Coat of arms of Schleswig-Holstein. Left the lions of Schleswig, right the nettle leaf of Schauenburg-Holstein.
History
In the early Middle Ages the area of Schleswig-Holstein was inhabited by Danes, Saxons, Frisians and Slavic Obotrites. Especially German Saxons and Danes fought many wars to control the area. Charlemagne, Emperor of the Frankish Empire, signed a treaty that established the Danish border at the Eider River, which became also the border between the Duchy of Schleswig to the north and the County of Holstein to the south.
Holstein was ruled by the Saxon counts of Schauenburg and Holstein. Both counties were partititioned many times between sons of deceased counts. Schauenburg, located in Lower Saxony, became the County of Schaumburg-Lippe in 1647. Holstein was also partitioned in many subterritories. One of these, Holstein-Rendsburg, was inherited by Danish King Christian I, who was also Duke of Oldenburg, in 1460.
But the partitioning did not end. Both Schleswig and Holstein were divided in a patchwork of royal Danish, ducal and shared territories. The dukes were from a branch of the Oldenburg family and settled in the castle of Gottorp, hence their part was referred to as Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Despite their common ancestry, these dukes quickly found themselves at odds with Denmark, and at times even allied with Danish enemies.
The patchwork of territories of Schleswig-Holstein in the 17th centuries. In black the current border. Between 1864 and 1920 the German border included the yellow area of Northern Schleswig. Before this the Danish Crown owned almost of all Schleswig-Holstein from 1773.
In 1773 Denmark exchanged Oldenburg for Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp in order to simplify the territorial integrity of the kingdom. Schleswig-Holstein was considered one indivisible duchy, but for the Holy Roman Empire Holstein was still one of its states until the empire was dissolved in 1806.
Holstein as a Danish possession within the German Confederation (1815-1864). Its political status, location and demographics strengthened Bismarck's efforts to unify Germany under Prussian leadership.
During the Napoleonic Wars Denmark was allied to France, and this is why Schleswig-Holstein was never annexed, as opposed to German territories south of the Elbe river. After Napoleon's defeat Denmark was severely indebted and the Germans in Schleswig-Holstein started to demand an accession to the German Confederation leading to the Schleswig Wars.
Schleswig Wars (1848-1864)
The First Schleswig War (1848-1850) was a Danish victory as they gained international support, but in 1864 things went differently when a succession dispute erupted over Schleswig-Holstein. The Prussian chancellor Bismarck was able to convince the Austrians to support him and within months Denmark was defeated and Schleswig-Holstein became administered by both Austria and Prussia. Two years later Prussia took full control of the area as a result of the Austro-Prussian War (1866).
The Schleswig Plebiscite (1920)
The events of 1864 left the Danish-majority region of Northern Schleswig in German hands. After Germany's defeat in World War I in 1918, plebiscites were organised in both Northern and Southern Schleswig. The North decided to secede and join Denmark while Southern Schleswig, which has a German majority, voted to remain. It was the only Post-WW1 secession of Germany that was never disputed by the Nazis. Even when Denmark was occupied by Nazi Germany during WW2, Northern Schleswig remained officially Danish.
Currency
Schleswig-Holstein's monetary history starts with the influence from the Lübeck Mark, which was divided in 16 Schillinge each of 12 Pfennige. The Lübeck Mark also found its way in Denmark where the subunits were named Skilling and Penning.
When Thalers started to become the primary unit of account, the values of Danish, Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg-Lübeck Marks started diverging. In Lübeck a Reichsthaler was set at 48 Schillinge, in Schleswig-Holstein this was 60 Schillinge and in Denmark a Rigsdaler Specie was worth 96 Skilling. In both Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein there were 9¼ Thaler or Daler in a Cologne Mark (233.86 grams).
Denmark suffered from a number of devaluations but reorganised the currencies of its 2 parts in 1814. The Rigsbankdaler was set to half a Speciedaler and divided in 96 Rigsbankskilling (RBS). In Schleswig-Holstein the Speziethaler remained at the old standard and was divided in 60 Schillinge Courant each of 12 Pfennige. At first Denmark issued a uniform coinage with the 8 and 16 RBS coins denominated in the German language (Reichsbankschilling). But as the Schleswig-Holsteiners preferred their old system new coins had double denominations in both RBS and Schilling Courant (192 RBS = 60 Schilling Courant).
During the First Schleswig War (1848-1850) the provisional government of Schleswig-Holstein issued its own German-language coins of a Dreiling (3 Pf), Sechsling (6 Pf) and Schilling. These were the last coins in name of Schleswig-Holstein. After the annexation by Prussia in 1864 the Prussian Thaler was introduced.
Catalogue
County of Schauenburg (1180-1640)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/holstein_schauenburg_county-1.html
Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (1640-1773)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schleswig_holstein_gottorp_duchy-1.html
Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (cadet branch of Gottorp)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schleswig_holstein_sonderburg_duchy-1.html
Danish coinage for Schleswig-Holstein (1773-1864)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schleswig_holstein_danish_duchies-1.html
Provisional Government (1848-1850)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/schleswig_holstein_provisional-1.html
