Amt Barmstedt

Grafschaft Rantzau, Vogtei Barmstedt

Grafschaft Rantzau, Vogtei Elmshorn

Barmstedt may have been settled as early as 1000 and it joined Holstein-Pinneberg in 1322, becoming an Amt. After the Schaumburgian line died out in 1640, Amt Barmstedt did not become part of Herrschaft Pinneberg. Instead it was assigned to the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp and in 1649 was sold to Christian Rantzau (a Danish subject), who established the County of Rantzau.

 

While part of the County of Rantzau, the former Amt Barmstedt was divided into two Vogteien—the larger one in Barmstedt itself, and a smaller one consisting of Elmshorn and a few surrounding villages. After reversion to Holstein-Glückstadt in 1726, the former county assumed a status parallel to that of Herrschaft Pinneberg, becoming known as Grafschaft Rantzau, and the two Vogteien remained in place. (This is one of the rare occasions in which my convention of naming countries in English and subdivisions in German causes some confusion. “County” and “Grafschaft” mean the same thing.)