Brunswick-Lüneburg was a historical state within the Holy Roman Empire. As the name implies, the main cities of this state were Brunswick and Lüneburg.

Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg

---

The state emerged from the inheritance of the first Saxon state of Henry the Lion in the late 12th century. Henry was deposed by the Emperor as Duke of Saxony, but retained various Lower Saxon lands which were inherited by his children as the Duchies of Brunswick and Lüneburg.

The first duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg was Otto the Child, who reigned from 1235 on. After 1267 the duchy was split into two partial states, the lines of Lüneburg and of Wolfenbüttel (which later became a multitude of partial states), but all of them were ruled by the Welf dynasty and maintained close relations. The centres of power moved in the meantime from Brunswick and Lüneburg to Celle and Wolfenbüttel.

While there is a total of about a dozen subdivisions that existed, some of them were only dynastic and were not recognised as states of the Empire. In the List of Reichstag participants (1792), the following four subdivisions of Brunswick-Lüneburg are represented:

• Calenberg
• Grubenhagen
• Lüneburg
• Wolfenbüttel

From 1705 on, all lines except Wolfenbüttel were held by Calenberg. After the end of the Holy Roman Empire, Calenberg and its possessions continued to exist under the name of Hanover; Wolfenbüttel continued to exist under the name of Brunswick.

From Calenberg to Hanover

---

One of the collateral lines was the line of the dukes of Calenberg, who managed to gain all the territory of the former duchy except for that of the Wolfenbüttel line. The city of Hanover was the residence of the Calenberg line. Calenberg (sometimes also called Calenberg-Celle) was made an electorate by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1692. It was then known under many different names (Brunswick-Lüneburg, Calenberg, Hanover), but eventually became the state of Hanover.

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

---

The Wolfenbüttel line retained its independence from Hanover, except for the period from 1807 to 1813, when it was made part of the Kingdom of Westphalia. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 turned it into an independent country under the name Duchy of Brunswick, with Wolfenbüttel as its capital. While the kingdom of Hanover was annexed by Prussia in 1866, the Duchy of Brunswick remained and joined first the North German Confederation and in 1871 the German Empire.

Dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg and Princes of Wolfenbüttel, 1267 -1807

House of Welf, Elder House of Brunswick

• 1267 - 1279: Albert I
• 1279 - 1291: Henry I, William I, and Albert II jointly
• 1291 - 1292: William I
• 1292 - 1318: Albert II
• 1318 - 1344: Otto
• 1345 - 1369: Magnus I
• 1369 - 1373: Magnus II
• 1373 - 1400: Frederick
• 1400 - 1409: Bernard and Henry II jointly
• 1409 - 1428: Bernard

House of Welf, Second House of Brunswick

• 1428 - 1432: William the Victorious (III)
• 1432 - 1473: Henry the Peaceful
• 1473 - 1482: William the Victorious
• 1482 - 1484: Frederick the Turbulent and William IV jointly
• 1484 - 1491: William IV
• 1491 - 1514: Henry IV
• 1514 - 1568: Henry V
• 1568 - 1589: Julius
• 1589 - 1613: Henry Julius
• 1613 - 1634: Frederick Ulrich

House of Welf, Younger House of Brunswick

• 1635 - 1666: Augustus
• 1666 - 1685: Rudolph Augustus
• 1685 - 1702: Rudolph Augustus and Anthony Ulrich jointly
• 1702 - 1704: Rudolph Augustus
• 1704 - 1714: Anthony Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg
• 1714 - 1731: Augustus William
• 1731 - 1735: Louis Rudolph
• 1735: Ferdinand Albert II
• 1735 - 1780: Charles I
• 1780 - 1806: Charles William Ferdinand
• 1806 - 1807: Frederick William

Dukes of Brunswick and Lüneburg, 1813-1918

House of Welf, Younger House of Brunswick, restored

1. 1813 - 1815: Frederick William

He was succeeded by his sons, see Duke of Brunswick

See also

---

• Lunenburg County, Virginia

External links

---

• Map of Lower Saxony 1789

States of the Holy Roman Empire

Herzogtum Braunschweig-Lüneburg | 브라운슈바이크 (지역) | Brunswijk (land)