Frederick August I, Duke of Oldenburg

Frederick Augustus I (20 September 1711 – 6 July 1785) was Prince-Bishop of Lübeck from 1750 to 1785, and Count and later the first Duke of Oldenburg from 1773 to 1785.

Early life Frederick Augustus was the son of Christian August, regent of Holstein-Gottorp and his wife Margravine Albertine Friederike of Baden-Durlach. He was born in Gottorp, Schleswig.

Marriage and issue Frederick Augustus married on 21 November 1752 to Princess Ulrike Friederike Wilhelmine of Hesse-Kassel; the couple had three children: Peter Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Oldenburg (3 January 1754 – 2 July 1823) Luise of Holstein-Gottorp-Oldenburg (2 October 1756 – 31 July 1759), died in infancy Hedwig Elisabeth Charlotte (22 March 1759 – 20 June 1818), Queen of Sweden and Norway as wife of Charles XIII of Sweden.

Later life Empress Catherine the Great of Russia, on behalf of her son Paul of Russia, last of the Dukes of Holstein-Gottorp, ceded the lands of that duchy to Denmark. In exchange, Denmark ceded the Duchy of Oldenburg to the Prince Bishops of Lübeck, a cadet branch of the Dukes of Gottorp. Thus, Friederich August of Holstein-Gottorp, Prince Bishop of Lübeck, became Duke of Oldenburg.

Frederick Augustus died on 6 July 1785 in Oldenburg. His son and heir apparent, Peter Friedrich Wilhelm, succeeded him as Wilhelm I, Duke of Oldenburg.

Ancestry