Mechtilde was born around 1218, likely in
Schauenburg Castle. Her grandfather
Adolf III had lost the
County of Holstein to Danish King
Valdemar Sejr in 1203, but her father regained it during her childhood after the German nobles defeated Valdemar in the
Battle of Bornhöved in 1227. On 25 April 1237 she was married to
Duke Abel of Schleswig, King Valdemar's second eldest son, as part of a settlement between the two houses. She successfully secured Valdemar's release from Cologne and fought for her children's inheritance in the
Duchy of Schleswig. In 1253, she secured Schleswig for Valdemar. After his death in 1257, she arranged for her next son,
Eric, to take over the Duchy in 1260. After Birger's death in 1266, Mechtilde moved to
Kiel, yet her own grave is with Birger's in
Varnhem, Sweden. In 1260, she had pawned the land between
Eider and
Schlei in southern Denmark to her brothers. After the deaths of her sons in 1272 and 1279, she inherited the land. Shortly before her death in 1288, she transferred the land to her brother, Count
Gerhard of Holstein. == Issue ==