Schleswig-Holstein
is the
northernmost of the 16
Bundesländer in
Germany.
The former
English name was
Sleswick-Holsatia, the
Danish name is
Slesvig-Holsten, the
Low German name is
Sleswig-Holsteen, and the
North Frisian name is
Slaswik-Holstiinj. Historically, the name refers to a larger region, containing present-day Schleswig-Holstein and the
county of
South Jutland in
Denmark.
Schleswig-Holstein lies on the base of the
peninsula of
Jutland between the
Baltic Sea and the
North Sea.
The former
Duchy of
Holstein constitutes the southern part of Schleswig-Holstein, whereas
Southern Schleswig constitutes the northern part. Furthermore, the Duchy of
Lauenburg and the former Free and Hanseatic City of
Lübeck in the southeast of the state are part of today's Schleswig-Holstein.
The former Duchy of
Schleswig, (), has been divided between
Denmark and Germany since 1920.
Northern Schleswig, today the Danish county of
South Jutland (Sønderjylland), was ceded to Denmark after a
referendum following Germany's defeat in
World War I.
Schleswig-Holstein borders on Denmark in the north, the
North Sea in the west, the Baltic Sea and
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the east, and
Lower Saxony and
Hamburg in the south.
Kiel is the capital of the Bundesland.
In the western part of the state there are lowlands with virtually no hills. The
North Frisian Islands, as well as almost all of Schleswig-Holstein's North Sea coast, form Schleswig-Holstein's Mud Flats National Park (Nationalpark Schleswig-Holsteinisches Wattenmeer) which is the largest national park in Central Europe and is unique. Germany's only high-sea island
Heligoland is situated further out in the North Sea. The Baltic Sea coast in the east of Schleswig-Holstein is marked by bays, fjords and cliff lines. There are rolling hills (the highest elevation is the Bungsberg at 168 metres) and many lakes, especially in the eastern part of Holstein called the
Holsteinische Schweiz ("Holsatian
Switzerland") and the former Duchy of Lauenburg.
Fehmarn is the only island off the eastern coast. The longest river besides the
Elbe is the
Eider; the most important waterway is the
Kiel Canal which connects the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
See also
List of places in Schleswig-Holstein.
Schleswig-Holstein is divided into eleven
Kreise (sg.
Kreis; district):
 |
Sh_kreise.jpg |
Furthermore there are four
independent cities, which do not belong to any district:
#
Kiel#
Lübeck#
Neumünster#
FlensburgThe official languages are
German,
Low German,
Danish, and
Frisian. Low German â€" the historic language of the state â€" is spoken in most parts of the state, Danish by the Danish minority, Frisian by the North Frisians at the North Sea Coast and the Northern Frisian Islands, and a special Frisian dialect called
Hallun on the Island of
Heligoland. High German was introduced in the 16th century, mainly for official purposes, but is today the most used language.
Due to the state's history between Denmark and Germany Schleswig-Holstein combines Danish and German aspects of culture. The castles and manors in the countryside are the best example for this tradition. The most important festivals are the
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, an annual classic music festival all over the state, and the
Nordische Filmtage, an annual film festival for movies from
Scandinavian countries, held in
Lübeck. The state's most important museum of cultural history is in
Gottorp castle in
Schleswig. The old city of Lübeck is a
world heritage site.
 |
Marshland in Eiderstedt, typical for the North Sea coastline |
|
Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog typical for central Schleswig-Holstein |
 |
Rapeseed field, typical for all Schleswig-Holstein |
Main article: History of Schleswig-Holstein
The term "Holstein" derives from the
Old Norse and
Old Saxon,
Holseta Land, meaning simply "woodland" (
Holz means
wood in modern High German). Originally, it referred to the central of the three
Saxon tribes north of the
Elbe river,
Tedmarsgoi,
Holcetae, and
Sturmarii. The area of the
Holcetae was between the
Stör river and
Hamburg, and after
Christianization their main
church was in
Schenefeld.
The term
Schleswig takes its name from the city of
Schleswig. The name derives from the
Schlei inlet in the east and
vik meaning inlet or settlement in
Old Saxon and
Old Norse.
The
Duchy of Schleswig was originally an integral part of Denmark, but was in
medieval times established as a
fief under the Kingdom of Denmark, with the same relation to the
Danish Crown as for example
Brandenburg or
Bavaria vis-Ã -vis the
Holy Roman Emperor.
Saxon Holstein became a part of the
Holy Roman Empire after
Charlemagne's
Saxon campaigns in the late
eighth century. Around 1100 the
Duke of Saxony gave Holstein, as it was his own country, to
Count Adolf I of
Schauenburg.
Schleswig and Holstein have at different times belonged in part or completely to either Denmark or Germany, or have been virtually independent of both nations. Schleswig has almost never been a duchy. The exception is that Schleswig had never been part of Germany until the
Second War of Schleswig in 1864. For many centuries, the
King of Denmark was both a Danish Duke of Schleswig and a German Duke of Holstein, the Duke of Saxony. Essentially, Schleswig was either integrated into Denmark or was a Danish fief, and Holstein was a German fief and once a
sovereign state long ago. Both were for several centuries ruled by the Kings of Denmark. In 1721 all of Schleswig was united as a single duchy under the King of Denmark, and the great powers of Europe confirmed in an international
treaty that all future Kings of Denmark should automatically become Duke of Schleswig, and consequently Schleswig would always follow the same line of succession as the one chosen in the Kingdom of Denmark.
The German National awakening following the
Napoleonic Wars led to a strong popular movement in Holstein and Southern Schleswig for (re-)unification with a new
Prussian-dominated Germany. However, this development was paralleled by an equally strong Danish national awakening in Denmark and Northern Schleswig. It called for the complete reintegration of Schleswig into the Kingdom of Denmark and demanded an end to discrimination against
Danes in Schleswig. The ensuing conflict is sometimes called the
Schleswig-Holstein Question. In 1848 King
Frederick VII of Denmark declared that he would grant Denmark a liberal constitution and the immediate goal for the Danish national movement was to ensure that this constitution would not only give rights to all Danes, i.e., not only in the Kingdom of Denmark, but also to Danes (and Germans) living in Schleswig. Furthermore, they demanded protection for the Danish language in Schleswig since the dominant language in almost a quarter of Schleswig had changed from Danish to German since the beginning of the 19th century.
A
liberal constitution for Holstein was not seriously considered in
Copenhagen, since it was a well-known fact that the political
élite of Holstein had been far more conservative than Copenhagen's. This proved to be true, as the politicians of Holstein demanded that the
Constitution of Denmark be scrapped -- not only in Schleswig but also in Denmark. They also demanded that Schleswig immediately follow Holstein and become a member of the
German Confederation, and eventually a part of the new united Germany. These demands were rejected and in 1848 the Germans of Holstein and Southern Schleswig rebelled. This was the beginning of the
First War of Schleswig (1848-51) which ended in a Danish victory at
Idstedt. Elements of this period were fictionalized in
Royal Flash, the second of
George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman novels.
In 1863 conflict broke out again as King
Frederick VII of Denmark died leaving no
heir. According to the
line of succession of Denmark and Schleswig, the crowns of both Denmark and Schleswig would now pass to Duke Christian of
Glücksburg (the future King
Christian IX); the crown of Holstein was considered to be more problematic. This decision was challenged by a rival pro-German branch of the Danish royal family, the House of
Augustenburg (Danish: Augustenborg) who demanded, as in 1848, the crowns of both Schleswig and Holstein. The passing of a common constitution for Denmark and Schleswig in November 1863 then gave
Otto von Bismarck a chance to intervene and
Prussia and
Austria declared war on Denmark. This was the
Second War of Schleswig which ended in a Danish defeat.
British attempts to mediate failed, and Denmark lost Schleswig, Holstein, and
Lauenburg to Prussia and Austria.
Following the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, section five of the
Peace of Prague stated that the people in Northern Schleswig should be granted the right to a
referendum on whether they would remain under Prussian rule or return to Danish rule. This promise was never fulfilled by Germany.
Following the defeat of Germany in
World War I, the Allied powers arranged a referendum in Northern and Central Schleswig. In Northern Schleswig (
10 February 1920) 75% voted for
reunification with Denmark and 25% voted for Germany. In Central Schleswig (
14 March 1920) the results were reversed; 80% voted for Germany and just 20% for Denmark, primarily in
Flensburg. No vote ever took place in the southern third of Schleswig. On
15 June 1920, Northern Schleswig officially returned to Danish rule. The Danish/German border was the only one of the borders imposed on Germany by the
Treaty of Versailles after World War I which was never challenged by
Adolf Hitler.
The
Kiel Canal crosses Schleswig-Holstein and allows German shipping to cross from the Baltic to the
North Sea without leaving German territory, which gave it a vital role in German
commerce and war efforts during the 20th century. Its main purpose, however, was to save the 280
nautical miles (about 520
km) needed to sail around the
Jutland peninsula.
The
coat of arms shows the symbols of the two duchies united in Schleswig-Holstein, i.e. the two lions for Schleswig and the leaf of a nettle for Holstein. Supposedly
Otto von Bismarck decreed the two lions were facing the nettle because of the discomfort to their bottoms which would have resulted if the lions faced away from it.
The motto of Schleswig-Holstein is
"Up ewich ungedeelt" (
Middle Saxon: "Forever undivided", modern High German:
"Auf ewig ungeteilt"). It goes back to the
Treaty of Ribe in 1460. See
History of Schleswig-Holstein.
The flag of Schleswig-Holstein is virtually identical to that of the former
Yugoslavia and then that of
Serbia and Montenegro; since the dissolution of the latter state on June 5, 2006, there is little risk of confusion. However, it is the same thing as the
flag of the Netherlands or the
flag of Luxembourg, but upside-down.
The anthem is usually referred to with its first line
"Schleswig-Holstein meerumschlungen" (i.e. "Schleswig-Holstein between the seas") from 1844.
List of Minister-presidents of Schleswig-Holstein
# 1945 - 1947:
Theodor Steltzer# 1947 - 1949:
Hermann Lüdemann# 1949 - 1950:
Bruno Diekmann# 1950 - 1951:
Walter Bartram# 1951 - 1954:
Friedrich-Wilhelm Lübke# 1954 - 1963:
Kai-Uwe von Hassel (
CDU)# 1963 - 1971:
Helmut Lemke# 1971 - 1982:
Gerhard Stoltenberg (CDU), see
List of Honorary Citizens of Schleswig-Holstein# 1982 - 1987:
Uwe Barschel (CDU)# 1987 - 1988:
Henning Schwarz (CDU)# 1988 - 1993:
Björn Engholm (
SPD)# 1993 - 2005:
Heide Simonis (SPD)# 2005 - :
Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU)
2005 state election
See also: Schleswig-Holstein state election, 2005A state election was held on
February 20 2005. Although the SPD-Green coalition, led by
Heide Simonis, no longer commanded a majority of the Landtag, the SSW announced that although it would not enter an official coalition, it saw more common ground with the SPD than the CDU.Premier Heide Simonis proceeded to form a Red-Green coalition with the assumption of SSW backing.
On
March 17 2005, Simonis failed to win a Landtag vote for the premiership, with the secret ballot tying 34-34. It is not known who the abstainer was, but this prevented the formation of a Red-Green coalition. The SPD was forced to negotiate a
grand coalition with the CDU, acceding to the CDU's demand that CDU leader
Peter Harry Carstensen replace Simonis as Minister-president.
| Party | Party List votes | Vote percentage (change) | Total Seats (change) | Seat percentage |
|---|
| Social Democratic Party (SPD) | 554,844 | 38.7% | -4.4% | 29 | -12 | 42.0% |
| Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | 576,100 | 40.2% | +5.0% | 30 | -3 | 43.5% |
| Free Democratic Party (FDP) | 94,920 | 6.6% | -1.0% | 4 | -3 | 5.8% |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 89,330 | 6.2% | +0.0% | 4 | -1 | 5.8% |
| South Schleswig Voter Federation | 51,901 | 3.6% | -0.5% | 2 | -1 | 2.9% |
| National Democratic Party (NPD) | 27,656 | 1.9% | +0.9% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) | 11,376 | 0.8% | -0.6% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Family | 11,774 | 0.8% | +0.8% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| Grays | 7,523 | 0.5% | +0.3% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| All Others | 9,203 | 0.6% | -0.5% | 0 | +0 | 0.0% |
| - bgcolor=lightgrey | Totals | 1,434,627 | 100.0% | | 69 | -20 | 100.0% |
|---|
|
Seat results -- SPD in red, Greens in green, FDP in yellow, CDU in black, SSW in gray |
*
History of Schleswig-Holstein*
Schleswig-Holstein Question*
First War of Schleswig*
Second War of Schleswig*
Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg*
Coat of arms of Schleswig*
Official government portal*
Schleswig-Holstein Plebiscite Paper Money - 1919, 1920 Issues
*
Schleswig-Holstein, meerumschlungen (the anthem)
