Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The ducal coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Augustenburg Castle , the eponymous seat of the family branch

The house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg was a branch line of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg from the house of Oldenburg . The line emerged from the inheritance of Duke Alexander of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg . Like all branch lines from the Sønderborg branch, they were initially referred to as the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein or as the dukes of Sonderburg . Up until the 18th century, it was named after the ancestral seat of the family, the castles of Sønderborg and Augustenburg , which are now on Danish territory .

historical overview

Dukes without a duchy

Since the small, divided duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg was in fact no longer divisible after the death of Alexander in 1627, five of his six sons entitled to inheritance received the ducal title and rank as well as inheritance rights over Schleswig and Holstein, but no share in the lands of the partial duchy. Goods were purchased for their supply, some of which were also located outside Schleswig-Holstein, for example in Westphalia.

The Augustenburg line had owned estates on the island of Alsen since 1651 . Their lands were also referred to as the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg or even just as the Duchy of Augustenburg , although they did not form a politically independent state or sovereign territory. Duke Ernst Günther had Augustenburg Castle built from 1661. The property was expanded extensively in the course of the 18th century through acquisitions, but the Augustenburger suffered from increasing debt. In the middle of the 18th century this led to their renunciation of inheritance rights in Schleswig and Holstein, for which they were generously compensated financially by the Danish royal family. From then on, it was possible for them to live appropriately, because despite their powerlessness they were formally part of the high nobility and therefore had to take on costly representational tasks.

When the Danish royal family threatened to become extinct in the male line towards the end of the 18th century, a marriage between the Danish Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark and Norway and the Augustenburg Duke Friedrich Christian II. Was arranged, with which their descendants - in Denmark female inheritance was possible - could have taken the throne. The prospects were not fulfilled, as the royal line surprisingly received an heir to the throne in 1786 thanks to Hereditary Prince Friedrich of Denmark , the later Christian VIII. An Augustenburger as a direct successor on the throne was thus excluded.

The Augustenburg inheritance law

After the family had originally maintained a close relationship with the Danish king, they increasingly came into conflict with the crown in the course of the 19th century. The background to this was a dispute over the succession to the throne in Sweden and the rights of inheritance in Denmark. The conflict with Denmark was based primarily on different views regarding the Augustenburg inheritance rights, which affected Schleswig and Holstein as well as Denmark.

With the incorporation of the Gottorf shares of the Duchy of Schleswig in the Danish state in 1721 and the ensuing homage to the Danish king, the Crown believed that the Lex Regia , the Danish succession, was introduced there, which in the event of no heir also enables female succession would have. On the other hand, Duke Friedrich Christian II developed a so-called historical account around 1812 in which he declared the Augustenburg line to be the legitimate heirs if the older line of the House of Oldenburg - i.e. the Danish royal family - died out. The reasoning referred to complicated, different rights for the duchies. In the Treaty of Ripen in 1460, the indivisibility of Schleswig and Holstein was demanded and confirmed by the knighthood . In the fact that Schleswig, as a Danish fiefdom after the homage in 1721, provided for a different succession than the German fiefdom of the Duchy of Holstein until 1806, Duke Friedrich Christian II saw a breach of the older contract of Ripen and declared the female succession in Schleswig to be obsolete. In order to prevent a separation of kingdom and duchies with their different succession (as the Treaty of Ripen forbade), an inheritance from the Augustenburg line was recommended, which could combine both rights in itself.

Gravenstein Castle

The extensive presentation was no longer discussed publicly during Friedrich Christian's lifetime. But it was part of his political will, to which his son Christian August von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg - who also came from the Danish royal family through his mother - later referred when he declared his claims to the throne against Christian VIII in 1846, because his heir to the throne, Frederick VII , was still childless at the age of 38. However, the king firmly refused.

After 1848

In the Schleswig-Holstein War (1848-1851), the Augustenburger stood on the side of the insurgents who planned to let the two duchies join the German Confederation under the Augustenburger government . After the victory of the Danish troops , the dukes had to leave their ancestral seat on Alsen in 1852. They acquired estates in Silesia . In the course of the Second Schleswig-Holstein War of 1864, the Augustenburger were able to return to their previous property in 1867, after Schleswig-Holstein was incorporated into the Prussian state , of which they only lived there, however, Gravenstein Castle . Their hope of being used as rulers had been dashed, since Bismarck Schleswig and Holstein instead joined Prussia. The line expired in 1931 in the male line.

Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg

Reign Surname Remarks
1647-1689 Ernst Günther Founder of the line
1689-1692 Friedrich son
1692-1731 Ernst August Brothers
1731-1754 Christian August nephew
1754-1794 Friedrich Christian I. Son, waived inheritance rights in Schleswig and Holstein in exchange for compensation
1794-1814 Friedrich Christian II. Son, hoped for claims to the Danish by marrying the Danish Princess Louise Auguste and applied for the Swedish throne
1814-1869 Christian August Son, was officially expelled from the Danish Empire in 1851 as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein War

After the German-Danish War of 1864 they became dukes of Schleswig-Holstein. But that was only recognized by the German Confederation and Prussia.

Reign Surname Remarks
1863-1880 Friedrich August (as Friedrich VIII.) Son of Christian August
1880-1921 Ernst Günther Son, penultimate Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
1921-1931 Albert Cousin, last duke (titular duke) of Schleswig-Holstein, with him the line in the male line became extinct

Known members

Auguste Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg , last German Empress (1858–1921)

Well-known members of the family included, among others

literature

  • MV Pedersen: The Dukes of Augustenburg . In: CR Rasmussen, E. Imberger, D. Lohmeier, I. Mommsen (eds.): The princes of the country - dukes and counts of Schleswig-Holstein and Lauenburg . Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2008, pp. 310–341.