The lands of Schleswig beyond the river remained a fief of the Danish Crown, while Holstein became an integral part of East Francia, the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire.

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.

Nevertheless, the comital Holstein lands south of the Eider River officially remained a mediate fief held by the Ascanian dukes of Saxe-Lauenburg.

In 1713, during the Great Northern War, the estates of the dukes of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp in Schleswig including Schloss Gottorf were conquered by royal Danish troops.

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 the so-called Schleswig-Holstein question.

Following the Peace of Prague (1866), the victorious Prussians annexed both Schleswig and Holstein by decree of December 24, 1866, and later established the unified Province of Schleswig-Holstein.