Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein (22 August 1949 – 27 September 2023) ( German: ''Christoph Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein'') was the head of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (commonly known as the House of Glücksburg) and, by agnatic

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

, of the entire

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

between 1980 and 2023.''Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser'' XVI. ''Haus Holstein''. C.A. Starke Verlag, 2001, pp.44-50. (German). . Traditionally he would have been the eighth Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Duke of Glücksburg, styled as ''

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly ...

''. He was a male-line descendant of Christian I of Denmark, and was also descended cognatically from numerous more recent monarchs, including

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 Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

of the United Kingdom, Emperor

Alexander II of Russia Alexander II ( rus, Алекса́ндр II Никола́евич, Aleksándr II Nikoláyevich, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ftɐˈroj nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ; 29 April 181813 March 1881) was Emperor of Russia, Congress Poland, King of Poland and Grand Du ...

and several more recent Danish kings. His paternal grandmother was Princess Marie Melita of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a great-granddaughter of

House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

The House of Oldenburg — in one of its cadet branches — is patrilineally the royal house of Norway (1450–1818 and since 1905) and the United Kingdom (since 2022), and has been the reigning dynasty of several other countries including Denmark, Greece, Sweden and Russia. As such, Christoph was the agnatic head of the family that today includes

Harald V of Norway Harald V (, ; born 21 February 1937) has been King of Norway since 1991. A member of the House of Glücksburg, Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the Succession to t ...

and, patrilineally, Charles III of the United Kingdom. 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 male

to the Danish title Duke of chleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-lücksburg (heir of the last extant ducal branch of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg) conferred by the Danish crown in 1825. Christoph was also, cognatically, a descendant of

and

Life and activities

Christoph was born in Louisenlund Castle in Güby, near Eckernförde,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, the eldest son of Peter, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein (1922–1980), and his wife, Princess Marie Alix of Schaumburg-Lippe (1923-2021). He had a

diploma A diploma is a document awarded by an educational institution (such as a college or university) testifying the recipient has graduated by successfully completing their courses of studies. Historically, it has also referred to a charter or offi ...

in Agricultural Engineering. Christoph served as a Reservist in the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

for two years, holding the rank of

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

. Christoph 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 Christoph's father and paternal grandfather (as inherited from his great-grandfather, Friedrich Ferdinand, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg in 1934). However, Christoph was known also by the title which is shared by male

cadets A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime o ...

of the dynasty, "''Prinz zu'' (Prince of) ''Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg''". From 1980 onward, Christoph chaired the board of the family foundation that owns the ancestral castle,

Glücksburg Castle Glücksburg Castle (German: Schloss Glücksburg, Danish language, Danish: ''Lyksborg Slot'') is one of the most significant Renaissance castles in Northern Europe. The castle was the headquarters of the ducal lines of the house of Glücksburg an ...

. He was a founding member of the GLC Glücksburg Consulting Group and served as chairman of its advisory board. He resided in Grünholz near

Schwansen Schwansen ( or ''Svansø'', meaning "swan island/peninsula") is a peninsula in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Baltic Sea. It is located between Eckernförde Bay to the south and the Schlei inlet to the north. The Danish dia ...

, where he had business interests in agriculture, forestry and real estate. He was the owner of the Grünholz and Bienebek estates and was one of the largest landowners of Schleswig-Holstein. His sister, Princess Ingeborg, chairs the board of a further family foundation, the ''

Stiftung Louisenlund Stiftung Louisenlund is a privately run boarding school for boys and girls in Güby, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. History The school's main building is in Louisenlund Palace, which was built by Hermann von Motz between 1772 and 1776 for Prince Ch ...

''.

Marriage and issue

Elisabeth_of_Schleswig-Holstein_2010_crop

Christoph married Princess Elisabeth of

Lippe-Weissenfeld The House of Lippe-Weissenfeld (German spelling: Lippe-Weißenfeld) was a comital and later princely cadet branch of the House of Lippe, a dynasty ruling the Principality of Lippe until the German Revolution of 1918–19. Branches of the House ...

(b. 28 July 1957 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

), younger daughter of Prince Alfred Karl Friedrich Georg Franz of

(b. 1922) and his wife, Baroness Irmgard Julinka Wagner von Wehrborn (b. 1928), at Glücksburg civilly on 23 September 1981 and religiously on 3 October 1981. Christoph and his wife had four children: * Sophie (born 9 October 1983 in Eckernförde), who married Swedish

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

Anders Wahlquist (born 1968) in 2015. They have two children꞉ ** Cecil Wahlquist (born 2016) ** Sirai Wahlquist (born 2018) * Friedrich Ferdinand (born 19 July 1985 in Eckernförde), 9th Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and Head of the

, who married fashion model Anjuta Buchholz (born 1985/1986) in March 2017. They have two sons꞉ ** Heir Prince Alfred of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 2019) ** Prince Albert of Schleswig-Holstein (b. 2020) * Constantin (born 14 July 1986 in Eckernförde), who married civilly in March 2023 to Countess Sophia von der Schulenburg (born 17 April 1990 in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, Spain). They married religiously on 1 June 2024 in

Sóller Sóller () is a town and municipality near the north west coast of the Balearic Island of Mallorca, Spain, 3 km inland from Port de Sóller, in a large, bowl-shaped valley that also includes the village of Fornalutx and the hamlets of Biniara ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

, and they have one son꞉ ** Prince Tassilo of Schleswig-Holstein (born July 2023) * Leopold (born 5 September 1991 in Eckernförde), who married Alix Preuss-Neudorf, daughter of Christian Preuss-Neudorf and his wife, Countess Margareta von der Schulenburg, and first cousin of her sister-in-law Princess Sophia (née von der Schulenburg).

Death

Christoph died on 27 September 2023, at the age of 74, after a long-term illness. He was succeeded as head of the House of Oldenburg by his eldest son, .

Gallery

File:Luftbild Kulturdenkmal Schloss Glücksburg Wasserschloss Schleswig-Holstein - Foto Wolfgang Pehlemann Steinberg IMG 6753.jpg,

File:Gut Grünholz, Herrenhaus.JPG, Grünholz Estate File:Herrenhaus Louisenlund.JPG, Louisenlund Palace File:Christoph of Schleswig-Holstein guest group 2010.jpg, With his wife and Swedish visitors at Grünholz in 2010

Ancestry

References

External links

Schloss GlücksburgThe Prince of Schleswig-Holstein's company website
{{Authority control 1949 births 2023 deaths 20th-century German military personnel 20th-century German people 21st-century German people Dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg Princes of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg People from Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein People from Eckernförde