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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.
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Dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg
House of Ascania (1260–1689)
John was succeeded by his three sons, who at first ruled jointly:
In 1305 the brothers divided their inheritance between them, creating the Bergedorf-Mölln and the Ratzeburg-Lauenburg lines.
Bergedorf-Mölln line
In 1401 the elder branch became extinct, and Lauenburg was rejoined with the Ratzeburg-Lauenburg line.
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
House of Welf (1689–1803)
House of Brunswick–Celle (1689–1705)
- Georg Wilhelm, 1689–1705, also duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and, thus, Elector of
Hanover
House of Hanover (1705–1803)
- 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)
Great French Wars (1803–1814)
- 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
House of Oldenburg (1814–1864)
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
Coat of arms of Lauenburg used during the Prussian administration, with the black and white of Prussia
Dependent rule (1864–present)
- 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
- 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
- to
Schleswig-Holstein since 1876, as 
Kreis Herzogtum Lauenburg
External links
- Historical map of Schleswig Holstein in 1730
- Historical map of Lower Saxony in 1789
- Historical atlas of Saxe-Lauenburg
 Members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire following the Golden Bull of 1356 |
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| Spiritual electors |  Abp Mainz  Abp Trier  Abp Cologne |
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| Secular electors |  Kgdm Bohemia  Cty Palatine / Rhine  Dchy Saxony  Mgvt Brandenburg |
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| Electors added in the 17th century |
 Dchy Bavaria (from 1623)  Dchy Hanover (from 1692) |
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| Electors added in the 19th century |
 Abp Regensburg¹  / Dchy Salzburg²/Dchy Würzburg³  Dchy Württemberg¹  Mgvt Baden¹  Lgvt Hesse-Kassel¹ |
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| 1: 1803–06; 2: 1803–05; 3: 1805–06. | ||
 Holy Roman Empire – Lower Saxon Circle (1500–1806) |
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|---|---|---|
| Ecclesiastical princes | Bremen* | Halberstadt* | Hildesheim | Lübeck | Magdeburg* | Ratzeburg (until 1701) | Schwerin* |
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| 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 | ||
 States of the German Confederation (1815–66) |
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|---|---|---|
| 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 | ||
