finding aid of the holdings Section 13: Obergericht zu Gottorf 1713–1834. (Publications of the Landesarchiv Schleswig-Holstein 110) Hamburg: Hamburg University Press 2017 ISBN 978-3-943423-17-4 digitized

Web links