Schleswig and Holstein have been contested regions for over a thousand years, but contested between different peoples and groups, and for very different reasons. In modern times, they have been closely connected to the building up of national identity and the formation of the modern nation state. Since the division in 1920 of Schleswig into a northern, Danish part and a southern, German part, this region has also been an interesting example for international studies on whether it is possible to maintain regional cultural and economic cooperation across a modern state border, and on the rights and duties of linguistic minorities. This book aims at viewing the areas in their own right over a period of thousand years, and not simply as appendages to modern Danish and German nation-building. This does not imply that they are seen as isolated entities, still less that the regions around them and many strong and varied influences from outside are ignored. Rather, the book aims at investigating how Schleswig and Holstein have constantly been contested places, situated where different interests and forces have collided.