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Duchy of Lauenburg 1261-1918 (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany)

Herzogtum Lauenburg

Last modified: 2006-07-28 by jarig bakker
Keywords: lauenburg | herzogtum lauenburg | schleswig-holstein | saxe-lauenburg |
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Presentation

Saxony-Lauenburg: It seems that the Dannebrog was in use.

Jaume Ollé, 30 August 1998

Until 1865 the flag was black-yellow. Lauenburg was given to the Danish king [i.e. not to Denmark] after the Congress of Vienna [1815] and the Danish king represented the country in the German Confederation.

Mario Fabretto, 31 August 1998

After Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, was disowned (1180), the eastern part of the Saxon duchy was given to the Ascanian line. In 1260 the Ascanians split into Sachsen-Lauenburg and Sachsen-Wittenberg. In 1689 the former went back to a branch of the Guelphs, from 1714 it belonged to the Electorate of Hannover. More details on the history of the territory is in the following three links which I found (all in German):

The last link has a map with the boundaries of Sachsen-Lauenburg.

Stefan Schwoon, 12 February 2001

According to William R. Shepherd's Historical Atlas 1929, Lauenburg was given to Hannover in 1689 and continued in its possession to the Napoleonic era. It was acquired by Prussia between 1803 and 1806. In 1810 it was annexed to the French Empire, and along with Lübeck, which was also annexed, gave France's north German territories a corridor to the Baltic.

Ned Smith, 12 February 2001

Sachsen-Lauenburg was formed by Johann I, son of Albrecht I of Sachsen, in 1261. The family ruled Lauenburg and assorted lower Saxon territories mostly on the lower Elbe until the line died out in 1689. It then was ceded to Lüneberg and later Hannover and in 1815 ceded to Holstein.

Norman Martin, 12 February 2001

According to Erich Dieter Linder and Günter Olzog, Deutsche Landkreise — Wappen, Geschichte, Struktur, Battenberg Verlag, Augsburg 1996, p. 356, Lauenburg belonged to Hannover 1689-1816, and then became Danish. The Danes let Lauenburg be represented by arms showing a golden horse's head on red (i.e. Gules, a horse's head Or). When Lauenburg was conquered by the Prussians in 1864, the assembly of noblemen (in German die Ritterschaft) made a decision on 21 October, that they would join in a personal union with Prussia under the condition that Lauenburg was considered a German Duchy (Herzogtum) in itself. This is the reason, Lauenburg is still called Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg ['District of County Lauenburg']. The Prussian king became duke of Lauenburg. On 13 April 1867, Lauenburg was granted arms with a silver horse's head in red inside a black and white bordure. The royal crown upon the shield has been added by the local authorities. Official blazon in German: In Rot mit von Silber und Schwarz gestecktem Shildbord ein silberner Pferdekopf. Auf dem Schild die preußische Königskrone. I would suppose, that the tinctures of the bordure are the Prussian black and silver. It can be noted, that Lauenburg would have become Prussian already in 1815 (1816?), if Denmark hadn't traded it for the northern part of Hither Pomerania, which Denmark had got in 1814 from Sweden in exchange for Norway.

Elias Granqvist, 13 February 2001

The old colours of the Herzogtum Lauenburg were black-yellow. According to Order of 12th November 1866 the colours are black-white. Source: Ströhl 1897.

Ralf Stelter, 15 February 2001