Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein
Encyclopedia
Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein (born 22 August 1949) has been the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and the entire House of Oldenburg
since 1980. He is the current titular Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg
, traditionally styled
as His Highness
.
The House of Oldenburg—in one of its cadet branches—is the royal house of Denmark
(since 1448) and Norway
(1450–1818 and since 1905), and has been the royal house of several other countries including Greece
, Sweden
and Russia
; it also includes the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom
. As such, he is the head of the family that today includes Margrethe II of Denmark
, Harald V of Norway
, Constantine II of Greece
and, patrilineally
, even Charles, Prince of Wales
. Christoph is the senior male line
descendant of Christian III of Denmark
, and as such the heir to the headship of the entire Kalmar Union
. His great-great-grandfather, Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
, was the older brother of Christian IX of Denmark
, and through him Christoph is heir by masculine primogeniture
to the Danish title Duke of Glucksburg conferred by the Danish crown in 1825. Christoph is also, cognatic
ally, a descendant of Queen Victoria and Alexander II of Russia
, and is in the line of succession to the British throne
.
Since 1980, he chairs the board of the foundation that owns the ancestral castle of the House of Glücksburg, Glücksburg Castle. He is the owner of the Grünholz estate and is one of the largest land owners of Schleswig-Holstein.
(1922–1980) and his wife Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1923). He has a diplom
in Agricultural Engineering. Christoph served as a Reservist
in the German Army
for two years holding the rank of Lieutenant.
He succeeded to the headship of the ducal house on 30 September 1980 following the death of his father. While possession of the united duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been allocated by a series of wars and treaties since the First Schleswig War of 1848 and the London Protocol of 1852, the ducal title was borne by Christophe's father and paternal grandfather (as inherited from his great-grandfather, Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg in 1934). However Christophe has preferred to remain known by the title which is shared by male cadet
s of the dynasty, "Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg". Since the Kalmar Union
was never formally dissolved, it has been asserted that the headship of that union shall have passed from King Christian I
through a given line despite changes in the royal houses of each of the three constituent states themselves. If calculated that way, the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein would still also be the head of that union.
Christoph is a founding member of the GLC Glücksburg Consulting Group and serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board. He resides in Schwansen
where he has business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate.
civilly on 23 September 1981 and religiously on 3 October. Christoph and Elisabeth have four children:
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House of Oldenburg
The House of Oldenburg is a North German dynasty and one of Europe's most influential Royal Houses with branches that rule or have ruled in Denmark, Russia, Greece, Norway, Schleswig, Holstein, Oldenburg and Sweden...
since 1980. He is the current titular Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg
Glücksburg
Glücksburg is a small town in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea, approx. 10 km northeast of Flensburg...
, traditionally styled
Style (manner of address)
A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...
as His Highness
Highness
Highness, often used with a possessive adjective , is an attribute referring to the rank of the dynasty in an address...
.
The House of Oldenburg—in one of its cadet branches—is the royal house of Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
(since 1448) and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(1450–1818 and since 1905), and has been the royal house of several other countries including Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
; it also includes the heir to the throne of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. As such, he is the head of the family that today includes Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II of Denmark
Margrethe II is the Queen regnant of the Kingdom of Denmark. In 1972 she became the first female monarch of Denmark since Margaret I, ruler of the Scandinavian countries in 1375-1412 during the Kalmar Union.-Early life:...
, Harald V of Norway
Harald V of Norway
Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...
, Constantine II of Greece
Constantine II of Greece
|align=right|Constantine II was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family....
and, patrilineally
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
, even Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
. Christoph is the senior male line
Patrilineality
Patrilineality is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritance of property, names or titles through the male line as well....
descendant of Christian III of Denmark
Christian III of Denmark
Christian III reigned as king of Denmark and Norway. He was the eldest son of King Frederick I and Anna of Brandenburg.-Childhood:...
, and as such the heir to the headship of the entire Kalmar Union
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...
. His great-great-grandfather, Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Friedrich, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg was the third Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg...
, was the older brother of Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX of Denmark
Christian IX was King of Denmark from 16 November 1863 to 29 January 1906.Growing up as a prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a junior branch of the House of Oldenburg which had ruled Denmark since 1448, Christian was originally not in the immediate line of succession to the Danish...
, and through him Christoph is heir by masculine primogeniture
Primogeniture
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...
to the Danish title Duke of Glucksburg conferred by the Danish crown in 1825. Christoph is also, cognatic
Cognatic
Cognatic kinship is a mode of descent calculated from an ancestor or ancestress counted through any combination of male and female links, or a system of bilateral kinship where relations are traced through both a father and mother....
ally, a descendant of Queen Victoria and Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II of Russia
Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...
, and is in the line of succession to the British throne
Line of succession to the British Throne
The line of succession to the British throne is the ordered sequence of those people eligible to succeed to the throne of the United Kingdom and the other 15 Commonwealth realms. By the terms of the Act of Settlement 1701, the succession is limited to the descendants of the Electress Sophia of...
.
Since 1980, he chairs the board of the foundation that owns the ancestral castle of the House of Glücksburg, Glücksburg Castle. He is the owner of the Grünholz estate and is one of the largest land owners of Schleswig-Holstein.
Life
Christoph was born in Schloss Louisenlund, the eldest son of Peter, Duke of Schleswig-HolsteinPeter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein
Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein was the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Head of both the House of Glücksburg and the entire House of Oldenburg from 10 February 1965 until his death on 30 September 1980...
(1922–1980) and his wife Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe (b. 1923). He has a diplom
Diplom
A Diplom is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Estonia, Finland , Greece, Hungary, Russia, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Ukraine...
in Agricultural Engineering. Christoph served as a Reservist
Reservist
A reservist is a person who is a member of a military reserve force. They are otherwise civilians, and in peacetime have careers outside the military. Reservists usually go for training on an annual basis to refresh their skills. This person is usually a former active-duty member of the armed...
in the German Army
German Army
The German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Following the disbanding of the Wehrmacht after World War II, it was re-established in 1955 as the Bundesheer, part of the newly formed West German Bundeswehr along with the Navy and the Air Force...
for two years holding the rank of Lieutenant.
He succeeded to the headship of the ducal house on 30 September 1980 following the death of his father. While possession of the united duchies of Schleswig and Holstein had been allocated by a series of wars and treaties since the First Schleswig War of 1848 and the London Protocol of 1852, the ducal title was borne by Christophe's father and paternal grandfather (as inherited from his great-grandfather, Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg in 1934). However Christophe has preferred to remain known by the title which is shared by male cadet
Cadet
A cadet is a trainee to become an officer in the military, often a person who is a junior trainee. The term comes from the term "cadet" for younger sons of a noble family.- Military context :...
s of the dynasty, "Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg". Since the Kalmar Union
Kalmar Union
The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...
was never formally dissolved, it has been asserted that the headship of that union shall have passed from King Christian I
Christian I of Denmark
Christian I was a Danish monarch, king of Denmark , Norway and Sweden , under the Kalmar Union. In Sweden his short tenure as monarch was preceded by regents, Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna and Erik Axelsson Tott and succeeded by regent Kettil Karlsson Vasa...
through a given line despite changes in the royal houses of each of the three constituent states themselves. If calculated that way, the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein would still also be the head of that union.
Christoph is a founding member of the GLC Glücksburg Consulting Group and serves as Chairman of the Advisory Board. He resides in Schwansen
Schwansen
Schwansen is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Baltic Sea. It is located between the Eckernförde Bay in the south and the Schlei inlet in the north....
where he has business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate.
Family
Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 1957), daughter of Prince Alfred of Lippe-Weissenfeld and Baroness Irmgard Julinka Wagner von Wehrborn, at GlücksburgGlücksburg
Glücksburg is a small town in the district Schleswig-Flensburg, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.It is situated on the south side of the Flensburg Fjord, an inlet of the Baltic Sea, approx. 10 km northeast of Flensburg...
civilly on 23 September 1981 and religiously on 3 October. Christoph and Elisabeth have four children:
- HH Princess Sophie of Schleswig-Holstein (born 9 October 1983 in EckernfördeEckernfördeEckernförde is a German city in Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Rendsburg-Eckernförde at the Baltic Sea near Kiel. The population is about 23,000.All German submarines are stationed in Eckernförde....
) - HH Friedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-HolsteinFriedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-HolsteinFriedrich Ferdinand, Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein is the heir apparent of Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, current Head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein, the senior extant line of the House of Oldenburg...
(born 19 July 1985 in Eckernförde) - HH Prince Constantin of Schleswig-Holstein (born 14 July 1986 in Eckernförde)
- HH Prince Leopold of Schleswig-Holstein (born 5 September 1991 in Eckernförde)
Titles and styles
- 22 August 1949 – 10 February 1965: His Highness Prince Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg
- 10 February 1965 – 30 September 1980: His Highness The Hereditary Prince of Schleswig-Holstein
- 30 September 1980 – present: His Highness The Prince of Schleswig-Holstein
Military title
- Leutnant Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein (or Lieutenant Prince of Schleswig-Holstein)
Ancestry
External links
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