duchy · Germany and Central Europe
Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg
Origins
After Henry the Lion's fall in 1180, his family kept their allodial lands around Brunswick and Lüneburg. At the Diet of Mainz in 1235 his grandson Otto the Child surrendered these lands to Emperor Frederick II and received them back as a new imperial duchy, ending the long feud between the Guelphs and the Hohenstaufen.
Rule and society
Otto ruled from Brunswick, where Henry the Lion's castle of Dankwarderode and the bronze lion stood, and from Lüneburg, whose salt works were the duchy's main source of wealth. The duchy lay between the Weser and the Elbe and included Hanover, Celle and Göttingen. After Otto's death in 1252 his sons Albert I the Tall and John ruled jointly.
Decline and legacy
In 1269 Albert and John divided the duchy, creating the Principality of Wolfenbüttel and the Principality of Lüneburg. The ducal title stayed common to all Guelph lines, from which the Electorate of Hanover and the British royal house of Hanover later descended.
Lineage
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- Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was part of Holy Roman Empire1235 CE – 1269 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick-luneburg
- MLA
- “Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick-luneburg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick-luneburg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/duchy-of-brunswick-luneburg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻