Kloster/Amt Bordesholm

Hof Ovendorf

The Bordesholm monastery (Kloster) was founded in 1330 (having moved from Neumünster), and began acquiring land—mostly between Neumünster and Kiel, but also the exclave of Sachsenbande, west of Itzehoe. In the 1544 partition of Holstein, the Kloster was assigned to Holstein-Hadersleben. The Duke of Hadersleben closed the Kloster and converted it to an Amt in 1566. I apply the term “Amt” retroactively to the Kloster, but add an * to signal that the designation was not always formal. After the Hadersleben line died out, Amt Bordesholm was assigned to Holstein-Gottorp in 1581. It reverted to the core Duchy in 1773, when the Gottorp line relinquished its claims in Holstein.

 

In the southeastern corner of Amt Bordesholm was the Ovendorf property, which was owned by the church in Barkau (an entity that exercised no secular jurisdiction). Indirect jurisdiction was exercised by the patrons of the Barkau church—Amt Bordesholm, Kloster Preetz, and Gut Bothkamp. However, Ovendorf was not considered part of any of those jurisdictions, but was a jointly-ruled entity of its own. It was not included in the 1544 partition of Holstein, so I assign it to jointly-ruled Holstein prior to 1773 and unified Holstein afterward.