Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg

Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (11 January 1936) is a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. He is a son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Family and early life

Frederich August is the sixth child and fourth son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and his first wife Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont. His paternal grandparents are Frederick Augustus II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. His maternal grandparents are Friedrich, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe.

His grandfather was overthrown as Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1918, at the end of World War I. His father Nikolaus thus never legally succeeded to the title when the deposed Grand Duke died in 1931. Friedrich is an uncle of Christian, Duke of Oldenburg, the current head of the House of Oldenburg.

Marriage and issue

Friedrich August's first wife was Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia. She was a daughter of Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (second son of William, German Crown Prince) and his wife, Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia. They married in Berlin in a civil ceremony on 3 December 1965 and a religious ceremony the following day. He was working as an agricultural expert. The ceremony was the first Hohenzollern marriage in Berlin since 1913.

Friedrich August and Marie-Cécile have three children: a son, and two daughters. The three are detailed below:

• Duke Paul-Wladimir Nikolaus Louis-Ferdinand Peter Max Karl-Emich of Oldenburg, born 16 August 1969 in Lübeck. He married Maria del Pilar Méndez de Vigo y Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg (b. 20 October 1970 in Madrid, the granddaughter of Karl, 8th Prince of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg) in a civil ceremony on 18 January 2001 in Wertheim, and a religious ceremony on 20 January 2001 in Bronnbach an der Tauber. They have four sons and one daughter:
  • Duke Kirill Friedrich-August Jaime Cristobal Hermann Antonius Vincenz Josef Maria of Oldenburg, born 13 June 2002 in Berlin
  • Duke Carlos Jakobus Leo Wilfried Josef Maria of Oldenburg, born 19 April 2004 in Eutin
  • Duke Paul Marie of Oldenburg, born 8 September 2005.
  • Duchess Maria Assunta of Oldenburg, born 21 March 2007.
  • Duke Peter of Oldenburg, born 2009
• Duchess Rixa Marie-Alix Kira Altburg of Oldenburg, born 17 September 1970 at Lübeck, married Stephan Sanders at Hamburg on October 13th 2012
• Duchess Bibiane Marie Alexandra Gertrud of Oldenburg, born 24 June 1974 at Oldenburg. She married Peter Dorner (b. 19 February 1972 at Wasserburg am Inn) in Meran on 22 May 2004. They have two daughters, Xenia and Rixa and a son Alexej.

Marie-Cécile and Friedrich August divorced on 23 November 1989. On 9 February 1991, Friedrich August was remarried to Donata Countess of Castell-Rüdenhausen in Rüdenhausen, Germany. She was the widow of Marie-Cécile's deceased brother, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia. Donata died at Traunstein on 5 September 2015 after a long illness.

Titles and styles

• 11 January 1936 – present His Highness Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg

Ancestry