The Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, was a reichsfrei duchy that existed from 1296 to 1803 and again from 1814 to 1876 in the extreme southeast region of what is now Schleswig-Holstein. Its territorial center was in the modern district of Herzogtum Lauenburg and originally its eponymous capital was Lauenburg upon Elbe, though the capital moved to Ratzeburg in 1619.
Bergedorf Castle in Bergedorf, former seat of the Lauenburg Elder Line
The Treaty of Perleberg, 1420
Lauenburg Castle in Lauenburg upon Elbe, seat of the Lauenburg Younger Line by the end of the 16th century, until its destruction in 1616
View of Ratzeburg, 1590, with the castle in the foreground
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition.
The Duke and Duchess of Scania in 1905