Oldenburg () is an independent city in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

, Germany. The city is officially named Oldenburg (Oldb) (''Oldenburg in Oldenburg'') to distinguish from

Oldenburg in Holstein Oldenburg in Holstein () is a town at the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea. The nearest city is Lübeck. The town belongs to the (historical) region of Holstein, today in the state Schleswig-Holstein of Germany. Oldenburg was the chief ...

. During the French annexation (1811–1813) in the wake of the Napoleonic war against Britain, it was also known as ''Le Vieux-Bourg'' in French. The city is at the rivers Hunte and Haaren, in the northwestern region between the cities of

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

in the east and

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

(Netherlands) in the west. It has a population of 170,000 (November 2019). Oldenburg is part of the Bremen/Oldenburg Metropolitan Region, with 2.37 million people. The city is the place of origin of the House of Oldenburg. Before the end of 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 ...

(1918), it was the administrative centre and residence of the monarchs of Oldenburg.

History

Archaeological finds point to a settlement dating back to the 8th century. The first documentary evidence, in 1108, referenced ''Aldenburg'' in connection with Elimar I (also known as Egilmar I) who is now commonly seen as the first count of Oldenburg. The town gained importance due to its location at a ford of the navigable Hunte river. Oldenburg became the capital of the County of Oldenburg (later a

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

(1774- 1810),

Grand Duchy A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was often used in th ...

(1815–1918), and Free State (1918–1946)), a small state in the shadow of the much more powerful Hanseatic city of

. In the 17th century Oldenburg was a wealthy town in a time of war and turmoil and its population and power grew considerably. In 1667, the town was struck by a disastrous

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

epidemic and, shortly after, a fire destroyed Oldenburg. The Danish kings, who were also counts of Oldenburg at the time, had little interest in the condition of the town and it lost most of its former importance. In 1773, Danish rule ended. Only then were the destroyed buildings in the city rebuilt in a

neoclassicist Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism wa ...

style. (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-speakers usually call the "neoclassicist style" of that period ', while ' specifically refers to the classicist style of the early 20th century.) Schloss Oldenburg

After the German government announced the abdication of Emperor

Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...

(9 November 1918) following the exhaustion and defeat of the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, monarchic rule ended in Oldenburg as well with the abdication of Grand Duke Frederick Augustus II of Oldenburg ''()'' on 11 November 1918. The Grand Duchy now became the Free State of Oldenburg ''(german: Freistaat Oldenburg)'', with the city remaining the capital. In the 1928 city elections, the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

received 9.8% of the vote, enough for a seat on the Oldenburg city council. In the September 1930 Oldenburg state elections, the Nazi Party's share of the vote rose to 27.3%, and on May 29, 1932, the Nazi Party received 48.4% in the state election, enough to put the Nazi party in charge of forming a state government and, significantly, making Oldenburg the first state in the country to put the Nazis in power based on electoral turnout. By that autumn, a campaign of

Aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...

began, forcing the sale of formerly Jewish-owned properties at steep discounts. In 1945, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the State of Oldenburg became part of the British zone of occupation. The British military government of the Oldenburg region resided in the city. Several displaced-persons camps were set up in the city that had suffered only 1.4% destruction during the bombing campaigns of World War II. About 42,000 refugees migrated into Oldenburg, which raised the number of residents to over 100,000. In 1946 the Free State of Oldenburg was dissolved and the area became the 'Administrative District' of Oldenburg ''()'' within the newly formed federal German state of

''()''. The city was now capital of the district. In 1978 the district was dissolved and succeeded by the newly formed

Weser-Ems The Regierungsbezirk Weser-Ems was the most westerly of the four administrative regions of Lower Saxony, Germany, bordering on the Dutch provinces of Groningen, Drenthe and Overijssel. It was established in 1978 by merging the former regions Osnab ...

administrative region ''()'', again with the city as administrative capital. The state of Lower Saxony dissolved all of the by the end of 2004 in the course of administrative reforms.

City government

Local elections take place every five years. The city council ''(Stadtrat)'' has 50 seats. The lord mayor ''(Oberbürgermeister)'' is elected directly by the citizens.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Bahnsteig(halle) des Oldenburger Hauptbahnhofs

The city centre of Oldenburg is surrounded by a ring of freeways (

autobahns The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track' ...

) consisting of A 28, A 29 and A 293. Because of this, Oldenburg is connected to the nationwide network of federal autobahns, as well as to the international E-road network (German: ''Europastraßen''). Oldenburg Central Station, ''Oldenburg (Oldb) Hauptbahnhof'', is at the intersection of the railway lines

Norddeich Mole Norddeich Mole is a railway station located in Norddeich, Lower Saxony, Germany. The station is located on the Emsland Railway. The train services are operated by Deutsche Bahn. Norddeich Mole is a port for combined passenger and car ferr ...

— Leer—Oldenburg—Bremen and Wilhelmshaven—Oldenburg—Osnabrück, with

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

services to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

and

InterCityExpress The Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE ()) is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany. It also serves some destinations in Austria, Denmark (ceased in 2017 but planned to resume in 2022), France, Belgium, Switzerl ...

services to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

. Oldenburg is only about half an hour drive from Bremen Airport (about 50 km , 31 miles). Other international airports nearby are

Hamburg Airport Hamburg Airport , known in German as ''Flughafen Hamburg'', is a major international airport in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany. Since November 2016 the airport has been christened after the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt. ...

(160 km , 100 miles) and

Hannover-Langenhagen Airport Hannover Airport is the international airport of Hanover, capital of the German state of Lower Saxony. The ninth largest airport in Germany, it is in Langenhagen, north of the centre of Hanover. The airport has flights to European metrop ...

(170 km , 106 miles). The small

Hatten Hatten is a municipality in Oldenburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated southeast of Oldenburg, on the North-West edge of the Wildeshausen Geest Nature Park. Activities Tourism endeavours emphasise the recreational and sporting oppor ...

Airfield,
Flugplatz Oldenburg-Hatten
ICAO airport code: EDWH), is located about 17 km south-west of Oldenburg. It serves to small aircraft (private planes, gliders, balloons, and helicopters). A flight training school is also located there, and small planes can be chartered. Scenic flights can be booked as well. Oldenburg is connected to shipping through the Küstenkanal, a ship canal connecting the rivers Ems and

Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports o ...

. With 1.6 million tons of goods annually, it is the most important non-coastal harbour in Lower Saxony.

Bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. B ...

s play a very important part in personal transport.

Agriculture

The city is surrounded by large agricultural areas, about 80% of which is grassland. There are farms near and even a few within city limits. Predominant agricultural activities of the region are the cultivation of livestock, especially dairy cows and other grazing animals, crops such as grains for food and animal feed, as well as asparagus, corn, and kale.

Industry

Sea salt production in the Oldenburg region has been used since the 15th century to supply the huge salt demand in the Baltic region. Peat extraction in the area continued for many centuries until it was replaced by coal mines.

Demographics

As of 31.12.2019 Oldenburg had 169,960 residents. 24.8% of the population were first or second generation immigrants.

Cultural life

Recurring cultural events

* ''Kultursommer'' (summer of culture), series of free musical and other cultural events in the city centre during summer holiday season in July. * ''CSD Nordwest (Christopher Street Day)'' parade of the regional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community in June, with up to 10,000 participants (since 1995). * ''Stadtfest'', a three-day festival of the city centre in August/September, comprises gastronomical offerings and rock and pop music performances on various stages. * '' Oldenburg International Film Festival'', privately organised film festival in September, focussed on

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

and film makers. The festival is funded through public subsidies and private sponsoring. * ''Kramermarkt'', fun fair at the

Weser-Ems Halle Weser-Ems-Halle is a multi-purpose hall and arena complex with eight halls including the large Große EWE Arena, the small Kleine EWE Arena, the Kongresshalle and the Halle 3, or Messehalle. It is located in Oldenburg, Germany. The seating capaci ...

on ten days in September/October. The tradition of this annual volksfest dates back to the 17th century, when the Kramermarkt was a market event at the end of the harvest. * ''Oldenburger Kinder- und Jugendbuchmesse (KIBUM)'', an exhibition of new

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

children's and youth literature, takes place over 11 days in November. A non-commercial fair organised by the city government in cooperation with the public library and the university library. In the course of the fair, a prize, the ''Kinder- und Jugendbuchpreis'', is awarded to a debuting author or illustrator.

Points of interest

* Core city centre, large pedestrianized shopping destination for the region. * Oldenburg State Theatre, oldest mainstream theatre in Oldenburg, first opened in 1833. * Schloss Oldenburg in the city centre, until 1918 residence of the monarchic rulers of Oldenburg, today a museum. A public park, the ''Schlossgarten'', is nearby. *

, exhibition and congress centre with outdoor fair area, located in Oldenburg Donnerschwee. *

Small EWE Arena Kleine EWE Arena (English: Small EWE Arena) is a dual indoor sporting arena complex that is located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is a part of the Weser-Ems Halle multi-sporting complex, which contains two main sports arena halls, the small Kleine ...

and

Large EWE Arena Large means of great size. Large may also refer to: Mathematics * Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics * Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers * Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (or ...

, two sports and event halls located near the main railway station, opened in 2005 and 2013, and seating up to 4,000 and 6,852 visitors respectively. The large arena is also home to the '' EWE Baskets Oldenburg'' basketball club.

Lutheran community

Oldenburg is the seat of administration and bishop of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg Evangelical Lutheran Church in Oldenburg (german: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Oldenburg) is a Lutheran church in the German state of Lower Saxony. The seat of the church leaders is in Oldenburg, as is the preaching venue of its bishop at St ...

, whose preaching venue is the

St Lamberti Church St. Lambert's Church (in German: ''St Lamberti-Kirche'') is the main Evangelical Lutheran church in the centre of the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Overview The church is named after Lambert of Maastricht. The church is the preachi ...

Jewish community

The history of the Jewish community of Oldenburg dates back to the 14th century. Towards and during the 19th century, the Jews in Oldenburg were always around 1% of the total population, and by that time had acquired their own synagogue, cemetery and school. Most of them were merchants and businessmen. On 1938 Kristallnacht, the town men were led to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, among them Leo Trepp, the community

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

who survived and later became an honorary citizen of Oldenburg and honored by a street named after him. Since 1981 an annual commemoration walk (Erinnerungsgang) has been held by Oldenburg citizens in memory of the deportation of the Oldenburg Jews on November 10, 1938. Those who remained after 1938 emigrated to Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Holland or Mandatory Palestine. After

, a group of survivors returned to the city and maintained a small community until it was dissolved during the 1970s. Nevertheless, due to Jewish emigration from the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

to Germany in the 1990s, a community of about 340 people is now maintaining its own synagogue, cemetery and other facilities. The old Jewish cemetery, which is no longer active after the opening of a new one, was desecrated twice in 2011 and 2013.

Media

Print

Nordwest-Zeitung (NWZ)
Oldenburg-based daily newspaper, also provides local editions in neighbouring counties * Free weekly newspapers delivered to households, mainly for ads and inserts: Hunte-Report (Wednesdays+Sundays), Sonntagszeitung (Sundays).
Diabolo
free weekly city magazine /

listings magazine A listings magazine is a magazine which is largely dedicated to information about the upcoming week's events such as broadcast programming, music, clubs, theatre and film information. The BBC's ''Radio Times'' was the world's first listing ...

Mox
free biweekly event listings magazine (from the same publisher as Diabolo)
Alhambra-Zeitung
bimonthly leftist, anti-fascist magazine
Oldenburger Stachel
local alternative magazine (discontinued)
Oldenburgische Wirtschaft
monthly magazine of the Oldenburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce (Industrie- und Handelskammer)

Radio and television

Oldenburg Eins
non-commercial public-access cable TV and radio station (live streams available online) * Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), public TV and radio broadcaster (part of the ARD), maintains a regional studio in Oldenburg. * Radio FFN, commercial radio broadcaster, maintains a regional studio located in the NWZ building.

Online

Nordwest-Zeitung TV
Local video news clips published by the Nordwest-Zeitung

Education

Tertiary education

There are two public universities in Oldenburg: * The

Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (german: Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg) is a university located in Oldenburg, Germany. It is one of the most important and highly regarded educational facilities in northwestern Germa ...

was founded in 1973 based on a previous college for teacher training, the ''Pädagogische Hochschule Oldenburg'', which had a history in Oldenburg dating back to 1793. The university was officially named after

Carl von Ossietzky Carl von Ossietzky (; 3 October 1889 – 4 May 1938) was a German journalist and pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German re-armament. As editor-in-chief of the magazine ''Die ...

in 1991. As of 2014, it has almost 13,746 students, a scientific staff of 1,130, as well as 964 technical and administrative staff. A new faculty of medicine and health sciences was established in 2012 as part of the newly founded ''European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen'', a cooperation with the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; nl, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, abbreviated as RUG) is a public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. Founded in 1614, the university is th ...

(Netherlands) and local hospitals. * The

Jade University of Applied Sciences The Jade University of Applied Sciences (german: Jade Hochschule) is a public university in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 2009 as a successor to the ''Fachhochschule Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Wilhelmshaven''. The university has campuses ...

(Jade-Hochschule) The former ''Fachhochschule Oldenburg'' (until 1999) was founded in 1971, a merger of the previous engineering academy with the nautical college in

Elsfleth Elsfleth () is a town in the district of Wesermarsch, Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated at the confluence of the Hunte with the Weser, on the left bank of the Weser. It has a school of navigation (university of applied sciences), a harbour an ...

. Oldenburg already had a history of construction engineering training dating back to 1882. Starting in 2000, the Fachhochschule had been part of multiple re-organisations involving several UAS (Fachhochschule) in the northwestern region. A relaunch under the name ''Jade-Hochschule'' took place in 2009 (previously: ''Fachhochschule Oldenburg/Ostfriesland/Wilhelmshaven''). The Jade-Hochschule now comprises branches in three towns: Oldenburg, Elsfleth, and Wilhelmshaven. Based in Oldenburg are the departments of

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, construction engineering and

construction management Construction management (CM) is a professional service that uses specialized, project management techniques and software to oversee the planning, design, construction and closeout of a project. The purpose of Construction management is to control ...

geodesy Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equival ...

, as well as the institute of hearing aid technology and audiology. There are about 2,000 students in the Oldenburg branch. (The Elsfleth branch offers bachelor's degree courses in nautical science, international logistics, and harbour management. The Wilhelmshaven branch offers courses in engineering, business management, and media management.) Privately managed institutions of higher education: * Founded in 2004, th
IBS IT & Business School Oldenburg
(forme
Berufsakademie Oldenburg
, a college of cooperative education, offers a B.Sc. degree course in business informatics and a B.A. degree course in

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, ...

. The dual-system course combines practical vocational training at one of the partnering local companies with periods of academic studies. * Th
Private Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft und Technik
a regional college of cooperative education, maintains a branch in Oldenburg offering bachelor's degree courses with integrated vocational training in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and mechatronics. Other: * The Oldenburg branch of the Lower Saxony police academy
Polizeiakademie Niedersachsen
maintains a study facility in Oldenburg preparing candidates for a career in higher-middle-level or higher-level police service.

Primary and secondary education

* Gymnasium Graf-Anton-Guenther School * Wirtschaftsgymnasium Oldenburg * Cäcilienschule Oldenburg * Liebfrauenschule Oldenburg * Herbartgymnasium Oldenburg * Altes Gymnasium Oldenburg * Neues Gymnasium Oldenburg * Gymnasium Eversten * IGS Flötenteich * Helene Lange Schule Oldenburg (IGS) * Realschule Hochheider Weg * Real- und Hauptschule Osternburg * Realschule Ofenerdiek * Kath. Grundschule Lerigauweg

Sports

Oldenburg hosted the 2007 Fistball World Championship. It has two

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

teams, VfB Oldenburg and

VfL Oldenburg VfL Oldenburg is a German sports club from the town of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony which is best known for its football team, which plays in the Niedersachsenliga, the fifth level of the German football league system. The club has over 2,000 memb ...

, who also have a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

section of the same name. Moreover, Oldenburg is home to the

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team EWE Baskets Oldenburg.

Twin towns – sister cities

Oldenburg is twinned with: * Høje-Taastrup, Denmark (1978) * Cholet, France (1985) *

, Netherlands (1989) * Makhachkala, Russia (1989) * Rügen (district), Germany (1990) * Mateh Asher, Israel (1996) *

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, England, United Kingdom (2010) * Buffalo City, South Africa (2012) *

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

, China (2014) *

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

, China (2017)

Notable people

* Christian I of Denmark (1426–1481), King of Denmark * John V, Count of Oldenburg (1460–1526), Count of Oldenburg *

Martin Zaagmolen Martin Zaagmolen or Martinus Saeghmolen (buried 1 November 1669) was a Dutch painter. biography Zaagmolen was born in Oldenburg. Houbraken notices him as a painter of history, and describes a picture of the Last Judgment The Last Judgment, ...

(? –c.1669), Dutch painter * Friedrich Karl Hermann Kruse (1790–1866), historian *

Sophie Löwe Johanna Sophie Christiane Löwe (24 March 1815 – 29 November 1866) was a German opera soprano, active mainly in Vienna and Berlin, and a Princess of Liechtenstein by marriage. She was one of the most famous German opera singers of her time.'' Me ...

(1815–1866), opera soprano *

Isaac Friedlander Isaac Friedlander (1823–1878) was a wheat broker and major early California land speculator who was known as the Wheat King or the Grain King. Biography Friedlander was born in Oldenburg, Germany, but as a child moved to Charleston, South ...

(1823–1878), American wheat broker and California land speculator * Reinhard Schlichting (1835–1897), American manufacturer and politician in Wisconsin *

Helene Lange Helene Lange (9 April 1848 in Oldenburg – 13 May 1930 in Berlin) was a pedagogue and feminist. She is a symbolic figure of the international and German civil rights feminist movement. In the years from 1919 to 1921 she was a member of the Ham ...

(1848–1930), politician, educator and suffragist *

Diedrich A. W. Rulfs Diedrich Anton Wilhelm Rulfs (March 6, 1848 – February 14, 1926)''Louisiana, Statewide Death Index, 1819-1964'' was a German-American architect in Nacogdoches, Texas. Rulfs "is aptly called Nacogdoches' master architect for his work in the ci ...

(1848-1926), Architect * August Dinklage (1849–1920), architect and buildings official *

August Brauer August Bernhard Brauer (3 April 186310 September 1917) was a German zoologist. Brauer was born in Oldenburg. He studied natural sciences at the Universities of Bonn, Berlin and Freiburg, obtaining his doctorate in 1895 with a thesis on the c ...

(1863–1917), zoologist * Rudolf Heinze (1865–1928), jurist and politician *

Karl Jaspers Karl Theodor Jaspers (, ; 23 February 1883 – 26 February 1969) was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher who had a strong influence on modern theology, psychiatry, and philosophy. After being trained in and practicing psychiatry, Jaspe ...

(1883–1969), philosopher and writer *

Otto Schultze Otto Schultze (11 May 1884 – 22 January 1966) was a '' Generaladmiral'' with the ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II and a recipient of the ''Pour le Mérite'' during World War I. The ''Pour le Mérite'' was the Kingdom of Prussia's highest ...

(1884–1966), Generaladmiral with the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

during

* Otto Suhr (1894–1957), politician *

Wilhelm Gideon Wilhelm Gideon (15 November 1898, in Oldenburg – 23 February 1977) was a Schutzstaffel officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant. A native of Oldenburg in the state of Lower Saxony, Gideon began work as a trainee engineer but had his stu ...

(1898–1977), Nazi SS commandant of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp , known for = , location = , built by = , operated by = , commandant = , original use = , construction = , in operation = Summer of 1940 – 14 February 1945 , gas cham ...

Hermann Behrends Hermann Johann Heinrich Behrends (11 May 1907 – 4 December 1948) was a Nazi Party member and SS official with the rank of lieutenant general (''Gruppenführer''). Born in Rüstringen, Oldenburg, the son of a provincial innkeeper, he was educat ...

(1907–1948), Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes * Hans Günther Aach (1919–1999), botanist * Heinz Rökker (1920–2018), WWII fighter pilot * Jürgen Goslar (born 1927), actor and director *

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...

(1934–1976), journalist, far-left activist and co-founder of the Red Army Faction * Brigitte Boehme (born 1940), lawyer and church administrator *

Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski (21 June 1949 – 5 January 2013)Death notice
(also has birthdate)

(1949–2013), composer *

Manfred Milinski Manfred Milinski (born 8 February 1950) is a German biologist who was Director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology Career He was born in 1950 in Oldenburg. He studied biology and mathematics in Bielefeld and Bochum, went to Oxfo ...

(born 1950), biologist and member of the

Max Planck Institute Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

Stefan Czapsky Stefan Czapsky, A.S.C. (born 15 December 1950) is an American cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with director Tim Burton on films like ''Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns,'' and ''Ed Wood,'' for which he won several film critic ...

(born 1950), American cinematographer * Klaus Modick (born 1951), author and literary translator *

Rena Niehaus Rena Niehaus (born 18 December 1954) is a German film actress. Born in Oldenburg, Rena Niehaus was a minor star in 1970s Italian genre cinema, also appearing in several important "auteur" films as Alberto Lattuada's '' Cuore di cane'' and Eripran ...

(born 1954), film actress *

Thomas Schütte Thomas Schütte (born 16 November 1954) is a German contemporary artist. He sculpts, creates architectural designs, and draws. He lives and works in Düsseldorf. Education From 1973 to 1981 Schütte studied art at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf al ...

(born 1954), sculptor and draftsman *

Heiko Daxl Heiko Daxl (21 September 1957 – 21 May 2012) was a German media artist, exhibition curator, art gallery owner and design / art collector. Born in Oldenburg, Germany, he lived and worked in Berlin and Zagreb. Life Until 1976 he grew up ...

(1957–2012), media artist and curator * Andrea Clausen (born 1959), stage actress, member of the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in V ...

ensemble *

Bernd Althusmann Bernd Althusmann (; born 3 December 1966) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Deputy Minister-President and State Minister for Economic Affairs in the government of Minister-President Stephan Weil from 2 ...

(born 1966), politician (CDU) *

Thyra von Westernhagen Princess Heinrich of Hanover (née Thyra von Westernhagen; born 14 August 1973) is a German forester. As the wife of Prince Heinrich of Hanover, she is a princess of the House of Hanover. Early life and family Thyra von Westernhagen was bor ...

(born 1973), Hanoverian princess by marriage * Hasnain Kazim (born 1974), journalist * Sarah Nemtsov (née Reuter, born 1980), composer *

Klaas Heufer-Umlauf Klaas Heufer-Umlauf (born 22 September 1983 in Oldenburg) is a German television host, producer, actor and singer. He is best known as part of the duo Joko & Klaas, alongside Joko Winterscheidt. Biography Heufer-Umlauf is a trained hairdresse ...

(born 1983), host and actor

Sport

* Felix Gerritzen (1927–2007), footballer * Karsten Baumann (born 1969), football player and manager *

Hans-Jörg Butt Hans-Jörg Butt (; born 28 May 1974) is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Known for taking penalty kicks, and for often running into the opposing penalty box in an attempt to find a winner whenever his team were trailing, h ...

(born 1974), footballer * Oliver Köhrmann (born 1976), handball player * Johannes Bitter (born 1982),

player, goalie of the German international team

Associated with Oldenburg

See in particular the Counts, Dukes and Grand Dukes of Oldenburg for the rulers who were not born in Oldenburg. *

Arp Schnitger Arp Schnitger (2 July 164828 July 1719 (buried)) was an influential Northern German organ builder. Considered the most paramount manufacturer of his time, Schnitger built or rebuilt over 150 organs. He was primarily active in Northern Europe, es ...

(1648–1719), organ builder *

Princess Cecilia of Sweden (1807–1844) Cecilia of Sweden (22 June 1807 in Stockholm – 27 January 1844 in Oldenburg) was a composer, a Swedish princess by birth, and Grand Duchess of Oldenburg by marriage. She was the daughter of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden and Frederic ...

(1807–1844), Princess of Sweden * Wilhelm Heinrich Schüßler (1821–1898), medical doctor and naturopath * Lothar Meyer (1830–1895), chemist, studied here *

Peter Suhrkamp Peter Suhrkamp (full name ''Johann Heinrich Suhrkamp''; 28 March 1891, Hatten – 31 March 1959, Frankfurt) was a German publisher and founder of the Suhrkamp Verlag. Early years Suhrkamp was a farmer’s son from Kirchhatten, some south-east o ...

(1891–1959), founder of the Suhrkamp-Verlag *

Hermann Ehlers Hermann Ehlers (1 October 1904 – 29 October 1954) was a German politician. He was the 2nd President of the Bundestag from 19 October 1950 to 29 October 1954. He was a member of the Christian Democratic Union. Early life Ehlers was born in ...

(1904–1954), politician ( CDU), President of the German Bundestag, was at the beginning of his political career a landlord in Oldenburg * Erna Schlüter (1904–1969), operatic dramatic soprano

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial Oldenburg tourist information centre
360-degree panning views
Straßen von Oldenburg
Drive-through videos of Oldenburg streets
Alt Oldenburg
Large collection of historical photographs of Oldenburg

genealogy of emigrants from Oldenburg
Oldenburgische Landschaft
, Oldenburg-based public body of municipalities within the area of the former

State of Oldenburg The Free State of Oldenburg (german: Freistaat Oldenburg) was a federated state of the Weimar Republic. It was established in 1918 following the abdication of the Grand Duke Frederick Augustus II following the German Revolution. In 1937, it l ...

{{Authority control Cities in Lower Saxony Grand Duchy of Oldenburg Holocaust locations in Germany