principality · Germany and Central Europe
Principality of Ratzeburg
Origins
The Bishopric of Ratzeburg, founded in the 12th century under Henry the Lion, had become Lutheran in the Reformation. At the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 it was secularised and given to the dukes of Mecklenburg as the Principality of Ratzeburg, though the town of Ratzeburg itself belonged to Saxe-Lauenburg.
Rule and society
The principality was a rural area of villages and farms governed from Schönberg. It had no estates of its own, so its peasants were largely free of the noble domination typical of Mecklenburg. Under the Treaty of Hamburg in 1701 it was assigned to the new Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, from which it was separated by Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Decline and legacy
Ratzeburg remained part of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, raised to a grand duchy in 1815, until the monarchy ended in 1918, then belonged to the Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Today the area forms part of the district of Nordwestmecklenburg.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Principality of Ratzeburg was part of Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz1701 CE – 1918 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Principality of Ratzeburg. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-ratzeburg
- MLA
- “Principality of Ratzeburg.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-ratzeburg. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Principality of Ratzeburg.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-ratzeburg.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Principality of Ratzeburg’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/principality-of-ratzeburg (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻