county · Germany and Central Europe

County of Holstein-Pinneberg

1290 CE – 1640 CE · capital Pinneberg

Lower Elbe lordship of the Schauenburg counts, the last branch of Holstein's old rulers, who developed Altona and founded a university at Rinteln.

Origins

The Schauenburg counts ruled Holstein from 1111. When their lands were divided in 1290, one line kept the ancestral County of Schaumburg on the Weser together with the lordship of Pinneberg north of the Elbe near Hamburg. This branch, known as Holstein-Schauenburg or Holstein-Pinneberg, survived after the main Holstein lines merged with Denmark.

Rule and society

The counts ruled Pinneberg from a distance, with their main residence in Schaumburg at Stadthagen and later Bückeburg. Under them Altona developed beside Hamburg as a rival trading settlement. Count Ernest, raised to princely rank in 1619, founded a university at Rinteln and built the court at Bückeburg. The family adopted Lutheranism in the 16th century.

Decline and legacy

The line died out with Count Otto V in 1640. Pinneberg and Altona passed to Denmark and the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, while Schaumburg was divided among Hesse-Kassel, Lippe and Brunswick-Lüneburg.

Lineage

County of Holstein 1111 CE – 1474 CECounty of Holstein-PinnebergDuchy of Holstein 1474 CE – 1864 CE

More states of Germany and Central Europe →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). County of Holstein-Pinneberg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-holstein-pinneberg
MLA
“County of Holstein-Pinneberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-holstein-pinneberg. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “County of Holstein-Pinneberg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-holstein-pinneberg.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘County of Holstein-Pinneberg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/county-of-holstein-pinneberg (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻