Röhss was a family of merchants in the city of Gothenburg , Sweden , noteworthy through their significant donations to several local and national institutions.
53-516: The family originates in Schleswig , where Johan Gottlob Röhss (1766-1842) was a book dealer. He had three sons who settled in Gothenburg; the most important of these was Wilhelm August Fredrik Röhss (1796-1858), who started his career as a pharmacist but changed his occupation to trade with Scandinavia. He settled in Gothenburg in 1827, where he helped the merchant Johan Gabriel Grönwall in establishing
106-622: A duchy by Emperor Frederick III in 1474. Members of the Danish House of Oldenburg ruled Holstein – jointly with the Duchy of Schleswig – for its entire existence. From 1490 to 1523 and again from 1544 to 1773 the Duchy was partitioned between various Oldenburg branches, most notably the dukes of Holstein-Glückstadt (identical with the Kings of Denmark ) and Holstein-Gottorp . The duchy ceased to exist when
159-522: A dyeing plant at the river Mölndalsån. Röhss married Grönwall's granddaughter in 1831. After Grönwall retired in 1839, Röhss took over his trade and shipping business, in addition to other businesses. After his death in 1858, Wilhelm Röhss's business was taken over by his widow ( Carin Röhss ; 1804-1886) and two sons, Carl Wilhelm Christian Röhss ( Wilhelm Röhss the younger ; 1834-1900) and Johan August Anders Röhss (known as August ; 1836-1904). Wilhelm Röhss
212-567: A condominium, Prussia and Austria then assumed administration of Schleswig and Holstein, respectively, under the Gastein Convention of August 14, 1865. However, tensions between the two powers culminated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Following the Peace of Prague (1866) , the victorious Prussians annexed both Schleswig and Holstein by decree of December 24, 1866, and later established
265-522: A demand for a new referendum from the Danish population in South Schleswig and some Danish politicians, including prime minister Knud Kristensen . However, the majority in the Danish parliament refused to support a referendum in South Schleswig, fearing that the "new Danes" were not genuine in their change of nationality. This proved to be the case and, from 1948 the Danish population began to shrink again. By
318-423: A king holding a ducal title of which he as king was the fount and liege lord . The title and anomaly survived presumably because it was already co-regally held by the king's sons. Between 1544 and 1713/20, the ducal reign had become a common dominium , with the royal House of Oldenburg and its cadet branch House of Holstein-Gottorp jointly holding the stake. A third branch, the short-lived House of Haderslev ,
371-463: A main root of the dispute between the German states and Denmark in the 19th century, when the ideas of romantic nationalism and the nation-state gained popular support. The title of duke of Schleswig was inherited in 1460 by the hereditary kings of Norway, who were also regularly elected kings of Denmark simultaneously, and their sons (unlike Denmark, which was not hereditary). This was an anomaly –
424-567: A majority of 80% to remain part of Germany. In Southern Schleswig, no referendum was held, as the likely outcome was apparent. The name Southern Schleswig is now used for all of German Schleswig. This decision left substantial minorities on both sides of the new border. Following the Second World War , a substantial part of the German population in Southern Schleswig changed their nationality and declared themselves as Danish. This change
477-469: A new common constitution (the so-called November Constitution ) for Denmark and Schleswig in 1863. This was met by German states in two ways: The defeated Danish king had to leave Schleswig and Holstein to Austria and Prussia. They created a condominium over Schleswig and Holstein. Under the Gastein Convention of 14 August 1865, Lauenburg was given to Prussia, while Austria administered Holstein, and Prussia administered Schleswig. However, tensions between
530-401: A new cultural dividing line in the duchy because German was used for church services and teaching in the diocese of Schleswig and Danish was used in the diocese of Ribe and the archdeaconry of Haderslev. This line corresponds remarkably closely with the present border. In the 17th century, a series of wars between Denmark and Sweden—which Denmark lost—devastated the region economically. However,
583-462: A son of his predecessor Eric I – Earl of Schleswig, a title used for only a short time before the recipient began to style himself duke . In the 1230s, Southern Jutland (the Duchy of Slesvig) was allotted as an appanage to Abel Valdemarsen , Canute's great-grandson, a younger son of Valdemar II of Denmark . Abel, having wrested the Danish throne to himself for a brief period, left his duchy to his sons and their successors, who pressed claims to
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#1732875954831636-572: A source of continuous dispute. The Treaty of Heiligen was signed in 811 between the Danish King Hemming and Charlemagne , by which the border was established at the Eider. During the 10th century, there were several wars between East Francia and Denmark. In 1027, Conrad II and Canute the Great again fixed their mutual border at the Eider. In 1115, King Niels created his nephew Canute Lavard –
689-534: A third in political science and statistics. August Röhss was elected an honorary member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts in 1891, and was a member of the Royal Society of Sciences and Letters in Gothenburg . Schleswig The Duchy of Schleswig ( Danish : Hertugdømmet Slesvig ; German : Herzogtum Schleswig ; Low German : Hartogdom Sleswig ; North Frisian : Härtochduum Slaswik )
742-484: A treaty of 1907 with Germany that, by the agreement between Austria and Prussia, the frontier between Prussia and Denmark had finally been settled. The Treaty of Versailles provided for plebiscites to determine the allegiance of the region. Thus, two referendums were held in 1920, resulting in the partition of the region. Northern Schleswig voted by a majority of 75% to join Denmark, whereas Central Schleswig voted by
795-533: The 1920 plebiscites and partition , each side applying its preferred name to the part of the territory remaining in its possession – though both terms can, in principle, still refer to the entire region. Northern Schleswig was, after the 1920 plebiscites, officially named the Southern Jutland districts ( de sønderjyske landsdele ), while Southern Schleswig then remained a part of the Prussian province, which became
848-739: The German Confederation of which Holstein (and Lauenburg ) was a member state. Although Schleswig was never a part of the Confederation, the Confederation (and the short-lived German Empire of that time) treated Schleswig largely as such. The ideological argument was not only an ethnic but also a historical one: the German side referred to a medieval treaty that claimed that Schleswig and Holstein should be forever united (in Low German: up ewig ungedeelt ). The federal and then imperial troops consisted mainly of Prussian divisions. Under pressure of
901-694: The German state of Schleswig-Holstein in 1946. From early medieval times, the area's significance was its role as a buffer zone between Denmark and the powerful Holy Roman Empire to the south, as well as being a transit area for the transfer of goods between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea , connecting the trade route through Russia with the trade routes along the Rhine and the Atlantic coast (see also Kiel Canal ). In
954-731: The Göteborgs handelsinstitut . The institute later merged with the Hvitfeldtska gymnasiet , and the building is part of the current Hvitfeldtska campus. Wilhelm Röhss's brother, August Röhss (1836-1904) attended the Chalmers School for Craft (now known as the Chalmers University of Technology ) and Bergsskolan , the mining school in Falun . He became his brother's business partner and was its sole owner from 1900 until its liquidation in 1902. He
1007-550: The Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Adolf VIII , the last Count of Holstein-Rendsburg and Duke of Schleswig had died without heirs in 1459. As Schleswig had been a Danish fief, it had to fall back to King Christian I of Denmark, who, himself a nephew of Adolf, also sought to enter into possession of Holstein. He was backed by the local nobility, who supported the continued common administration of both lands and by
1060-671: The Kingdom of Prussia annexed it in 1866 after the Austro-Prussian War . The northern border of Holstein along the Eider River had already formed the northern border of the Carolingian Empire , after Emperor Charlemagne upon the Saxon Wars reached an agreement with King Hemming of Denmark in 811. The lands of Schleswig beyond the river remained a fief of the Danish Crown , while Holstein became an integral part of East Francia ,
1113-485: The Röhsska Museum ). It was built at Vasagatan in central Gothenburg and opened in 1916. Another quarter of a million was used immediately for other purposes. The remaining million was left to a trust, Röhss' donationsfond . The interest of the capital was to be used for the promotion of Gothenburg's commerce, industry or communications. The first payment, in 1911, was used for a new building for Wihelm Röhss's alma mater,
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#17328759548311166-667: The Schengen Area , there are no regular controls at the border. 55°10′N 9°15′E / 55.167°N 9.250°E / 55.167; 9.250 Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein ( German : Herzogtum Holstein ; Danish : Hertugdømmet Holsten ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire , located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein . It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to
1219-633: The 1460 Treaty of Ribe proclaimed him as the new Count of Holstein. Nevertheless, the comital Holstein lands south of the Eider River officially remained a mediate fief held by the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg . In 1474 Emperor Frederick III conferred Imperial immediacy to Christian by elevating him to a Duke of Holstein. In 1544, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were partitioned in three parts between Christian's grandson Christian III of Denmark and his two younger half-brothers (who had to renounce
1272-465: The 19th century therefore had a clear Danish nationalist connotation of laying a claim to the territory and objecting to the German claims. "Olsen's Map", published by the Danish cartographer Olsen in the 1830s, used this term, arousing a storm of protests by the duchy's German inhabitants. Even though many Danish nationalists, such as the National Liberal ideologue and agitator Orla Lehmann , used
1325-459: The Danish king, in his function as duke of Holstein, in exchange for the County of Oldenburg , and Holstein was reunited as a single state. With the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Duchy of Holstein gained sovereignty. After the 1815 Congress of Vienna , the Duchy of Holstein became a member of the German Confederation , resulting in several diplomatic and military conflicts about
1378-509: The Danish throne), as follows: In addition, significant parts of Holstein were jointly administered by the dukes of Holstein-Glückstadt and the dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, mainly on the Baltic Sea coast. In 1640, the County of Holstein-Pinneberg , whose ruling house was extinct, was merged in the royal part of the Duchy of Holstein. In 1713, during the Great Northern War , the estates of
1431-469: The German Confederation, and ethnically entirely German with no Danish population, use of that name implied that both provinces should belong to Germany and that their connection with Denmark should be weakened or altogether severed. After the German conquest in 1864, the term Sønderjylland became increasingly dominant among the Danish population, even though most Danes still had no objection to
1484-564: The bodies were entombed in wooden coffins originally, but only the iron nails remained. Towards the end of the Early Middle Ages , Schleswig formed part of the historical Lands of Denmark as Denmark unified out of a number of petty chiefdoms in the 8th to 10th centuries in the wake of Viking expansion. The southern boundary of Denmark in the region of the Eider River and the Danevirke was
1537-583: The distinction between unfree labour and paid work was often vague. The feudal system was gradually abolished in the late 18th century, starting with the crown lands in 1765 and later the estates of the nobility. In 1805 all serfdom was abolished and land tenure reforms allowed former peasants to own their own farms. From around 1800 to 1840, the Danish-speaking population on the Angeln peninsula between Schleswig and Flensburg began to switch to Low German and in
1590-651: The duchy be incorporated into the Danish kingdom under the slogan "Denmark to the Eider". This caused a conflict between Denmark and the German states over Schleswig and Holstein , which led to the Schleswig-Holstein question of the 19th century. When the National Liberals came to power in Denmark in early 1848, it provoked an uprising of ethnic Germans in the duchies. This led to the First Schleswig War (1848–51). The Schleswig-Holsteiners were supported by
1643-507: The dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig including Schloss Gottorf were conquered by royal Danish troops. In the 1720 Treaty of Frederiksborg , Duke Charles Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp ceded them to his liege lord the Danish crown. His remaining territories formed the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp, administered from Kiel . In 1773, Charles Frederick's grandson, Emperor Paul I of Russia finally gave his Holstein lands to
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1696-496: The earliest records, no distinction is made between North Jutland and South Jutland. Roman sources place the homeland of the tribe of Jutes north of the river Eider and that of the Angles south of it. The Angles in turn bordered the neighbouring Saxons . By the early Middle Ages, the region was inhabited by three groups: During the 14th century, the population on Schwansen began to speak Low German alongside Danish, but otherwise
1749-462: The early 1950s, it had nevertheless stabilised at a level four times higher than the pre-war number. In the Copenhagen-Bonn declaration of 1955, West Germany (later Germany as a whole) and Denmark promised to uphold the rights of each other's minority population. Today, both parts co-operate as a cross-border Euroregion : Region Sønderjylland–Schleswig . As Denmark and Germany are both part of
1802-511: The elder conducted trade and shipping on a large scale and owned a brewery and factories for cotton, sugar, paper, among other things. His two sons continued the father's industrial activities, and invested in iron works in Värmland and in sawmills in the booming timber industry in Norrland. Wilhelm Röhss the younger (1834-1900) attended the Göteborgs handelsinstitut (Gothenburg School of Trade). He
1855-483: The emergence of a unified Danish state. In May 1931, scientists of the National Museum of Denmark announced that they had unearthed eighteen Viking graves with the remains of eighteen men in them. The discovery came during excavations in Schleswig. The skeletons indicated that the men were bigger proportioned than twentieth-century Danish men. Each of the graves was laid out from east to west. Researchers surmised that
1908-560: The ethno-linguistic borders remained remarkably stable until around 1800, with the exception of the population in the towns that became increasingly German from the 14th century onwards. During the early Viking Age , Hedeby – Scandinavia's biggest trading centre – was located in this region, which is also the location of the interlocking fortifications known as the Danewerk or Danevirke . Its construction, and in particular its great expansion around 737, has been interpreted as an indication of
1961-454: The name Schleswig , it began to assume a clear German nationalist character in the mid 19th century – especially when included in the combined term "Schleswig-Holstein". A central element of the German nationalistic claim was the insistence on Schleswig and Holstein being a single, indivisible entity (as they had been declared to be in the Treaty of Ribe 1460). Since Holstein was legally part of
2014-412: The nobility responded with a new agricultural system that restored prosperity. In the period 1600 to 1800 the region experienced the growth of manorialism of the sort common in the rye-growing regions of eastern Germany. The manors were large holdings with the work done by feudal peasant farmers. They specialized in high quality dairy products. Feudal lordship was combined with technical modernization, and
2067-568: The other great powers, Prussia had to retreat (in summer 1848 and again in summer 1850). This left the Schleswig-Holstein rebels to their fate. In 1851 the rebel government and its army were disbanded. In the London Protocol of 1852 the great powers confirmed that the king of Denmark was the duke of the duchies but also the status of the duchies as being distinct from Denmark proper. Denmark again attempted to integrate Schleswig by creating
2120-518: The same period many North Frisians also switched to Low German. This linguistic change created a new de facto dividing line between German and Danish speakers north of Tønder and south of Flensburg. From around 1830, large segments of the population began to identify with either German or Danish nationality and mobilized politically. In Denmark, the National Liberal Party used the Schleswig question as part of their agitation and demanded that
2173-522: The so-called Schleswig-Holstein question . Denmark defended its rule over Holstein in the First Schleswig War of 1848-51 against the Kingdom of Prussia . However, in the Second Schleswig War (1864) Prussian and Austrian troops conquered Schleswig. Christian IX of Denmark had to renounce both Schleswig and Holstein in the Treaty of Vienna (1864) on October 30. At first placed under joint rule in
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2226-406: The three duchies being governed jointly by Austria and Prussia . In 1866, they became a part of Prussia. In the 19th century, there was a naming dispute concerning the use of Schleswig or Slesvig and Sønderjylland ( Southern Jutland ). Originally the duchy was called Sønderjylland but in the late 14th century the name of the city Slesvig (now Schleswig ) started to be used for
2279-507: The throne of Denmark for much of the next century, so that the Danish kings were at odds with their cousins, the dukes of Slesvig. Feuds and marital alliances brought the Abel dynasty into a close connection with the German Duchy of Holstein by the 15th century. The latter was a fief subordinate to the Holy Roman Empire , while Schleswig remained a Danish fief. These dual loyalties were to become
2332-463: The two German powers culminated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Following the Peace of Prague , the victorious Prussians annexed both Schleswig and Holstein, creating the Province of Schleswig-Holstein . Provision for the cession of northern Schleswig to Denmark was made pending a popular vote in favour of this. In 1878, however, Austria-Hungary went back on this provision, and Denmark recognized in
2385-410: The unified Province of Schleswig-Holstein . The Danish king in his function as duke of Holstein, and duke of Schleswig, appointed statholders (German: Statthalter; Latin: produx) to represent him in the duchies. The statholders fulfilled the tasks related to the ducal power as patrimonial lords in the royal shares of Holstein and Schleswig, as well as the royal part in the condominial government with
2438-409: The use of Schleswig as such (it is etymologically of Danish origin) and many of them still used it themselves in its Danish version Slesvig . An example is the founding of De Nordslesvigske Landboforeninger (The North Schleswig Farmers Association). In 1866, Schleswig and Holstein were legally merged into the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . The naming dispute was resolved with
2491-425: The whole territory. The term Sønderjylland was hardly used between the 16th and 19th centuries, and in this period the name Schleswig had no special political connotations. However, around 1830 some Danes started to re-introduce the archaic term Sønderjylland to emphasize the area's history before its association with Holstein and its connection with the rest of Jutland . Its revival and widespread use in
2544-602: Was a duchy in Southern Jutland ( Sønderjylland ) covering the area between about 60 km (35 miles) north and 70 km (45 mi) south of the current border between Germany and Denmark . The territory has been divided between the two countries since 1920, with Northern Schleswig in Denmark and Southern Schleswig in Germany. The region is also called Sleswick in English. Unlike Holstein and Lauenburg , Schleswig
2597-493: Was a city councillor in Gothenburg, a member of the board of the bank Göteborgs enskilda bank , and in several railroad companies. He was consul in Gothenburg for the city of Hamburg , and later for the German empire . Of his fortune, Wilhelm Röhss left 1,5 million Swedish kronor to the city. 250,000 kronor were given to the establishment of the craft and design museum known at the time as Röhsska konstslöjdmuseet (now Röhsska museet för konsthantverk och design , and in English as
2650-582: Was a patron of several artists and museums. He donated considerable sums to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, and a large book collection to the Gothenburg Public Library. He added 180,000 kr to the money already given by his brother for the future Röhsska Museum. He gave 350,000 kr to Gothenburg University for the establishment of three professorial chairs, one in political economy and sociology, another one in geography and ethnography, and
2703-517: Was already extinct in 1580 by the time of John the Elder . Following the Protestant Reformation , when Latin was replaced as the medium of church service by the vernacular languages, the diocese of Schleswig was divided and an autonomous archdeaconry of Haderslev created. On the west coast, the Danish diocese of Ribe ended about 5 km (3 mi) north of the present border. This created
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#17328759548312756-404: Was caused by a number of factors, most importantly the German defeat and an influx of a large number of refugees from the former Prussian eastern provinces, whose culture and appearance differed from the local Germans, who were mostly descendants of Danish families who had changed their nationality in the 19th century. The change in demographics created a temporary Danish majority in the region and
2809-455: Was never a part of the German Confederation . Schleswig was instead a fief of Denmark, and its inhabitants spoke Danish, German, and North Frisian. Both Danish and German National Liberals wanted Schleswig to be part of a Danish or German national state in the 19th century. A German uprising in March 1848 caused the First Schleswig War which ended in 1852. The Second Schleswig War (1864) ended with
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