August Philipp, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck (11 November 1612 – 6 May 1675) was a Danish-German prince and member of the House of Oldenburg. After acquiring the estate of Beck in Westfalen in 1646, he took the title of Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck.
Duke Alexander died in 1627 in Sønderborg and left his tiny duchy heavily indebted. In his will, he had stipulated that his wife should keep unaltered estate to pay the debt, and that the eldest son, John Christian, should inherit the entire duchy but remain unmarried for the time being. The widowed Duchess Dorothea was in charge of the duchy during the ensuing war years, but was unable to pay off the debt, which, on the contrary, was still growing. As a consequence, she agreed that the brothers concluded an inheritance agreement on 17 December 1633, according to which John Christian inherited the duchy in exchange for paying a significant annual amount to his mother and siblings.[2]
Bramsen, Bo (1992). Huset Glücksborg. Europas svigerfader og hans efterslægt [The House of Glücksburg. The Father-in-law of Europe and his descendants] (in Danish) (2nd ed.). Copenhagen: Forlaget Forum. ISBN87-553-1843-6.
