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Herzogtum Sachsen-Lauenberg Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg State of the Holy Roman Empire, State of the German Confederation ← 1296 – 1803 1814 – 1876 → Saxe-Lauenburg in 1848 Capital Lauenburg Government Principality Historical era Middle Ages  - Partitioned from Saxony 1296  - Partitioned into     Saxe-Mölln-Bergedorf     and Saxe-Ratzeburg     1305–1401  - Dissolved during     Great French Wars   1803–14  - Personal union with     Denmark   1814–64  - Personal union with     Prussia   1864–76  - Annexed by Prussia,     within Schleswig-Holstein   1876

The Duchy of Lauenburg, also known as Saxe-Lauenburg was a medieval Reichsfrei Duchy that existed from 1296 in the extreme southeast region of Schleswig-Holstein with its territorial center in the modern district of Lauenburg.

In addition to the core territories around the town of Lauenburg/Elbe, at times other territories belonged to Duchy: the Land Hadeln in the area of the delta of the River Elbe and the Amt Neuhaus in the district of Lüneburg. The Duchy was established by partitioning of the Duchy of Saxony. The residences of its dukes were located in the towns of Ratzeburg and Lauenburg.

Contents 1 Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg 1.1 House of Ascania (1260–1689) 1.1.1 Bergedorf-Mölln line 1.1.2 Ratzeburg-Lauenburg line 1.2 House of Welf (1689–1803) 1.2.1 House of Brunswick–Celle (1689–1705) 1.2.2 House of Hanover (1705–1803) 1.3 Great French Wars (1803–1814) 1.4 House of Oldenburg (1814–1864) 1.5 Dependent rule (1864–present) 2 External links

• John I, 1260–85, ruling jointly with his brother Albert III of Saxe-Wittenberg until 1272

John was succeeded by his three sons, who at first ruled jointly:

• John II, 1296–1305, joint rule
• Albrecht III, 1296–1305, joint rule
• Erich I, 1296–1305, joint rule

In 1305 the brothers divided their inheritance between them, creating the Bergedorf-Mölln and the Ratzeburg-Lauenburg lines.

• John II, 1285–1321
• Albrecht IV, 1321–43
• John III, 1343–56
• Albrecht V, 1356–70
• Erich III, 1370–1401

In 1401 the elder branch became extinct, and Lauenburg was rejoined with the Ratzeburg-Lauenburg line.

• Albrecht III, 1285–1308, joint rule
• Erich I, 1305–61, joint rule until 1308
• Erich II, 1361–68
• Erich IV, 1368–1412

In 1401 the younger branch inherited Lauenburg and other possessions of the extinct elder Bergedorf-Mölln line.

• Erich V, 1412–36, joint rule until 1414
• John IV, 1412–36, joint rule
• Bernhard III, 1436–63
• John V, 1463–1507
• Magnus I, 1507–43
• Franz I, 1543–81
• Magnus II, 1581-1603
• Franz II, 1603–19
• August, 1619–56
• Julius Heinrich, 1656–65
• Franz Erdmann, 1665–66
• Julius Franz, 1666–89

• Georg Wilhelm, 1689–1705, also duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and, thus, Elector of Hanover

• Georg I Ludwig, 1705–27, also duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover; from 1714 also king of Great Britain.
• Georg II, 1727–60, also king of Great Britain, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover
• Georg III, 1760–1803, also king of Great Britain, duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Elector of Hanover (king of Hanover, after the Congress of Vienna)

• to the First French Republic, 1803–05
• to the Kingdom of Prussia, 1805–06
• to the Kingdom of Westphalia, 1806–10
• to the First French Empire, 1810–14

For 50 years from 1814, Saxe-Lauenburg was in personal union with the Kingdom of Denmark, within the German Confederation:

• Friedrich I, 1814–39, also king of Denmark (1808–39, as Frederick VI) and duke of Schleswig-Holstein; previously king of Norway (1808–14) and regent of [[Image:{{{flag alias-denmark}}}|22x20px|border|Flag of Norway]] Denmark-Norway from 1784
• Christian I, 1839–48, also king of Denmark (as Christian VIII) and duke of Schleswig-Holstein; previously king of Norway (1814, as Christian Frederick)
• Friedrich II, 1848–63, also king of Denmark (as Frederick VII) and duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• Christian II, 1863–64, also king of Denmark (1863–1906, as Christian IX) and duke of Schleswig-Holstein

• to  Prussia from 1864–1945
  • in personal union with Prussia 1864–76, thus ruled by William I of the House of Hohenzollern, king of Prussia (1861–88), president of the North German Confederation (1867–71) and German Emperor (1871–88)
  • In 1890, Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismark was awarded the honorific Duke of Lauenberg, but he was never sovereign ruler of the territory, which had been incorporated into Prussia in 1876
• to  Schleswig-Holstein since 1876, as Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg

• Historical map of Schleswig Holstein in 1730
• Historical map of Lower Saxony in 1789
• Historical atlas of Saxe-Lauenburg

v • d • e Members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire following the Golden Bull of 1356
Spiritual electors	Abp Mainz     Abp Trier     Abp Cologne
Secular electors	Kgdm Bohemia     Cty Palatine / Rhine     Dchy Saxony     Mgvt Brandenburg
Electors added in the 17th century	Dchy Bavaria (from 1623)     Dchy Hanover (from 1692)
Electors added in the 19th century	Abp Regensburg¹     / Dchy Salzburg²/Dchy Würzburg³     Dchy Württemberg¹     Mgvt Baden¹     Lgvt Hesse-Kassel¹
1: 1803–06;     2: 1803–05;     3: 1805–06.

v • d • e Holy Roman Empire – Lower Saxon Circle (1500–1806)
Ecclesiastical princes	Bremen* | Halberstadt* | Hildesheim | Lübeck | Magdeburg* | Ratzeburg (until 1701) | Schwerin*
Secular princes	Bremen† | Brunswick: Blankenburg (until 1731), Calenberg‡, Celle, Grubenhagen‡, Lüneburg‡, Wolfenbüttel | Holstein: Glückstadt, Gottorp | Mecklenburg: Güstrow (until 1695), Schwerin, Strelitz | Rantzau (until 1734) | Regenstein | Saxe-Lauenburg‡
Imperial cities	Bremen | Goslar | Hamburg | Lübeck | Mühlhausen | Nordhausen
* until 1648     † from 1648     ‡ until 1705

v • d • e States of the German Confederation (1815–66)
Empires	Austria
Kingdoms	Prussia | Bavaria | Saxony | Hanover | Württemberg
Electorates	Hesse
Grand Duchies	Baden | Hesse | Luxembourg | Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Oldenburg | Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duchies	Anhalt: Bernburg¹, Dessau¹, Köthen² | Brunswick | Holstein | Limburg | Nassau | Saxony: Altenburg³, Coburg-Saalfeld4, Coburg-Gotha³, Gotha-Altenburg4, Hildburghausen4, Lauenburg, Meiningen
Principalities	Hesse-Homburg | Hohenzollern: Hechingen5, Sigmaringen5 | Liechtenstein | Lippe | Reuß: Elder, Junior | Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen | Waldeck and Pyrmont
City-states	Bremen | Frankfurt | Hamburg | Lübeck
1: Merged to Anhalt from 1863;     2: until 1847;     3: from 1826;     4: until 1826;     5: until 1850