Oldenburg (;

Northern Low Saxon Northern Low Saxon (in Standard German, Standard High German: ', also ', lit. ''North(ern) Low Saxon/German''; in Dutch language, Standard Dutch: ') is a subgroup of Low Saxon dialects of Low German. As such, it covers a great part of the West ...

: ''Ollnborg'') is an

independent city An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province). Historical precursors In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...

in the state of

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Germany. The city is officially named Oldenburg (Oldb) (''Oldenburg in Oldenburg'') to distinguish from Oldenburg in Holstein. During the French annexation (1811–1813) in the wake of the

Napoleonic war {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

against Britain, it was also known as ''Le Vieux-Bourg'' in French. The city is at the rivers

Hunte Hunte () is a long river in north-western Germany (Lower Saxony), a left tributary of the Weser. The Hunte rises in the Wiehen Hills. In the North German Plain it flows through lake Dümmer. It flows generally northwards through the towns B ...

and Haaren, in the northwestern region between the cities of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

in the east and

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

(Netherlands) in the west. According to Germany's 2022 census, the city's population is 172,759. Oldenburg is part of the

Northwest Metropolitan Region The European Northwest Metropolitan Region (), formerly Metropolitan Region of Bremen/Oldenburg () is one of the eleven metropolitan regions in Germany. It covers the area of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen with its cities of Bremen and Bremerha ...

, which is home to approximately 2.8 million people. The city is the place of origin of the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

. Before the end of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

(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 The County of Oldenburg () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1448 Christian I of Denmark (of the House of Oldenburg), Count of Oldenburg became King of Denmark, and later King of Norway and King of Sweden. One of his grandsons, Adolf, ...

(later a

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

(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. Prior to the early 1800s, the only Grand duchy in Europe was located in what is now Italy: Tuscany ( ...

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

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

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 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 style. (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also 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 Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

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

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, 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 ''()'', with the city remaining the capital. In the 1928 city elections, the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

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 () 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 powers, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. It enta ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, 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 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.

Climate

City government

Local elections take place every five years. The city council ''(Stadtrat)'' has 50 seats. The

lord mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

''(Oberbürgermeister)'' is elected directly by the citizens.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

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

autobahns The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

) 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 The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Central ...

(German: ''Europastraßen''). Oldenburg Central Station, ''Oldenburg (Oldb) Hauptbahnhof'', is at the intersection of the railway lines Norddeich Mole— Leer—Oldenburg—Bremen and

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

—Oldenburg—Osnabrück, with

Intercity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

services to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

InterCityExpress Intercity Express (commonly known as ICE () and running under this category) is a high-speed rail system in Germany. It also serves destinations in Austria, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands as part of cross-border services. It ...

services to

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. 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 () , is a major international airport in Hamburg, the second-largest city in Germany. Since November 2016 the airport has been named after the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt. It is located north of the city centre in t ...

(160 km , 100 miles) and Hannover-Langenhagen Airport (170 km , 106 miles). The small Hatten Airfield, (Flugplatz Oldenburg-Hatten

ICAO airport code The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-letter code designating aerodromes around the world. These codes, as defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization and published quarterly in ICAO Document 7910: ''Location Indic ...

: 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 A ship canal is a canal especially intended to accommodate ships used on the oceans, seas, or lakes to which it is connected. Definition Ship canals can be distinguished from barge canals, which are intended to carry barges and other vessel ...

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, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

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 The Oldenburg International Film Festival, sometimes called the ''European Sundance'', has covered the international film scene in all aspects since 1994. It is held in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg, Germany. History Films such as Park Chan-wook� ...

'', a privately organised

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

in September, focused on

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

and film makers. The festival is funded through public subsidies and private sponsoring. * ''Kramermarkt'', fun fair at the Weser-Ems Halle on ten days in September/October. The tradition of this annual

volksfest A ( ; German for "people's festival")Cognate of "folk festival" in English is a large event in German-speaking countries which usually combines a beer festival or wine festival and a travelling funfair. Attractions may include amusement rides, g ...

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 in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

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. * Weser-Ems Halle, exhibition and congress centre with outdoor fair area, located in Oldenburg Donnerschwee. * Small EWE Arena and Large EWE Arena, 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, 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 ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

, the town men were led to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners t ...

, 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 of t ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

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 listings ...

* 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 A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant funding from a government. Whether a national university is considered public varies from o ...

in Oldenburg: * The Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg 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 Pacifism, pacifist. He was the recipient of the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in exposing the clandestine German rearmament. As editor-in-chief of the magazin ...

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; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

(Netherlands) and local hospitals. * The Jade University of Applied Sciences (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. 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

. 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 construction, constructi ...

construction engineering Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...

and

construction management Construction management (CM) aims to control the quality of a construction project's scope, time, and cost (sometimes referred to as a project management triangle or "triple constraints") to maximize the project owner's satisfaction. It uses pro ...

geodesy Geodesy or geodetics is the science of measuring and representing the Figure of the Earth, geometry, Gravity of Earth, gravity, and Earth's rotation, spatial orientation of the Earth in Relative change, temporally varying Three-dimensional spac ...

, as well as the institute of hearing aid technology and

audiology Audiology (from Latin 'to hear'; and from Ancient Greek, Greek branch of learning , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is a branch of science that studies hearing, balance, and related disorders. Audiologists treat those with hearing loss and proactivel ...

. 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, the IBS IT & Business School Oldenburg (former Berufsakademie Oldenburg), a college of

cooperative education Cooperative education (or co-operative education) is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience. A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a "co-op" or work-study program, provides a ...

, offers a B.Sc. degree course in

business informatics Business informatics (BI) is a discipline combining economics, the economics of digitization, business administration, accounting, internal auditing, information technology (IT), and concepts of computer science. Business informatics centers arou ...

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 manageme ...

. The dual-system course combines practical vocational training at one of the partnering local companies with periods of academic studies. * The Private Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft und Technik, a regional college of

, 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 that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

mechatronics Mechatronics engineering, also called mechatronics, is the synergistic integration of mechanical, electrical, and computer systems employing mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering, and also ...

. 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, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

teams,

VfB Oldenburg VfB Oldenburg is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they played in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany. History Founded by a gro ...

and VfL Oldenburg, who also have a

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

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 (appro ...

team EWE Baskets Oldenburg.

Twin towns – sister cities

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

, Netherlands (1989) *

Makhachkala Makhachkala, previously known as Petrovskoye (1844–1857) and Port-Petrovsk (1857–1921), or by the local Kumyk language, Kumyk name of Anji, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Dagestan, Russia. ...

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

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

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

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

, China (2014) *

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

, China (2017)

Notable people

Public servants and public thinking

* Anna of Oldenburg (1501–1575), a Countess consort of East Frisia, spouse of Count Enno II of East Frisia. * Princess Cecilia of Sweden (1807–1844), Princess of Sweden, died locally * Amalia of Oldenburg (1818–1875), a Bavarian princess and Queen of Greece from 1836 to 1862. * Karl von Wedel (1842–1919), a Prussian general and diplomat *

Helene Lange Helene Lange was born in 1848 in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg. Through her determination, she rose above the trials of her early life, including the loss of her parents, to become a leading voice for women's access to higher education and professio ...

(1848–1930), politician, educator and suffragist * Rudolf Heinze (1865–1928), jurist and politician;

vice-chancellor of Germany The vice-chancellor of Germany, officially the deputy to the federal chancellor (), is the second highest ranking German cabinet member. The Chancellor of Germany, chancellor is the head of government and, according to the constitution, gives thi ...

, 1920/21 *

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. His 1913 work ''General Psychopathology'' influenced many ...

(1883–1969), philosopher, psychiatrist and writer * Otto Schultze (1884–1966), Generaladmiral with the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi 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 military branch, branche ...

during

* Peter Suhrkamp (1891–1959), publisher and founder of the

Suhrkamp Verlag Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010, ...

Otto Suhr Otto Ernst Heinrich Hermann Suhr (17 August 1894 – 30 August 1957) was a German politician as a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He served as the Governing Mayor of Berlin (i.e. West Berlin) from 1955 until his death. Lif ...

(1894–1957), politician and

Governing Mayor of Berlin The governing mayor () of Berlin is the head of government, presiding over the Berlin Senate. As Berlin is an independent city as well as one of the constituent states of Germany (), the office is the equivalent of the ministers president of ...

1955/57 * Wilhelm Gideon (1898–1977), Nazi SS commandant of the

Gross-Rosen concentration camp Gross-Rosen was a network of Nazi concentration camps built and operated by Nazi Germany during World War II. The main camp was located in the German village of Gross-Rosen, now the modern-day Rogoźnica in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland, di ...

* Hermann Ehlers (1904–1954), politician ( CDU), Bundestag President, was a local landlord and died locally * Hermann Behrends (1907–1948), Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes * Heinz Rökker (1920–2018), WWII fighter pilot *

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing militant, 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 repute ...

(1934–1976), journalist, far-left activist and co-founder of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

* Bernd Althusmann (born 1966), politician (CDU) * Thyra von Westernhagen (born 1973), Hanoverian princess by marriage * Hasnain Kazim (born 1974), journalist

Arts

* Martin Zaagmolen (buried 1669), Dutch painter *

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 House of Liechtenstein, Princess of Liechtenstein by marriage. She was one of the most famous German opera s ...

(1815–1866), opera soprano. *

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor, best known for rejecting Adolf Hitler's application to train at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg (cit ...

(1839–1916), painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna * August Jerndorff (1846–1906), a Danish painter, known for his portraits. * Ellen Plessow (1891 – 1967), a German actress in films from 1922 to 1957 * Erna Schlüter (1904–1969), operatic dramatic soprano *

Jürgen Goslar Jürgen Goslar (26 March 1927 – 5 October 2021Traueranzeige
Nordwest Trauer, 16 October 2021, ...

(born 1927), actor and director * Thomas Schmidt-Kowalski (1949–2013), composer * Klaus Modick (born 1951), author and literary translator * Rena Niehaus (born 1954), film actress * Thomas Schütte (born 1954), sculptor and draftsman * Heiko Daxl (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 ...

ensemble * Sarah Nemtsov (née Reuter, born 1980), composer *

Klaas Heufer-Umlauf Klaas Heufer-Umlauf (born 22 September 1983 in Oldenburg (Oldenburg), 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 i ...

(born 1983), TV host, producer, actor and singer.

Science & business

Otto Mencke Otto Mencke (; ; 22 March 1644 – 18 January 1707) was a 17th-century German philosopher and scientist. Work Mencke obtained his doctorate at the University of Leipzig in August 1666 with a thesis entitled: ''Ex Theologia naturali – De ...

(1644–1707), philosopher and scientist. *

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

(1648–1719), organ builder * Wilhelm Heinrich Schüßler (1821–1898), medical doctor and naturopath * Isaac Friedlander (1823–1878), American wheat broker and California land speculator * Lothar Meyer (1830–1895), chemist, studied here * Reinhard Schlichting (1835–1897), American manufacturer and politician in Wisconsin * August Brauer (1863–1917), zoologist, studied deep-sea

ichthyology Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...

* Carl Ramsauer (1879–1955), professor and research physicist, discovered the Ramsauer–Townsend effect. * Walter Behrmann (1882–1955), geographer; introduced a cylindrical map projection "

Behrmann projection The Behrmann projection is a cylindrical equal-area projection, cylindrical equal-area map projection described by Walter Behrmann in 1910. Cylindrical equal-area projections differ by their standard parallels, which are Parallels of latitude, p ...

" * Hans Günther Aach (1919–1999), botanist * Manfred Milinski (born 1950), biologist and formerly a director of the

Max Planck Institute The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (; abbreviated MPG) is a formally independent non-governmental and non-profit association of German research institutes. Founded in 1911 as the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, it was renamed to the M ...

* Thomas Reiter (born 1958), retired European astronaut,

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

Brigadier General, lives locally

Sport

* Uta Frommater (born 1948), swimmer, team bronze medallist at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

* Karsten Baumann (born 1969), football player and manager, played 389 games * Hans-Jörg Butt (born 1974), footballer, played 479 games and 4 for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

* Oliver Köhrmann (born 1976), handball player * Florian Bruns (born 1979), football coach and former player who played 369 games *

Johannes Bitter Johannes Bitter (born 2 September 1982) is a German handball goalkeeper for HSV Hamburg. Club career Bitter started his senior career with SG VTB Altjührden in 1999, before moving to Wilhelmshavener HV three years later. After only one season ...

(born 1982),

player, goalkeeper for

* Thomas Plößel (born 1988), sailor, twice team bronze medallist at the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Others

* Diedrich A. W. Rulfs (1848–1926), German-American architect

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