Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein

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Frederick VIII
Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
PredecessorChristian August II
SuccessorErnst Gunther
Born(1829-07-06)6 July 1829
Augustenburg, Schleswig, Denmark
Died14 January 1880(1880-01-14) (aged 50)
Wiesbaden, Hesse-Nassau, Prussia, Germany
SpousePrincess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Issue
more...
Names
Frederick Christian Augustus
German: Friedrich Christian August
HouseSchleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
FatherChristian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
MotherCountess Louise Sophie Danneskiold-Samsøe

Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (Danish: Frederik Christian August af Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Augustenborg; German: Friedrich Christian August Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg; 6 July 1829 – 14 January 1880) was the German pretender to the throne of second duke of Schleswig-Holstein from 1863, although in reality Prussia took overlordship and real administrative power.

Life

He was the eldest son of

Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe. He was ethnically perhaps the most Danish Prince of the Danish Royal dynasty in his generation (at the time of Denmark's most recent succession crisis
).

His family belonged to the

Christopher III of Denmark
. Frederik's paternal grandfather happened to have both grandfathers who were "Royal" dukes from the Oldenburg dynasty.

Frederick also differed from his rivals in his specific ancestry among the contemporary Danish high nobility. His mother was from an ancient Danish family (

Ahlefeldt-Langeland). Frederick's family had high hopes that in the then-rising era of nationalism
, this ancestry would be viewed with favour when the legal question over whose claim was strongest would be decided. The family groomed Frederick to become a King of Denmark.

Unfortunately, Frederick, despite his more ethnically Danish ancestry was to become a symbol of German nationalism. Insider circles of Danish Royal government, for various reasons, were not favourable to the Augustenburgs. Instead, the Princess of Hesse and Prince of Glucksburg, closer relatives of the then royal family's core, were preferred. Prince Frederick's father became a protagonist in the 1848-1851 First Schleswig War, to the hostility of Danish nationalists.

Prince Frederick's inherited claims were strongest to the almost wholly German-speaking

Salic Law
as a leading principle in its fundamental succession law. Schleswig and Denmark, much more Scandinavian in legal history, had legal precedents for elective and female succession. Frederick and his father, however Danish they actually were, realised this and leant towards German interests.

Young Frederick's father found himself in an untenable position after the collapse of Prussian support and defeat of his own government at the end of the First Schleswig War in 1851. He renounced his claims as

first in line to inherit the twin duchies in favour of the king of Denmark and his successors on 31 March 1852 in return for a financial compensation. The ducal family was banished.[1]
Frederick now became the symbol of the nationalist German independence movement in Schleswig-Holstein. The renunciation was a hurdle which was explained away by the Augustenburg dynasty and the German nationalists as not having any effect on Frederick, who had not personally renounced anything and on whose behalf no one, including the father, was empowered to make renunciations. Frederick's marriage in 1856 was part of an appeal to German nationalism (however, his younger brother married a daughter of Queen Victoria).

Medal of Frederick VIII 1864 worn by his supporters during the Augustenburgische Bewegung for Schleswig-Holstein to join the German Confederation

In November 1863 Frederick claimed the twin-duchies in

Helwig of Schauenburg, the independence movement had long nourished hopes that the king's death would lead to their goal. The Kingdom of Denmark was also under so-called Semi-Salic Law, but its male line ended with Frederick VII and Danish law contained a Semi-Salic provision which resulted in the election of Christian of Glücksburg
as new monarch. German nationalists claimed that Schleswig was also inherited according to the unmodified Salic Law, but this claim was refused by the Danish government, arguing that this province was subject to Danish law.

Second War of Schleswig. The rule of Denmark in the duchies was terminated, and Frederick triumphantly entered Kiel, where he was eagerly welcomed. However, numerous political complications arose which prevented the formal reinstatement of the dynasty. By the terms of the Treaty of Vienna (October, 1864), the duchies were relinquished to Prussia and Austria, to be disposed of by them. Prussia, however, imposed conditions upon Frederick which made it impossible for him to assume the government. After the Peace of Prague, which terminated the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the lands were finally absorbed into the Kingdom of Prussia.[1]

Frederick subsequently served on the staff of the Crown Prince, Frederick William of Prussia, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.[1] Frederick and his heirs continued to use their title, which after the next generation passed to the Glucksburg branch, to heirs of an elder brother of Christian IX of Denmark.

Marriage and children

On September 11, 1856 Frederick married

Ernst Christian Carl IV, Duke of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen, elder half-sister of Queen Victoria
. They were parents to seven children:

  1. Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Victor Karl Ernst Christian August (August 3, 1857 – October 29, 1858).
  2. Wilhelm II, German Emperor
    .
  3. Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
  4. Prince Friedrich Viktor Leopold Christian Gerhard (January 20, 1862 – April 11, 1862).
  5. Ernst Günther II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
    , Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (August 11, 1863 – February 21, 1921).
  6. Princess Feodora Louise Sophie Adelheid Henriette Amalie (April 8, 1866 – April 28, 1952). Married Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia. He was a male-line great-grandson of Frederick William III of Prussia.
  7. Princess Feodora Adelheid Helene Luise Karoline Gustave Pauline Alice Jenny (July 3, 1874 – June 21, 1910).

Ancestry

References

Citations

  1. ^
    New International Encyclopedia
    (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Friedrich VIII. von Schleswig-Holstein.
Frederick VIII, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg
Born: 6 July 1829 Died: 14 January 1880
German nobility
Preceded by Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
November 1863–14 January 1880 		Succeeded by
Ernst Gunther
Preceded by Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
11 March 1869–14 January 1880 		Succeeded by
Ernst Gunther

(as Duke of Schleswig-Holstein)
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