County of Holstein-Pinneberg

County of Rantzau

The County of Holstein-Pinneberg was created in 1290 when the Schaumburgian County of Holstein-Itzehoe was partitioned three ways. In 1390, the other two counties and the portion of Holstein that had not belonged to Itzehoe merged into the County of Holstein-Rendsburg, which became Danish in 1459. Holstein-Pinneberg was the rightful heir to that territory, but it could not enforce its claim.

 

In 1640, the Pinneberg line died out and the County was divided as follows:

 

• The larger portion was assigned the Danish Duchy of Holstein-Segeberg, where it was divided into two Herrschäfte, each with more autonomy than an Amt:
  • Herrschaft Pinneberg (Amt Pinneberg, Amt Hatzburg, and the Schaumburgian portion of Kloster Uetersen).
  • Herrschaft Herzhorn (Amt Herzhorn—an exclave mostly surrounded by Amt Steinburg)
• The smaller portion (Amt Barmstedt) was assigned to the Oldenburgian (but not Danish) Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, which sold it in 1649 to Christian Rantzau, a prominent subject of the King of Denmark who aspired to become a count. He was successful in establishing the County of Rantzau, even achieving membership in the Reichstag—something Holstein-Gottorp never achieved. Because Rantzau was not a member of the House of Oldenburg, I assign the County to the nation of Lower Noble Germany. As a consequence of the murder of Rantzau’s grandson, the county was terminated in 1726 and absorbed by the Danish Duchy (by that time, known as Holstein-Glückstadt), where it continued to be known as Grafschaft Rantzau. (This is one of the rare occasions in which my convention of naming countries in English and subdivisions in German causes some confusion. Grafschaft and County mean the same thing.)