This was probably an important reason for the wedding, which had been arranged by the spouses‘ fathers years earlier. At that time, marriages were arranged to increase wealth and property, raise social status or forge alliances. Nevertheless, the personal relationship between Christine and Heinrich seems to have been characterised by respect and affection – whether it was also love, we do not know.

The marriage produced twelve children: seven sons and five daughters. But Christine was more than just a mother and wife. In aristocratic circles at that time, it was customary for the financial circumstances between spouses to be regulated by contract. She took advantage of the freedom of action this afforded her: she concluded contracts independently, granted loans and managed estates.

Christine survived Heinrich Rantzau by four years. She found her final resting place in 1603 alongside her husband in the Laurentii Church in Itzehoe.