Schleswig-Holstein Federal state and historic region in nw Germany; the capital is Kiel. It occupies the s of the Jutland peninsula and extends from the River Elbe to the border with Denmark. The land is mainly flat and fertile. The Kiel Canal links the North Sea with the Baltic. The region's principal economic activities of shipping and fishing are concentrated along the Baltic coast and its excellent natural harbours. The River Eider forms the historic border between Schleswig and Holstein. In the early 12th century, the Duchy of Holstein was created as part of the Holy Roman Empire, while Schleswig was made a fiefdom independent of Danish control. They were twice united under the Danish monarchy, but not incorporated into the Danish state. In 1848, Frederick VII proclaimed the complete union of Schleswig with Denmark, the predominantly German population of both Duchies rebelled, and the German Confederation occupied the two Duchies. The 1852 Treaty of London re-established the Duchies' personal union with Denmark. In 1863, Denmark again tried to incorporate Schleswig into the state proper, and Prussia and Austria declared war. In 1865, Schleswig was administered by Prussia, and Holstein by Austria. The resulting tension led to the Austro-Prussian War (1866). Prussian victory created the state of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1920, following a plebiscite, the n part of Schleswig returned to Denmark. In 1937, the city of Lübeck was incorporated into the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Area: 15,738sq km (6075sq mi). Pop. (1999 est. 2,777,275).

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN , state of Germany. In the 17^th century Danish kings, rulers of the dual duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, invited Sephardi merchants to settle there, and communities were founded in *Glueckstadt, Rendsburg, Friedrichstadt, and *Altona, which became the seat of the rabbinate and the leading community. While the other communities gradually declined economically, Altona prospered and attracted German Jews, who were permitted to settle in these cities and enjoyed special privileges despite the opposition of the Sephardim.

On March 29, 1814, the Jews in Denmark were granted emancipation, but this was abolished at the Congress of *Vienna by a decision which applied to the lands of the German Confederation. Jewish equality was championed by S.L. *Steinheim and Gabriel *Riesser. It was advocated in a series of petitions to the conservative provincial estates, and favored by King Christian viii. Equality was temporarily obtained during the 1848–49 revolution, proclaimed by the parliament of the revolutionary duchies in which Jews participated; during the revolution Jews first settled in *Kiel. On July 14, 1863, a law granting complete emancipation was enacted. A year later the duchies were detached from Denmark and passed to Prussia in 1866. The Jewish population numbered 3,674 in 1835 (2,014 in Altona; 188 in Glueckstadt; 292 in Rendsburg; and 373 in Friedrichstadt, where they were 17% of the population). The figures were about 6,000 in 1925, with 5,000 in Altona, 600 in the new community of Kiel, and the remainder divided among the other dwindling communities; Altona was incorporated into Hamburg in 1937.

Rudolf Katz (d. 1961) was minister of justice of the state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1960, when there were 107 Jews in Kiel.

bibliography:

W. Victor, Die Emanzipation der Juden in Schleswig-Holstein (1913); Jahrbuch fuer die juedischen Gemeinden Schleswig-Holstein und der Hansestaedte (1929–38); A. Linnvald, in: Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft fuer Schleswig-Holsteinsche Geschichte, 57 (1928), 299–364; H. Kellenbenz, Sephardim an der unteren Elbe (1958).

Schleswig-Holstein a state of NW Germany, occupying the southern part of the Jutland peninsula, comprising the former duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, annexed by Prussia in 1866. The complexity of the Schleswig-Holstein question was proverbial in 19th-century politics. The British Whig statesman Lord Palmerston (1784–1865) is said to have asserted that only three men in Europe had ever understood it, and of these the Prince Consort was dead, an unnamed Danish statesman was in an asylum, and he himself had forgotten it.