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HOLSTSnT. 



H0L8TBIK. 



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The other riven ot Uolrtoio are inuJl : of theie the Aliter, wtiioh 

 jouu the Kibe at Hamburg, >iid the BiUe, which form* part of the 

 boundary towards Laaenburg, may be mentioned. Common roada, 

 which are however not well constructed, traTerae the duchy from 

 Altona to Liibeok, Kid, and Bendsboiig. A railway runs from Kiel 

 to Altona, with branohei to Bendaborg and Oluokstadt. The Hamburg- 

 Berlin railroad crone* a portion of the south of Holstein ; nnd the 

 branch line to LUbeck runs near its eastern boundary. Trade is also 

 greatly focUiUted by the Kiel Caual, made in the years 1777-84, at 

 the expeoae of abore two milliou* and a half of dollars, to form a 

 oommunioation, in conjunction with the Kyiler, between the North 

 Baa and the Baltia It is 23 miles in length, 100 feet broad at the 

 tiahioa, 54 feet broad at the bottom, and 10 feet deep. It has aiz 

 alnkae, throagh which ships 100 feet long, 26 feet wide, and drawiiig 

 not more than I* feet water, can pass. Steamers ply from Kiel and 

 the mouth of the Trove to all parts of the Baltic, and from the Elbe 

 there is communication with all parts of the world. 



Holstein, with the exceptions already made, is on the whole very 

 fertile, especially iii the reclaimed maish-lands of Dithmarah and the 

 aaat«m parts which have of late years been rendered almost equal to 

 the manh-Unda, chiefly by the use of marl The climate is damp but 

 healthy. The chief mineral products are salt, lime, gypsum, and 

 amber ; but there are no metals. Agriculture is well understood. 

 The chief products are com, more than sufficient for the home oon- 

 sumptiou, pul«e, potatoes, hops, flax, and hemp. The breed of horses 

 and of homed cattle is excellent There are likewise sheep, swine, 

 and abundance of poultry and game. Storks are very numerotu : 

 their huge nests may be seen on the summit of the gable-end of most 

 of the tarm-housea The manufactures are unimportant The situa- 

 tion of Holstein betweeu two seas is highly favoiunble to commerce. 

 The exports conisiet of com, timber, horses, cattle, butter, tallow, 

 bee( hides, and tiuf ; the imports of colonial produce, wines, and 

 manofkctures. The provision houses of Hamburg are supplied with 

 beef chiefly from Uolttein. The herring fishery, and the Qreeuland 

 whale and sea fishery, are sources of considerable profit The prin- 

 cipal seats of trade ore Altona and KieL 



The HoUteiner* are an athletic race, generally exceeding the middle 

 ■imture : the women are good-looking, and wear a quaint but becoming 

 costume. They are not a purely Qermanic people, for they are largdy 

 mixed with Slavic blood ; nor is Oerman their language, though they 

 l^etally understand that tongue, but a compound of several dialects, 

 ID which the Slavic is an important element The inhabitants do not 

 all live clustered in townn and villages ; the country is dotted with 

 country seats and well-built farm-buildings. Education is universally 

 difiiiaed among the people of Holstein ; there is a school in every 

 parish, besides grammar-schools in all the important towns, and a 

 nnivenity in KieL 



The principal towns of Holstein are Altoka, Kiel, and Reitds- 

 BORa The more important of the other ton-ns are noticed here. 



OmdciUuU, the capital of the duchy, situated on the right bank of 

 the Elbe, half-way between Hamburg and the mouth of the river, has 

 8000 inhabitants. It is a pretty, regularly-built, trading town, inter- 

 sected by canals. The strong ramparts which formerly surrounded it 

 were demolished in 1 81 4. It has a Lutheran, a Calvinist, and a Roman 

 Catholic church, a gymnasium, a school of navigation, and other public 

 institutiona The old arsenal is now used partly as a prison, partly as 

 a workhouse. Oltickstadt was declared a free port in 1830, and has 

 much trade, and several ships engaged in the whale-fishery. 



BlanJtenete is a large and remukable village, most beautifully situ- 

 ated on the Elbe, 6 miles fiom Altona. The inhabitants, about 3000 

 in number, are- mostly fishermen and pilots. 



Elimhom, 18 miles by railway N.W. from Altona, is a well-built 

 town situated on the Kriickait, a feeder of the Elbe, and has about 

 6000 inhabitants. It has considerable manufactures and a large trade 

 in com. The town is particularly noted for its shoes, of which vast 

 numbers are made and sold in all of the fiiits of the duchies of Schlcs- 

 wig and Holstein. Elmshom is one of the few places in the duchies 

 whem Jews are allowed to reside. 



Ilzekot, in a valley screened br wooded hills, stands on the Stor, 

 midway between Altona and Renosborg, being 30 miles distant from 

 each, and has J5<i0 inhabitants. It was founded by Charlemagne ta 

 A.I1. 809. During the Thkty Years' War it was tvrioe taken by Tilly, 

 and twice recovered by the Danes ; the Swedes bombarded the town 

 and nearly reduced it to ashes in 1687. The church of St Lawrence 

 and the convent attached to it (now a foundation for unmarried noble 

 ladies) are the most interesting buildings. Itzehoo is or was the place 

 of nsmmibly of the provincial states of Holstein. In the neighbour- 

 bo<Kl are many hanrlsome oountry seats, one of which, the castle of 

 Breilenburg, is beautifully situated on the marein of the Stor. 



Plnn, cm a narrow tongas of huid between the greater and smaller 

 lakes of Plrin, ia one of On prattiart pUcea in Holstein. The castle of 

 the former duke* of Holstefai-PInn ttands on a hill above the lake: 

 population, 2700. The larger Uke ia 7 miles long, 4 miles broad, and 

 encircled by wxHled hill*. 



Prttit, 8 miles H.S.K. from Kiel, prettily situated on the edge of a 

 MBall lake, has 8000 inhabitants. It owe* iU origin to a convent 

 founded here in 1216, and now converted into a house for unmarried 

 ladies of noble birth. The convent ia joined to tile town by a shady 



avenue. The church and cloisters of the original ttruoturs are veiy 

 interesting. 



Oldeilohe on the Travo, 6 miles above Ita entrance into the Lttbeck 

 territory, has about 8000 inhabitanta, many of whom are employed 

 in the productive Mne-springs and royal salt-worica hi the vicinity. 

 At Htgaberg, a pretty little town higher up the Trave, is a limestone 

 rock which rises abruptly from the level surface of the oountry to a 

 height of 200 feet, while about. 400 feet in depth of the mass are 

 sunk in the earth. I^iorge quarries are worked beneath this rock ; iU 

 summit command* very fine and extensive views, comprising the 

 towers and spires of Hamburg and LUbeck. 



The king of Denmark, as duke of Holstein and Lanenbni^g, is a 

 memberof the Oerman Confederation; his place is the tenth in rauk,and 

 ho has three votes in the full council The contingent for both Holstein 

 and Lauenburg is 3600 men. After the peace in 1816, the king at diOer- 

 ent times signified his intention of introducing a representative consti- 

 tution, and on the 2Sth of May, 1831, there appeared a general law for 

 the catebli.thnjcnt of provincial assemblies in the duchies of Schleswig 

 and Holstein, to deUberate on pubUc matter* but with power merely 

 to advise the crown. The states met every two years. Those of Holstein 

 and Laueuburg consisted of 48 members; and their place of meeting 

 was Itzehoe. On the death of Frederick VL (Dec. 3, 18S9) the question 

 of the succession to the throne, which was regulated diflurently in the 

 two parte of the monaroby, began to cause differences between Den- 

 mark proper and the duchies, which at last terminated in war. In 

 Denmark the law of succession was such that in case of the extinction 

 of the direct male line (a contingency now becoming every day more 

 probable) the females of the same line should be called to the throne ; 

 but in the case supposed the law of the duchies ordains that the males 

 of the collateral line, Holstoin-Sonderbut^-Augustenburg, should have 

 the right to succeed. Another cause of jealousy was the demand of 

 the Schleswig states in 1844 to be united to those of Holstein. This 

 was refused by the king, and the states of Jutland passed a resolution 

 pronouncing the proceeding of Sobleawig as tending to a dissolution 

 of the monarchy. Later in the year, Oct. 1844, the states of Holstein 

 pressed the subject of the succession on the attention of the govern- 

 ment, and in the following month the states for the Danish part of the 

 monarchy assembled at Koeskild, demanded a declaration from the 

 king to the efiect that the duchies " being integral porta of Denmark, 

 could never be separated from it" In July 1846 appeared the Letter 

 Patent of Chi-istian VIII., declaring the law of succession in Schleswig 

 and Lauuuburg to be the same as in Denmark, but expressing doubts 

 respecting Holstein which it would be the duty of government to 

 clear up, in order to maintain the integrity of Danish states. Holstein 

 protested, but the king refused to accept the protest. The represen- 

 tatives of Holstein then appealed to the Oerman Diet, which passed 

 a resolution confirming the right of the collateral line. Soon after 

 Schleswig protested against separation from Holstein, and against any 

 other succession than that of the house of Augustenburg. 



To put an end to these quarrels among the parliaments of the 

 several parte of the monaroby, and with a view to consolidate ita 

 component parte into one compact united state, Frederick VIIL soon 

 after his accession issued (Jan. 28, 1848) a decree for a united parlia- 

 ment to consist of 26 delegates elected by Denmark proper and 26 

 by the duchies, with 4 delegates for each duchy nominated by the 

 king. The duchies elected their deputies, but instructed them to 

 insist upon a separate chamber to manage their own particular inter- 

 este. The deputies met at Rendsborg (March 18, 1848), appointed a 

 deputation to the king to demand — a separate chamber, a constitution 

 for the united duchies, and a national guard — and appointed a pro- 

 visional government On the 8rd of April the deputies of the two 

 duchies voted at Rendsborg the incorporation of Schleswig with the 

 Oermanic Confederation ; the king of Prussia openly encouraged the 

 hopes of the duke of Augustenburg. War ensued between Denmark 

 and the duchies, a.^i3ted by Prussia and auxiliaries from all parte of 

 Qermany now in a state of revolution. Hostilities coutinned with 

 varying snccess, and interrupted only for a short time by the armistice 

 of Malmii, till the 25th of July, 1850, when the great and decisive 

 victory gained at Idstedt by the Danes over the Sohloswig-Holsteiner* 

 under general Willisen, who retreated on Kendsborg, threw the 

 whole of Schleswig into the hands of the D;inc». The last action of 

 the war was the attempt to storm the fortress of Friederickstiidt 

 (Sept 29, 1850), which was repolsed by the Danes. The Frankfurt 

 Diet then commanded the immediate suspension of hostilities, and on 

 Austrian army entered Holstein to carry into efiect the interference of 

 the diet for the re-establishment of peace. On the 1 8th of Febmary 

 1852 the commissaries of the diet formally transferred the govern- 

 ment of Holstein to the Danish commissary at Kiel ; and nccoiding to 

 the terms of the pacification the integrity of the Danish monarchy is 

 secured ; each of the duchies has a separate administration ; Holstein 

 and Lauenburg remain as before members of the Oermanic Confederntion, 

 and the material but not political union of Holstein nnd Schleswig 

 is guaranteed ; and the succession was subsequently settled upon the 

 second or Olucksburg branch of the collateral line of Hulstein-Sonder- 

 burg, the duke of Augustenburg having resigned his claims in consi- 

 deration of a pension. 



The early history of Holstein is obscure. Charlemagne subdued 

 the Saxons, who then inhabited it ; removed 10,000 families of them 



