Duke of Holstein-Gottorp

House of Holstein-Gottorp
*Huset Holsten-Gottorp* (Danish)
House of Holstein-Gottorp; Huset Holsten-Gottorp (Danish)
Parent house	House of Oldenburg
Country	Russian Empire; Kingdom of Denmark; Kingdom of Sweden; Kingdom of Norway; Grand Duchy of Oldenburg; Duchy of Oldenburg; Duchy of Schleswig; Duchy of Holstein;
Etymology	From Holstein region and Gottorf Castle, Schleswig
Founded	1544
Founder	Adolf of Denmark
Current head	Christian, Duke of Oldenburg
Final ruler	Schleswig-Holstein: Paul I; Russia: Nicholas II; Oldenburg: Frederick Augustus II;
Titles	List Emperor of Russia; (1762–1917); Grand Duke of Oldenburg; (1823–1918); Duke of Oldenburg; (1774–1823); Duke of Schleswig; (1544–1773); Duke of Holstein; (1544–1773);
Estate(s)	Gottorf Castle (former, Schleswig-Holstein); Schloss Oldenburg (former, Oldenburg); Winter Palace (former, Russia);
Deposition	Schleswig-Holstein: 1773; Russian Empire: 1917; Oldenburg: 1918;
Cadet branches	Holstein-Gottorp-Sweden (extinct); Holstein-Gottorp-Romanov (agnatic);

Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
*Herzogtum Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf* (German)
*Hertugdømmet Slesvig-Holsten-Gottorp* (Danish)
Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp Herzogtum Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf (German); Hertugdømmet Slesvig-Holsten-Gottorp (Danish)
1544–1773
	Merchant Ensign of Holstein-Gottorp Coat of arms
Status	Duchy (originally as an Appanage)
Capital	Schleswig
Ethnic groups	Germans, Danes
Government
• Duke	Adolf I (First)
• Duke	Paul I (last)
Establishment	1544
History
• Second partitioning of Schleswig-Holstein	1544
• Treaty of Frederiksborg	1720
• Treaty of Tsarskoye Selo	1773
• Established	1544
• Disestablished	1773
Today part of	Germany; Denmark;

Holstein-Gottorp (pronounced [ˌʃleːsvɪç ˈhɔlʃtaɪn] ^ⓘ) is the historiographical name, as well as contemporary shorthand name, for the parts of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, also known as Ducal Holstein, that were ruled by the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp, a side branch of the elder Danish line of the German House of Oldenburg. Other parts of the duchies were ruled by the kings of Denmark.

The territories of Gottorp are located in present-day Denmark and Germany. The main seat of the dukes was Gottorf Castle in the city of Schleswig in the duchy of Schleswig. It is also the name of the ducal house, which ascended to several thrones. For this reason, genealogists and historians sometimes use the name of Holstein-Gottorp for related dynasties of other countries.

The formal title adopted by these rulers was "Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Dithmarschen and Stormarn", but that title was also used by his kinsmen, the kings of Denmark and their cadet branches, as it was the common property of all these agnates. The Gottorp branch held Landeshoheit (territorial superiority) over the duchy of Holstein in the Holy Roman Empire and over the duchy of Schleswig in the kingdom of Denmark.^{[citation needed]} For the sake of convenience, the name Holstein-Gottorp is used instead of the technically more correct "Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in/at Gottorp".^{[citation needed]}

The oldest of the ducal titles was that of Schleswig, which had been confirmed in fief to a royal kinsman by the regent Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Sweden and Norway in 1386 on behalf of her son, Olaf II of Denmark. The kings of Denmark were granted Holstein as an imperial fief by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III in 1474.