Schleswig-Holstein Jurisdictions

Jurisdictions in Schleswig-Holstein

Historical overview

Sovereignty in Schleswig-Holstein was held by many simultaneously, in 1564 for instance, by three brothers of the House of Oldenburg.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Oldenburg These men ruled the territories above and below the river Eider, the territories above, the Duchy of Schleswig belonged to the Danish king, the territories below belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. (www.halloregion.com/historie/de_a17.htm) The Duchy of Lauenburg was its own sovereign state until 1815, when the Danish king became its ruler.

The rulers of Schleswig and Holstein were subordinate to the King of Denmark, who was elected by the nobles for the first time in 1460 to become the Duke of Schleswig and the Earl of Holstein. The Danish king’s sharing power in the duchies remained until 1864. Schleswig-Holstein was ruled from 1581 to 1773 by at least two sovereign lords simultaneously, the King of Denmark through the royal line in the royal territories http://www.hans-peter-voss.de/pic/history/1700-2.jpg and the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf through the Gottorf line with residence in Gottorf. Together with the sovereigns the nobility ruled in cities, councils, regions and manorial farms by common law and privilege. The sovereign lords had coinage and judicial privileges. Administrators were chosen from among noble ranks who executed their business as non-professionals. In the 16th century the absolute form of administrative style was replaced by legally educated professionals not of noble descent. The sovereign models changed into a complex administration of Rat (council) Rentekammer (responsible central government agency), Hofgericht (administration responsible for legal matters) and Konsistorium (administration regarding church matters).

At the end of the Thirty Years War and the Northern Wars, Denmark lost supremacy. The ideas of the Enlightenment spread through all levels of society and accumulated in practical application. Reforms in agriculture lead in 1760 to the release of serfs. They received their liberty and became owners of house and farm. In 1814 school regulations were put into action. All this fostered a national consciousness and caused the old system of local cultural attitudes to fade. The population and economy grew and with it the idea whether Schleswig and Holstein should stay together, both joining Germany or Schleswig becoming part of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1848 the Schleswig-Holsteiners decided to establish a provisional government and oust the Danish king. The subsequent war (1848-1851) achieved a status quo until in 1920 a permanent solution between Denmark and Germany was reached.

In retrospect it can be said that what were essential components of administrative measures for centuries, was changing rapidly since 1830 and this trend of modernization was topped only by renewed efforts since 1945.

Source:

Historischer Atlas Schleswig-Holstein. Vom Mittelalter bis 1867. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2004

Jurisdictions in the Duchy of Schleswig

The Duchy of Schleswig was partitioned into Harden and Syssel (several Harden). A Harde consisted of several settlements. A speaker of a Harde was the Hardesvogt. He was chosen by the sovereign to administrate matters of the lower court. The law was called Gewohnheitsrecht (common law).Syssels were later replaced by the term Amt. An Amt had no influence in cities, manors (Adlige Güter), possessions of the Church, i.e., the Bischop of Schleswig and the monasteries (Klöster), the wetland districts in North Friesland (oktroyierte Köge) and the Kanzleigüter (newly formed manors) which all were endowed with their own laws and administrative powers.

In 1791 a reform in the Kingdom of Denmark organized the existing administrative borders of Harden. The Duchy of Schleswig was excluded from this reform. Here, in 1850 some borders of Amt, Harde and parish were re-arranged and in 1853 the manors, wetlands and remaining Church properties were attached to Harden and Ämter. After Schleswig-Holstein came under Prussian rule in 1867, a new judicial administration was set in place. The Harde and city courts were replaced by Amtsgerichte (lower courts). Then the Harden only functioned as police administrations and were known as Hardesvogteien. The manors (Adlige Güter)were separated from the Harde. Since January 1, the Hardesvogteien were replaced by Amtsbezirke.