The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf

The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf

In 2021, it's 300 years ago that a Danish-Norwegian king managed to incorporate large parts of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein controlled by the House of Gottorf. Before this eventual annexation, the city of Aabenraa was forcefully occupied by Danish forces. 

This city walk starts its historical narrative on 27 April 1661, when duke Christian Albrecht of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf lets himself be crowned at Brundlund castle by the mayor, city counsel, priesthood and notables in the duchy's northernmost town, Aabenraa. We'll follow the most prominent families such as the von Saldern's and Günderoth's, who have left us a slew of beautiful buildings that recount the story of the Danish Kingdom's eventual domination of the Gottorf-state.

The story doesn't end in 1721, since the Gottorf family assumes power in Russia as czars, and attempts to regain its lost territories through war. It was only in 1773 that Aabenraa-born Caspar von Saldern as mediator managed to cause a change of power in Russia, thus ousting the Gottorf family and creating a unified German-Danish-Norwegian state.