List of rulers of Schleswig-Holstein

See Also: List of consorts of Schleswig-Holstein

The following is a list of rulers, usually dukes, who ruled both Schleswig and Holstein, starting from the first Holstein count who received Schleswig, until both provinces were annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia; and afterwards, titular dukes.

Dynasty of Schauenburg

• 1332-40 : Gerhard III, Count of Holstein-Rendsborg, Duke of Jutland
• 1386-1404 : Gerhard VI, Count of Holstein-Rendsborg, Duke of Sønderjylland = Schleswig
• 1404-27 : Henry IV
• 1404/27-59 : Adolf VIII

Dynasty of Oldenburg

• 1460-1481 : Christian I (Christian I), Duke of Holstein 1474
• 1481-1513 : John (Hans)
• 1482-1533 : Frederick I (Frederik I)
• 1513-1523 : Christian II (Christian II), deposed, died 1559
• 1533-1559 : Christian III (Christian III)

Partition 1544-1773, senior part (kings of Denmark)

• 1534-1559 : Christian III (Christian III)
• 1559-1588 : Frederick II (Frederik II)
• 1588-1648 : Christian IV (Christian IV)
• 1648-1670 : Frederick III (Frederik III)
• 1670-1699 : Christian V (Christian V)
• 1699-1730 : Frederick IV (Frederik IV) (Schleswig united under the Danish crown, 1721. The partition of Holstein continues.).
• 1730-1746 : Christian VI (Christian VI)
• 1746-1766 : Frederick V (Frederik V)
• 1766-1808 : Christian VII (Christian VII)

Partial (junior) possessors 1544-1773: Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp

Formal title of the duke was "Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Dithmarschen and Stormarn", but that also was born by his cousins, as it was their common property. The Gottorp branch held Landeshoheit in the case of the duchy of Holstein in Holy Roman Empire and in the case of the duchy of Schleswig in the kingdom of Denmark. The name Holstein-Gottorp comes as convenient usage from technically more correct Duke of Schleswig and Holstein at Gottorp.

The oldest of the ducal titles was that of Schleswig, which had been confirmed to their cognatic predecessors ultimately in 1386 by King Oluf II of Denmark and his mother-regent, Queen Margaret I.^{[citation needed]} Ducal title to Holstein and so forth came in 1474 from Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor.

From 1544, when this "one-thirds-duchy" was ceded to Adolf, the third son of King Frederick I of Denmark and the youngest half-brother of King Christian III of Denmark. The Holstein-Gottorp house was therefore a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg and the various Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp shared the rule of Schleswig and Holstein with their relatives, the Kings of Denmark. Roughly one-third of the lands were controlled by the Dukes.

• 1544-1586 : Adolf
• 1586-1587 : Frederick II
• 1587-1590 : Philip
• 1590-1616 : John Adolf
• 1616-1659 : Frederick III
• 1659-1694 : Christian Albert
• 1694-1702 : Frederick IV
• 1702-1739 : Charles Frederick (after 1713/21 just in the duchy of Holstein)
• 1739-1762 : Charles Peter Ulrich (later Peter III of Russia)
• 1762-1773 : Paul (later Paul I of Russia)

Oldenburg (Danish kings) continues

• 1766-1808 : Christian VII (Christian VII), ruler of the whole since 1773
• 1808-1839 : Frederick VI (Frederik VI)
• 1839-1848 : Christian VIII (Christian VIII)
• 1848-1863 : Frederick VII (Frederik VII)
  • Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, rival 1848-51
  • 1863-64-65 Christian IX of Denmark, rival with duke Frederick VIII, and from whom Prussia and Austria annexed the territories

Titular dukes

Prussia, the annexing state, recognized the head of the House of Oldenburg as mediatized duke of this duchy/ these two duchies, with the rank and all the titles pertaining:

• 1848-69 : Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, rival in 1848, renounced first in 1851, second in 1863
• 1863-80 : Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1880-1931 : Ernest Gunther, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1921-31 : Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1931-34 : Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1934-65 : Wilhelm Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1965-80 : Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
• 1980- : Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born 1949)
• Heir: Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born 1985)