by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2017

The Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg is the traditional burial site for the Grand Ducal Family and contains the tombs of all but one of the Grand Dukes and consorts. The Mausoleum was built between 1785 and 1790, following the death of Princess Friederike, the wife of the future Grand Duke Peter I.
Wikipedia: St. Gertrude’s Cemetery, Oldenburg (link in German)

The first Grand Duke Wilhelm is buried in the Prince-Bishop’s Mausoleum at the Lübeck Cathedral. Built in 1747, the Mausoleum is one of several side chapels in the cathedral and contains the tombs of Wilhelm, his parents – the first Duke and Duchess of Oldenburg – and his grandparents.
Wikipedia: Lübeck Cathedral
Wikipedia: Prince-Bishop’s Mausoleum (link in German)

Grand Dukes of Oldenburg

• Wilhelm – reigned 1815 – July 2, 1823
• Peter I – reigned July 2, 1823 – May 21, 1829
• August – reigned May 21, 1829 – February 27, 1853
• Peter II – reigned February 27, 1853 – June 13, 1900
• Friedrich August II – reigned June 13, 1900 – November 11, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Grand Duchy of Oldenburg Index

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Wilhelm
Duke of Oldenburg
(reigned 1785-1815)
Grand Duke of Oldenburg
(reigned 1815-July 2, 1823)

Unofficial Royalty: Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Peter Friedrich Wilhelm was born January 3, 1754, the son of Friedrich August I, Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Ulrike Friederike of Hesse-Kassel. He succeeded his father as Duke in 1785. Wilhelm suffered from mental illness, and his cousin (and successor) served as Regent. Although Oldenburg was elevated to a Grand Duchy in 1815, Wilhelm never actually used the title of Grand Duke. He died on July 2, 1823, and is buried in the Prince-Bishop’s Mausoleum at Lübeck Cathedral.

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Peter I
Grand Duke of Oldenburg
(reigned July 2, 1823 – May 21, 1829)

Unofficial Royalty: Peter I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Peter was born January 17, 1755, as Prince Peter Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp. He served as Regent for his cousin, Wilhelm, Duke/Grand Duke of Oldenburg, and was also himself the last Prince-Bishop of Lübeck. In 1781, he married Friederike of Württemberg and had two sons. He became Grand Duke of Oldenburg upon Wilhelm’s death, but like his cousin, he did not use the title of Grand Duke. Peter I died on May 21, 1829, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Friederike of Württemberg
Princess of Holstein-Gottorp

Unofficial Royalty: Friederike of Württemberg
Friederike was born July 27, 1765, the daughter of Friedrich II Eugen, Duke of Württemberg and Friederike of Brandenburg-Schwedt. She married the future Grand Duke Peter I in June 1781 and had two surviving sons. Friederike died in Vienna on November 24, 1785, several weeks after giving birth to a stillborn son.  She was initially buried in the chapel at Eutin Castle.  In 1790, her remains were moved to the newly built Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of Peter I

August I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (below)

Georg
May 9, 1784 – December 27, 1812
Wikipedia: Duke Georg of Oldenburg
Georg married Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna of Russia in 1809 and had two sons. He died of typhoid in 1812 and is buried in Oldenburg.

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August I
Grand Duke of Oldenburg
(reigned May 21, 1829 – February 27, 1853)

Unofficial Royalty: August I, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
August was born at Schloss Rastede on July 13, 1783, the eldest son of the future Peter I. He married three times – first, in July 1817, to Princess Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernberg-Schaumburg-Hoym, and had two daughters. After Adelheid’s death, he married her sister, Ida, in 1825, and had one son. Following Ida’s death three years later, he married Princess Cecilia of Sweden in 1831 and had three sons. He succeeded his father in 1829 and was the first to use the title of Grand Duke. August died on February 27, 1853, in Oldenburg, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym
Duchess of Oldenburg
(1st wife of August I)

Unofficial Royalty: Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Duchess August of Oldenburg
Adelheid was born at Schaumburg Castle on February 23, 1800, the second daughter of Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Princess Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg. She married the future Grand Duke August in 1817 and had two daughters. She died suddenly in on September 13, 1820, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of August I and Adelheid of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

Amalie
December 21, 1818 – May 20, 1875
Unofficial Royalty: Duchess Amalie of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece
Amalie married King Otto of Greece (born Prince Otto of Bavaria) in December 1832 and was Queen Consort of Greece until her husband was overthrown in 1862. She and Otto returned to Bavaria where they lived out the rest of their lives. Amalie died in Bamberg, Bavaria, and is buried in the Theatinerkirche in Munich.

Friederike
June 8, 1820 – March 20, 1891
In 1855, Friederike married Maximilian Emanuel, Baron von Washington, a distant relative of US President George Washington, and had two sons. She is buried in the Washington family vault in the Protestant section of the St. Peter City Cemetery in Graz, Austria.

Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym
Hereditary Princess of Oldenburg
(2nd wife of August I)

Unofficial Royalty: Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Hereditary Princess of Oldenburg
Ida was born at Schaumburg Castle on March 10, 1804, the youngest daughter of Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym and Princess Amalie of Nassau-Weilburg. In June 1825, she married the then Hereditary Prince August of Oldenburg, the husband of her late elder sister Adelheid. They had one son. Ida died on March 31, 1828, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of August I and Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (below)

Cecilia of Sweden
Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
(3rd wife of August I)

Cecilia of Sweden, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
Cecilia was born in Stockholm on June 22, 1807, to King Gustav IV of Sweden and Friederike of Baden. In May 1831, she married Grand Duke August of Oldenburg and had three sons. Grand Duchess Cecilia died in Oldenburg on January 27, 1844, a few days after giving birth to her youngest child. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of August I and Cecilia of Sweden

Alexander
June 16, 1834 – June 6, 1835
Alexander died just before his first birthday. He is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

August
February 15, 1836 – April 30, 1837
August died in infancy. He is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Elimar
January 23, 1844 – October 17, 1895
Wikipedia: Duke Elimar of Oldenburg
In November 1876, Elimar married Baroness Natalie Vogel von Friesenhof, a niece of Alexandre Pushkin. They had two children. Duke Elimar Died at Schloss Erlaa in Vienna and is buried at Brogyan Castle in what is now Brodzany, Slovakia.

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Peter II
Grand Duke of Oldenburg
reigned February 27, 1853 – June 13, 1900

Unofficial Royalty: Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Peter was born in Oldenburg on July 8, 1827, the eldest son of Grand Duke August and his second wife, Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. In February 1852, he married Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg and had two sons. He died at Schloss Rastede on June 13, 1900, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg
Grand Duchess of Oldenburg

Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
Elisabeth was born in Hildburghausen on March 26, 1826, to Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Amalie of Württemberg. She married the future Grand Duke Peter II in February 1852 and had two sons. Grand Duchess Elisabeth died in Oldenburg on February 2, 1896, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of Peter II

Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg (below)

Georg Ludwig
June 27, 1855 – November 30, 1939
Georg Ludwig served with the Oldenburg forces for most of his life. He never married. He died in Eutin and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Friedrich August II
Grand Duke of Oldenburg
reigned June 13, 1900 – November 11, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich August II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Friedrich August II was the last Grand Duke of Oldenburg. He was born in Oldenburg on November 16, 1852, the elder son of Grand Duke Peter II. In February 1878, he married Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia and had two daughters. She died in 1895, and the following year, he remarried to Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and had five children. He was forced to abdicate in November 1918 and took up residence at Schloss Rastede. He died there on February 24, 1931, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Elisabeth Anna of Prussia
Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
(1st wife of Friedrich August II)

Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth Anna of Prussia, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
Elisabeth Anna was born in Potsdam on February 8, 1857, to Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. She married then-Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg in February 1878 and had two sons. The Hereditary Grand Duchess died in Fulda, in Hesse, on August 28, 1895, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of Friedrich August II and Elisabeth Anna of Prussia

Sophia Charlotte
February 2, 1879 – March 29, 1964
Wikipedia: Duchess Sophia Charlotte of Oldenburg
Sophia Charlotte married first to Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia in February 1906 but had no children. They divorced in October 1926. In March 1927, she married again, to Harald van Hedemann. She died in Westerstede on March 29, 1964, and is buried in the New Cemetery in Bad Zwischenahn, near Oldenburg.

Margarete
October 13, 1881 – February 20, 1882
Margarete died in infancy. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
(2nd wife of Friedrich August II)

Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Grand Duchess of Oldenburg
Elisabeth Alexandrine was born in Schwerin on August 10, 1869, to Friedrich Franz II, Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. She married the future Grand Duke Friedrich August II in October 1896 and had five children. The last Grand Duchess of Oldenburg, Elisabeth Alexandrine died at Schloss Schaumburg on September 3, 1955, having outlived her husband by over 24 years. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

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Children of Friedrich August II and Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke
August 10, 1897 – April 3, 1970
Wikipedia: Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg
Nikolaus was the only son of Grand Duke Friedrich August II and became Hereditary Grand Duke upon his father’s accession in 1900. In October 1921, nearly three years after the end of the German Empire, Nikolaus married Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont and had nine children. In September 1950, two years after his wife died, Nikolaus married again to Anne-Marie von Schutzbar gennant Milchling. They had no children. Hereditary Grand Duke Nikolaus died in Rastede on April 3, 1970, and is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Friedrich August
March 25, 1900 – March 26, 1900
Friedrich August died at just one day old. He is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Alexandrine
March 25, 1900
Alexandrine died just after birth. She is buried in the Ducal Mausoleum in St. Gertrude’s Cemetery in Oldenburg.

Ingeborg Alix
July 20, 1901 – January 10, 1996
In 1921, Ingeborg married Prince Stephan of Schaumburg-Lippe. She died in Damp, Germany, and is buried near the Mausoleum in the park of Schloss Bückeburg.

Altburg Marie
May 19, 1903 – June 16, 2001
Wikipedia: Duchess Altburg of Oldenburg
In 1922, Duchess Altburg married Josias, Hereditary Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and had five children. She is buried in the Princely Cemetery in Rhoden.

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