LAUENBURG, formerly a duchy belonging with Holstein to Denmark, but from 1865 to Prussia, was in July 1876 incorporated as a circle in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. It lies on the right bank of the Elbe, between 53° 21' and 53° 48' N. lat., 10° 13' and 11° 3' E. long, is bounded by the territories of Hamburg, Lubeck, and Mecklenburg, the province of Hanover, and the circle of Oldesloe, and comprises an area of 453 square miles. The surface of the country is a slightly undulating plain. The soil, chiefly alluvial, though in some places arenaceous, is geuerally fertile and well cultivated, but a great portion is covered with forests, and interspersed with lakes. By means of the Stecknitz Canal, the Elbe, the principal river, is connected with the Trave. The chief agricultural products of the circle are timber, fruit, grain, hemp, flax, and vegetables. Cattle breeding affords employment for many of the inhabitants. The railroad from Hamburg to Berlin traverses the country. The judicial administration is divided among five courts of law, over which is a superior court for the whole circle, the supreme court of appeal being at Berlin. The capital is Ratzeburg, and there are two other towns, Mölln and Lauenburg. In 1880 the population amounted to 49,185, Low Saxons by descent, and with few exceptions Lutherans by confession....
The earlier inhabitants of Lauenburg were a Slavic tribe known by the name of Polabes (ι.e., dwellers on the Elbe; Slavic, Lebα). They were gradually replaced by colonists from Lower Saxony, and about the middle of the 12th century the country was conquered by Henry the Lion, and thus came under the yoke of the dukes of Saxony. Lauenburg subsequently passed into the hands of Valdemar II. of Denmark, but, having in 1227 reverted to the Saxons, it remained in their possession for over four hundred years,—from 1260, however, in the separate line of Saxe-Lauenburg. After the death of Duke Julius Francis in 1689, the line of succession having become extinct, the emperor ordered the sequestration of the duchy, but Duke George William of Brunswick-Luneburg-Celle forcibly occupied it, paid a money indemnity to Saxony, and was recognized by the inhabitants (15th September 1702). Upon his death in 1705, Lauenburg fell to his nephew, George I., elector of Hanover, and afterwards king of England, whose claim was eventually recognized in 1728 by imperial decree. In 1806 Lauenburg was occupied by the French, and in 1810 it was incorporated with the department of Bouches de ΓElbe. After the battle of Leipsic in 1813 it reverted to Hanover, and on the 29th May 1815 was ceded to Prussia, which on the 4th June transferred it to Denmark. After the death of Frederick VII. of Denmark (1863) there were various claimants to the duchy, but at the peace of Vienna (30th October 1864) it was ceded by Christian IX. of Denmark to Austria and Prussia. By the convention of Gastein (14th August 1865) Austria surrendered her claims to Prussia upon the payment of 2,500,000 Danish thalers (about £280,000). On the 15th September William I. of Prussia took formal possession of the duchy, but it still retained its constitution and special privileges, and was not consolidated and incorporated with the kingdom of Prussia until the 1st of July 1876.
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