Schleswig-Holstein History

Viking-Age boat moored in Haithabu © Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen Schloß Gottorf

Schleswig-Holstein was already inhabited in early Prehistoric times, as is attested by its many megalithic burial chambers and by the important archaeological discoveries made in the Nydam and Thorsberg bogs. In the 9th century AD, one of the largest Viking settlements in Northern Europe developed at Haithabu (german spelling of Hedeby) on the River Schlei, whose massive semi-circular wall can still be seen today.

In the mid-thirteenth century, Schleswig emerged as a principality extending from the Eider River to the Königsau, and in 1386, the Danes and the Germans came to an agreement whereby the Danish Duchy of Schleswig would be united under one ruler with the German Earldom or County of Holstein. The German Counts of Schauenburg ruled both Schleswig and Holstein until their line became extinct in 1459.

The Middle Ages

Unesco World Heritage Site: Lübeck´s old Town © Andreas Seehase/www.pixelio.de

The first large towns appeared in the Middle Ages, among them Lübeck, an imperial free city and leading member of the Hanseatic League, which became one of the most important cities of Europe. The last of the Schauenburg dynasty was succeeded as ruler of Schleswig and Holstein by Christian I of Denmark, who in the "Ripener Freiheitsbrief" (Charter of Freedom) of 1460 undertook "dat se bliven ewich tosamende ungedelt" (that they shall remain forever undivided). During his reign, in 1474, the German Emperor raised Holstein to the status of a dukedom. From the 16th century, Schleswig-Holstein had two rulers, with a "royal part" and a "ducal part".

The Eider Canal

The old Eider Canal near Holtenau (1894) Wilhelm Dreesen

From 1773, the King of Denmark ruled both duchies, united under a single crown as integral parts of the Danish state. As a result, Schleswig-Holstein experienced a great economic and political revival: The building of the Eider Canal, forerunner of today’s Kiel Canal, created the most important waterway between the North Sea and the Baltic, while the abolition of serfdom brought land reform.

Growing nationalism

Only the growing nationalism of the 19th century and Copenhagen’s attempts to incorporate Schleswig into the Danish kingdom upset the relationship between Germans and Danes, leading to the Schleswig-Holstein uprising of 1848. Appointing a provisional government, the German population took the destiny of the two duchies into its own hands, only to succumb to the military superiority of Denmark and the political pressure of the great European powers.

The German-Danish conflict

Kiel in the 19th century copyright expired/in the public domain

In 1851, the troops of the German Confederation occupied the Duchy of Holstein and re-established the situation as it had existed before 1848. At the same time, the Danish king promised to introduce a constitution that would exclude the incorporation of Schleswig into his kingdom. This, however, brought no lasting resolution to the German-Danish conflict, which led to war again in 1864. The German Confederation won the conflict and Schleswig was ceded to the Germans. In 1866, Schleswig-Holstein and its capital Kiel became a province of the Kingdom of Prussia; the Duchy of Lauenburg being added to it in 1876.

The November Revolution in 1918

Protesting sailors and workers march in Kiel in early november 1918 © Fotosammlung Stadtarchiv Kiel

In 1918, events in Schleswig-Holstein had wide-reaching repercussions: The naval mutiny at Kiel led to the November Revolution of that year, bringing with it an end to the First World War and to German monarchy.
In a referendum held in 1920 under the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the northern part of Schleswig voted in favor of unification with Denmark. Since then, the dividing line established by this vote has formed the border between Germany and Denmark.

The Nazi Regime

© Klicker/www.pixelio.de

Already the seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933 was marked by terror: The German Communist Party, the Socialist Party of Germany and the trade unions were outlawed and persecuted; SA members tortured political opponents in "ad hoc concentration camps". Synagogues throughout the province went up in flames during the Kristallnacht pogrom of 9 November 1938; many Jews were rounded up and sent to camps; finally came the deportation and murder of those who had not emigrated, while government, police and judiciary acted against minorities and dissidents more generally.

The postwar period

Kiel in the winter of 1946/47: view of a gloomy, almost deserted city © Doris Lammers/Stadtarchiv Kiel

After Hitler's suicide in April 1945, the last government of the Third Reich, under Admiral Dönitz, retreated to Flensburg-Mürwik, capitulating on 8 May 1945. In those months, hundreds of thousands of refugees, especially from Germany’s Eastern territories, fled to the region north of the Elbe River, raising its population by 60% compared with pre-War figures. Very many of these refugees would find a new home in Schleswig-Holstein.

German-Danish friendship

German-Danish friendship © Andreas Birresborn

The Kiel Declaration of 1949 and the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations of 1955 led to an improvement in German-Danish relations, and in the newly created federal state of Schleswig-Holstein a close and co-operative relationship developed between the German majority and the Danish minority, which since 1949 has been represented in the Schleswig-Holstein parliament by its own voters’ association, the Südschleswigsche Wählerverband (SSW).