Frederick Augustus II (16 November 1852 in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

– 24 February 1931 in Rastede) was the last ruling Grand Duke of

. He married

Princess Elisabeth Anna of Prussia Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (8 February 1857 – 28 August 1895) was a German princess. She was the second child of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia and Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau. The Elisabeth-Anna-Palais was named in her honor a ...

, daughter of

Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau (14 September 1837, Dessau – 12 May 1906, Friedrichroda) was a princess from the House of Ascania. She was the third child of Leopold IV, Duke of Anhalt and Princess Frederica of Prussia. Family Maria Ann ...

and

Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

. After her death, he married

Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (10 August 1869 – 3 September 1955) was a daughter of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. By her marriage to Frederick Augustu ...

Reign

Frederick Augustus' reign began on 13 June 1900, when his father died. His reign came to an end on 11 November 1918, shortly before the

German monarchy The Monarchy of Germany (the German Monarchy) was the system of government in which a hereditary monarch was the sovereign of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. History The Monarch of Germany was created with the proclamation of the Preside ...

was abolished on 28 November 1918. Frederick was forced to abdicate his throne at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, when the former Grand Duchy of the German Empire joined the post-war German Republic. He and his family took up residence at

Rastede Castle Rastede Palace (German: ''Schloss Rastede'') is a country estate at Rastede near Oldenburg, Germany. The town of Rastede is about 12km (7,4 miles) north of Oldenburg. In the Middle Ages Rastede was the house monastery of the House of Oldenbur ...

, where he took up farming and local industrial interests. A year after his abdication, he asked the Oldenburg Diet for a yearly allowance of 150,000

marks Marks may refer to: Business * Mark's, a Canadian retail chain * Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain * Collective trade marks, trademarks owned by an organisation for the benefit of its members * Marks & Co, the inspiration for the novel ...

, stating that his financial condition was "extremely precarious". In 1931, Frederick died in Rastede.

Marriages and issue

On 18 February 1878, Frederick Augustus married

, a daughter of

. It was a double wedding, in which

Princess Charlotte of Prussia English: Victoria Elizabeth Augusta Charlotte , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Potsdam, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_ ...

(daughter of the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...

and

Crown Princess A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

) married Bernhard, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen on the same day as Elisabeth Anna in Berlin. The marriages were the first such occasions performed since Prussia had become the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1870. Due to this increased status, the weddings were attended by many important personages, including King

Leopold II of Belgium * german: link=no, Leopold Ludwig Philipp Maria Viktor , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Leopold I of Belgium , mother = Louise of Orléans , birth_date = , birth_place = Brussels, Belgium , death_date = ...

and his wife

Queen Marie Henriette Marie Henriette Anne of Austria (23 August 1836 – 19 September 1902) was Queen of the Belgians as the wife of King Leopold II. The marriage was arranged against the will of both Marie Henriette and Leopold and became unhappy due to their dis ...

. The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

also attended, as one of the brides (Charlotte) was his niece.Radziwill, p. 118. Frederick Augustus and Elisabeth Anna had two children: Elisabeth died on 28 August 1895, before he succeeded as Grand Duke. Before her death, her husband had been building a new residential palace; once she died, Frederick named the new building the

Elisabeth-Anna-Palais The Elisabeth-Anna-Palais is a secular red-brick building in Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, located at the northeast of the Schlossgarten Oldenburg, close to the Schloss Oldenburg. History Usually the ducal family resided in Schloss Oldenbur ...

in her honor. On 24 October 1896, Frederick Augustus married

Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (10 August 1869 – 3 September 1955) was a daughter of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg by his third wife Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. By her marriage to Frederick Augustu ...

, a daughter of

Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg Frederick Francis II (German: ''Friedrich Franz II;'' 28 February 1823 – 15 April 1883) was a Prussian officer and Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin from 7 March 1842 until 15 April 1883. Biography He was born in Schloss Ludwigslust, the e ...

. He succeeded as Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1900. Frederick Augustus and Elisabeth had five children:

Honours

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

* , - {{Authority control 1852 births 1931 deaths Grand Dukes of Oldenburg People from Oldenburg (city) Admirals of the Imperial German Navy Generals of Cavalry (Prussia) Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order Burials at the Ducal Mausoleum, Gertrudenfriedhof (Oldenburg)