Gut and Amt Rethwisch

Originally an adlige Gut, Rethwisch became an Amt in 1616, when it was assigned to the spin-off Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. When the Holstein portion of that duchy was further spun off into the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön in 1623, Rethwisch went with it. Finally, in 1671, Rethwisch itself was spun off as a separate duchy (after being enhanced by the addition of Benstaben, Klein Schenkenberg, Klein Wesenberg, and Meddewadde from Amt Reinfeld and Klein Boden from Amt Steinhorst in Saxe-Lauenburg).

 

In 1729, the Rethwisch line died out and the Amt reverted to Holstein-Plön. When the Plön line died out in 1762, Rethwisch reverted to the core Holstein duchy (Holstein-Glückstadt until 1773; just Holstein thereafter), which had already confiscated the original Sonderburg duchy in 1668. When Holstein exchanged territory with the Principality of Lübeck in 1843, the villages of Groß- and Klein Barnitz were included and were assigned to Amt Rethwisch.