South Jutland County ( Danish: ''Sønderjyllands Amt'') is a former

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

( Danish: '' amt'') on the south-central portion of the Jutland Peninsula in southern

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of Aabenraa (E), Haderslev (N), Sønderborg (SE), and Tønder (SW). The county was abolished effective 1 January 2007, when the Region of Southern Denmark was formed. Following the reunification of the region with Denmark, the Church of Denmark elevated Haderslev to a diocese in 1923 and divided the region between the dioceses of Ribe (W) and Haderslev (E). This arrangement remains in effect.

Description

South Jutland county is also known as Northern Schleswig ( Danish: ''Nordslesvig'', German: ''Nordschleswig''). The name refers specifically to the southernmost of the Danish part of the Jutland Peninsula that formerly belonged to the former Duchy of Schleswig ( Danish: ''Slesvig'' or ''Sønderjylland''), a Danish

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of f ...

under the Kings of Denmark. Denmark lost the

Duchy of Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( da, Hertugdømmet Slesvig; german: Herzogtum Schleswig; nds, Hartogdom Sleswig; frr, Härtochduum Slaswik) was a duchy in Southern Jutland () covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km ...

, as well as the German Duchies of

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 Germ ...

and Lauenburg, to

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 ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 1864 in the Second War of Schleswig. Following Austria's defeat in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

(1866), all three provinces were annexed to Prussia. Following the defeat of Germany in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the Allied powers organised two plebiscites in Northern and Central Schleswig on 10 February and 14 March 1920, respectively. In Northern Schleswig 75% voted for reunification with

and 25% for remaining in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. Though there is no historical census, it is estimated that the percentage of ethnic Germans in Northern Schleswig was less than the 25% that had voted for remaining in Germany. From 1920 to 1939, Johannes Schmidt-Vodder was elected as the sole ethnic German representative in the Danish Parliament with consistently 13 to 15% of the North Schleswig votes, providing an indication of the actual percentage of ethnic Germans in the region. In Central Schleswig the situation was reversed with 80% voting for

and 20% for

. No vote ever took place in the southern third of Schleswig, as the result was considered a foregone conclusion. Today, they both form a part of the German state of

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 Sc ...

. On 15 June 1920, Northern Schleswig was officially reunited with

. It is the only one of the German transfers of territory after World War I that the Nazis did not dispute. A small

ethnic German , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

minority Minority may refer to: Politics * Minority government, formed when a political party does not have a majority of overall seats in parliament * Minority leader, in American politics, the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative b ...

still lives in South Jutland county, predominantly in and near the towns of

Tønder Tønder (; german: Tondern ) is a town in the Region of Southern Denmark. With a population of 7,505 (as of 1 January 2022), it is the main town and the administrative seat of the Tønder Municipality. History The first mention of Tønder might ...

and Aabenraa ( German: ''Tondern'' and ''Apenrade''). A relatively larger Dane minority lives in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein.

1970 borders

As reconstituted in 1970, South Jutland County had slightly different borders to the area gained from Germany in 1920: the towns of Hejle, Taps and Vejstrup (which were Danish throughout the period 1864 to 1920) were included in its jurisdiction, whereas Spandet, Roager and Hviding (German from 1864 to 1920) were included in the neighbouring 1970–2006 county of Ribe.http://www.zonu.com/fullsize/2011-06-10-13931/Schleswig-Holstein-1897.html Map of Schleswig from 1897

Insignia

The coat of arms of South Jutland County was designed in 1980 and is derived from the historic coat of arms of Schleswig which in turn is derived from the national

coat of arms of Denmark The coat of arms of Denmark ( da, Danmarks rigsvåben) has a lesser and a greater version. The state coat of arms () consists of three pale blue lions passant wearing crowns, accompanied by nine red lilypads (normally represented as herald ...

. The inspiration for the Dannebrog pennant was a 13th-century seal used by Erik Abelsøn, Duke of Schleswig.

List of County Mayors

Municipalities (1970–2006)

* Aabenraa municipality * Augustenborg municipality * Bredebro municipality *Broager municipality * Bov municipality * Christiansfeld municipality * Gram municipality *

Gråsten municipality Gråsten (; german: Gravenstein) is a town with a population of 4,274 (1 January 2022)Haderslev municipality Haderslev (german: Hadersleben) is a town and municipality on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in the Region of Southern Denmark. It includes the island of Årø as well as several other smaller islands in the Little Belt. The municipality ...

* Højer municipality *

Lundtoft municipality Until 1 January 2007 Lundtoft was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in South Jutland County on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covered an area of 137 km2, and had a total population of 6,184 ( ...

* Løgumkloster municipality * Nordborg municipality * Nørre-Rangstrup municipality * Rødding municipality * Rødekro municipality * Skærbæk municipality *

Sundeved municipality Sundeved is a peninsula on the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. It lies between Åbenrå Fjord and Als Fjord to the north, Alssund to the east and Flensborg Fjord to the south. The westernmost part of the city of Sønderborg ...

* Sønderborg municipality *

Sydals municipality Until 1 January 2007 Sydals (german: Südalsen) was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in South Jutland County on the southern part of the island of Als off the east coast of the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality covered an are ...

* Tinglev municipality * Tønder municipality *

Vojens municipality Vojens Municipality (german: Woyens), was a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') in the former South Jutland County on the Jutland peninsula in south Denmark. The municipality, which existed from 1970 to 2006, covered an area of , and had a total po ...

References

{{coord, 55, 02, 40, N, 9, 24, 52, E, source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Former counties of Denmark (1970–2006) Region of Southern Denmark 1970 establishments in Denmark Regions of Schleswig-Holstein States and territories established in 1970 States and territories disestablished in 2006