1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Schleswig-Holstein

SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN, a province in the north-west of Prussia, formed out of the once Danish duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg, and bounded W. by the North Sea, N. by Denmark (Jutland), E. by the Baltic Sea, Lübeck and Mecklenburg, and S. by the lower course of the Elbe (separating it from Hanover). It thus consists of the southern half of the Cimbric peninsula, and forms the connecting link between Germany and Denmark. (For map, see ../Denmark.) In addition to the mainland, which decreases in breadth from south to north, the province includes several islands, the most important being Alsen and Fehmarn in the Baltic, and Röm, Sylt and Föhr of the North Frisian chain in the North Sea. The total area of the province is 7338 sq. m., 450 of which belong to the small duchy of Lauenburg in the S.E. corner, while the rest are divided almost equally between Holstein to the south of the Eider and Schleswig to the north of it. From north to south the province is about 140 m. long, while its breadth varies from 90 m. in Holstein to 35 m. at the narrower parts of Schleswig.

The population of the province in 1905 was 1,504,248, comprising 1,454,526 Protestants, 41,227 Roman Catholics and 3270 Jews. The urban and rural communities are in the proportion of 4 to 6. The great bulk of the Holsteiners and a large proportion of the Schleswigers are of genuine German stock, but of the 148,000 inhabitants in the north part of Schleswig 139,000 are Danish-speaking. Among the Germans the prevalent tongue is Low German, but the North Frisians on the west coast of Schleswig and the North Sea islands (about 19,000 in all) still speak a Frisian dialect, which, however, is dying out. The peninsula of Angeln, between the Gulf of Flensburg and the Schlei, is supposed to have been the original seat of the English, and observers profess to see a striking resemblance between this district and the counties of Kent and Surrey. The peasants of Dithmarschen in the south-west also retain many of their ancient peculiarities. The boundary between the Danish and German languages is approximately a line running from Flensburg south-west to Joldelund and thence north-west to Tondern and the North Sea coast; not more than 15% of the entire population of the province speak Danish as their mother-tongue, but the proportion is far larger for Schleswig alone, where there is also a considerable bilingual population. The chief educational institution in Schleswig-Holstein is the university of Kiel.

Schleswig is the official capital of the province, but Altona and Kiel are the largest towns, the latter being the chief naval station of Germany. Kiel and Friedrichsort are fortified, but the old lines of Düppel have been dismantled. The province sends 10 members to the Reichstag and 19 to the Prussian Abgeordnetenhaus (house of deputies). The provincial estates meet in Rendsburg.