“ Definitely incorporated with this country in 1853, it experienced another change of fortune after the short war of 1864 between Denmark on the one side and Prussia and Austria on the other, as by the peace of Vienna (30th of October 1864) it was ceded with Schleswig and Holstein to the two German powers. ”

“ Cattle-breeding affords employment for many of the inhabitants. The railroad from Hamburg to Berlin traverses the country. The capital is Ratzeburg, and there are two other towns, Mölln and Lauenburg.
The earliest inhabitants of Lauenburg were a Slav tribe, the Polabes, who were gradually replaced by colonists from Saxony. About the middle of the 12th century the country was subdued by the duke of Saxony, Henry the Lion, who founded a bishopric at Ratzeburg, and after Henry’s fall in 1180 it formed part of the smaller duchy of Saxony, which was governed by Duke Bernhard. ”