County of Oldenburg

For other uses, see Oldenburg.
County of Oldenburg
Grafschaft Oldenburg (German)
1108[1][2]–1774
Map of the County of Oldenburg in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle[3]
Map of the County of Oldenburg in the Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle[3]
CapitalOldenburg
GovernmentFeudal monarchy
Count of Oldenburg 
• 1101–08
Elimar I (first count)
• 1773–74
Frederick August I (last count)
History 
• Created on breakup of Saxony[4][2]
1108[1][2]
• Personal union with
    the Kalmar Union
1448–54
• Part of Denmark
1667–1773
• Raised to duchy
1774
Preceded by		 Succeeded by
Duchy of Saxony
Prince-Bishopric of Münster
Duchy of Oldenburg
Today part ofGermany

The County of Oldenburg (German: Grafschaft Oldenburg) was a county of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1448 Christian I of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, and later King of Norway and King of Sweden. One of his grandsons, Adolf, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp was the first Duke of Holstein-Gottorp.

When the main lineage of the House of Oldenburg, i.e. Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg died in 1667, it fell to the Danish Royal Family. Charles Frederick of the line of the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp married Grand Duchess Anna Petrovna of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great. His first cousin, Frederick August I became Duke of Oldenburg in 1774. One of his brothers, Adolf Frederick became King of Sweden. Another brother, Prince Georg Ludwig of Holstein-Gottorp, was the father of Peter I, who became Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1823. Subsequent Rulers of Oldenburg were all his descendants.

  1. ^ The town of Oldenburg was first mentioned in 1108, at that time known under the name of Aldenburg. It became important due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte River. Oldenburg became a small county in the shadow of the much more powerful Free Hanseatic City of Bremen.
  2. ^ a b The earliest recorded inhabitants of the district now called Oldenburg were a Teutonic people, the Chauci, who were afterwards merged in the Frisians. The chroniclers delight in tracing the genealogy of the counts of Oldenburg to the Saxon hero, Widukind, the stubborn opponent of Charlemagne, but their first historical representative is one Elimar (d. 1108) who is described as comes in confinio Saxoniae et Frisiae. Elimar's descendants appear as vassals, although sometimes rebellious ones, of the dukes of Saxony; but they attained the dignity of princes of the empire when the emperor Frederick I. dismembered the Saxon duchy in 1180. At this time the county of Delmenhorst formed part of the dominions of the counts of Oldenburg, but afterwards, it was on several occasions separated from them to form an apanage for younger branches of the family. This was the case between 1262 and 1447, between 1463 and 1547, and between 1577 and 1617. The northern and western parts of the present grand-duchy of Oldenburg were in the hands of independent, or semi-independent, Frisian princes, who were usually heathens, and during the early part of the 13th century, the counts carried on a series of wars with these small potentates which resulted in a gradual expansion of their territory. The free city of Bremen and the bishop of Munster were also frequently at war with the counts of Oldenburg.
  3. ^ Le theatre du monde, ou, Novvel atlas. Atlases Netherlands Early works to 1800, Earth
  4. ^ The earliest recorded inhabitants of the region now called Oldenburg were a Teutonic people- the Chauci. The genealogy of the counts of Oldenburg can be traced to the Saxon hero Widukind (opponent of Charlemagne) but their first historical representative was Huno of Rustringen (died 1088, founded the monastery of Rastede in 1059). In the Holy Roman Empire Oldenburg was a county that developed around the settlement of Oldenburg, (first attested in 1108) and in the course of history gained control of a wider area. The Counts of Oldenburg stemmed from a Frisian princely house. Huno’s descendants appear as vassals of the Welf Saxon Duke Heinrich III-XII the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Duke of Bavaria, they took advantage of his deposition by Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa to make themselves autonomous. They were given the title of princes of the Empire when Friedrich I Barbarossa dismembered the Saxon duchy in 1189. The first Oldenburgs belonged to the line of the Rüstringen Frisians.