Duchy of Oldenburg

Common card · No. 491103

The Duchy of Oldenburg (German: Herzogtum Oldenburg), named for its capital, the town of Oldenburg, was a state in the north-west of present-day Germany. On the death of Count Anthony Günther in 1667, the county of Oldenburg was inherited by King Frederick III of Denmark, a member of the Danish line of the House of Oldenburg. In 1773, the Treaty of Tsarskoye Selo transferred the county to Frederick August I of the junior Holstein-Gottorp branch. Subsequently, the county was elevated to a duchy. After annexation by the French Empire in 1810, the duchy was restored as a grand duchy in 1815. Duke Peter I assumed the title of Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1823. Over time, the House of Oldenburg came to rule in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Greece and Russia. The heir of a junior line of the Greek branch, through Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, hold the thrones of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

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