da, Christian Carl Frederik August
german: Christian Karl Friedrich August , house =

Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg () was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all of the secondary ...

, father =

Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (28 September 1765 in Augustenburg – 14 June 1814 in Augustenburg) was a Danish prince and feudal magnate. He held the island of Als and some other castles (such as So ...

, mother =

Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark Princess Louise Augusta of Denmark and Norway (7 July 1771 – 13 January 1843) was the daughter of the Queen of Denmark-Norway, Caroline Matilda of Great Britain. Though officially regarded as the daughter of King Christian VII, it is widely a ...

, birth_date = , birth_place = Copenhagen, Denmark , death_date = , death_place = Primkenau (now Przemków),

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is spl ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was '' de facto'' dissolved by an ...

, burial_date = , burial_place = , religion =

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (19 July 1798 – 11 March 1869, ''Christian Carl Frederik August''), commonly known as Christian, Duke of Augustenborg, was a German prince and statesman. During the 1850s and 1860s, he was a claimant to first duke of the whole provinces of Schleswig and Holstein, and a candidate to become king of Denmark following the death of King Frederick VII. He was the father-in-law of Princess Helena (daughter of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

) and the paternal grandfather of Augusta Victoria, Empress of Germany and wife of Kaiser

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

Family and lineage

He was closely related to Kings

Christian VII Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death in 1808. For his motto he chose: "''Gloria ex amore patriae'' ...

, Frederick VI and

Christian VIII Christian VIII (18 September 1786 – 20 January 1848) was King of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, King of Norway in 1814. Christian Frederick was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick, a younger son of King Frederic ...

of Denmark through his mother and was a claimant for the Danish throne in the 1860s. Born a prince of the

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg The House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg () was a branch of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg of the House of Oldenburg. The line descended from Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg. Like all of the secondary ...

and scion of a cadet-line descendant of the Danish royal House of Oldenburg, Christian August was the fiefholder of Augustenborg and

Sønderborg (; german: Sonderburg ) is a Danish town in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Sønderborg Municipality (Kommune). The town has a population of 27,766 (1 January 2022),Slesvig and

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

, and he was also a candidate to become king of Denmark during the succession crisis caused by the childlessness of King

Frederick VII of Denmark Frederick VII (Frederik Carl Christian; 6 October 1808 – 15 November 1863) was King of Denmark from 1848 to 1863. He was the last Danish monarch of the older Royal branch of the House of Oldenburg and the last king of Denmark to rule as a ...

. He lost the chance to ascend the throne to his distant kinsman, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck. Christian August was the eldest son and heir of

Frederik Christian II, Duke of Augustenborg Frederick Christian II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg (28 September 1765 in Augustenburg – 14 June 1814 in Augustenburg) was a Danish prince and feudal magnate. He held the island of Als and some other castles (such as So ...

and his wife

. His father was the head of the senior cadet branch of the ruling house of Denmark, and thus the nearest agnatic kin of the kings of Denmark. Furthermore, his mother Louisa Auguste was (officially) the daughter of King

Christian VII of Denmark Christian VII (29 January 1749 – 13 March 1808) was a monarch of the House of Oldenburg who was King of Denmark–Norway and Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As r ...

, the sister of King Frederick VI and the first cousin of King Christian VIII. Due to all this, Christian August was high in the line of succession to the Danish throne. He also enjoyed additional influence in the Danish court because his sister, Caroline Amalie, was the beloved second wife of King Christian VIII (his mother's cousin). Christian August's family lost out in the competition for the throne of Denmark mainly because of the widely accepted belief that his mother was actually fathered by

Johann Friedrich Struensee Lensgreve Johann Friedrich Struensee (5 August 1737 – 28 April 1772) was a German-Danish physician, philosopher and statesman. He became royal physician to the mentally ill King Christian VII of Denmark and a minister in the Danish government ...

, Christian VII's royal physician. If true, this would mean Christian August was not a true legitimate descendant of Frederick III, the first hereditary monarch of Denmark. His claim was further weakened by having married for love to Countess Louise Sophie Danneskiold-Samsøe, a woman of unequal rank.

Biography

In 1848, German-nationalist sympathies prompted a rebellion in

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schl ...

against Danish rule. A provisional government was established at Kiel under the Duke of Augustenborg, who travelled to Berlin to secure the assistance of

in asserting his rights. The

First War of Schleswig The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswig, ...

ensued. However, European powers were united in opposing any dismemberment of Denmark. Among others, Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, speaking with authority as Head of the elder

Holstein-Gottorp Holstein-Gottorp or Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp () is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schlesw ...

line, regarded the Duke of Augustenborg a rebel. Russia had guaranteed Schleswig to the Danish crown by the treaties of 1767 and 1773. A treaty of peace between Prussia and Denmark was signed at Berlin on 2 July 1850. Both parties reserved their antecedent rights. Denmark was satisfied that the treaty empowered the king-duke to restore his authority in Holstein with or without the consent of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. Augustenburg was ousted from power, as Danish troops marched in to subdue the duchies. The question of the Augustenburg succession made an agreement between the major powers impossible, and on 31 March 1852 the duke of Augustenburg resigned his claim in return for a money payment. Duke Christian sold his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein to Denmark in the aftermath of the Treaty of London, but later renounced his rights to the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in favor of his son Frederik August. In November 1863, his son Frederick proclaimed himself rightful second Duke of Schleswig and Holstein. Duke Christian August died in 1869.

Marriage and issue

Christian Carl August (1798-1869) hertug af Slesvig-Holsten-Sønderborg-Augustenborg

Christian married in 1820 his second cousin, Countess Lovisa-Sophie af Danneskjold-Samsøe (1797–1867), a Danish noblewoman who belonged to the House of Danneskiold-Samsøe, which in turn was an illegitimate branch of the Danish royal House of Oldenburg. They had seven children: *Prince ''Alexander'' Frederick William Christian Charles Augustus (20 July 1821 – 3 May 1823), died young *Princess Louise Auguste (28 August 1823 – 30 May 1872) *Princess Caroline Amelie (15 January 1826 – 3 May 1901) *Princess Wilhelmine (24 March 1828 – 4 July 1829), died young * Prince ''Frederick'' Christian August (6 July 1829 – 14 January 1880), later Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg. He married

Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Princess Adelheid of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (20 July 1835 – 25 January 1900) was Duchess of Schleswig-Holstein, a niece of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, first cousin of King Edward VII, and the mother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germa ...

and had issue one surviving son and four daughters including Augusta Viktoria "Dona", Empress of Germany as wife of Kaiser

. * Frederick ''Christian'' Charles Augustus (22 January 1831 – 28 October 1917), later (1866) married his third cousin

Princess Helena of the United Kingdom Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria; 25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923), later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Helena was educated by private tutors chosen ...

(daughter of

) and settled in England. They were the parents of

Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein Albert, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (Albert John Charles Frederick Alfred George; 26 February 1869 – 27 April 1931), was a grandson of Queen Victoria. He was the second son of Victoria's daughter Princess Helena by her husband Prince Christian ...

. *Princess Caroline Christiane Auguste Emilie ''Henriette'' Elisabeth (2 August 1833-1917)

Place in Danish royal family and claim to throne

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* Johannes Heinrich Gebauer: ''Christian August, Herzog von Schleswig Holstein. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Befreiung Schleswig-Holsteins''. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart u. a. 1910. * Karl Lorentzen: '' Christian Karl Friedrich August, Herzog von Schleswig-Holstein''. In:

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, german: Universal German Biography) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Ac ...

(ADB). Band 4, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 205–211. * Hans Harald Hennings:
Christian Karl Friedrich August
'. In:

Neue Deutsche Biographie ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cove ...

(NDB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, , S. 237 f. * Mikkel Venborg Pedersen: ''Die Herzöge von Augustenburg''; in: ''Die Fürsten des Landes. Herzöge und Grafen von Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg'', im Auftrag der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte herausgegeben, S. 310–341.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian August 02, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg House of Augustenburg 1798 births 1869 deaths Princes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg Nobility from Copenhagen People of the First Schleswig War Member of the Prussian National Assembly