Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg

{{Infobox royalty

| name =Peter II

| image = File:Peter II (Oldenburg).png

| caption =

| succession = Grand Duke of Oldenburg

| reign = 27 February 1853 – 13 June 1900

| predecessor = Augustus

| successor = Frederick Augustus II

| spouse = {{marriage|Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg|10 February 1852|2 February 1896|end=d.}}

| full name = {{langx|de|Nikolaus Friedrich Peter}}

| issue = Frederick Augustus II
Duke Georg Ludwig

| house = House of Holstein-Gottorp

| father = Augustus

| mother = Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1827|7|8}}

| birth_place = Oldenburg

| death_date = {{Death date|df=yes|1900|6|13|}} (aged 72)

| death_place = Rastede

| place of burial= Ducal Mausoleum, Gertrudenfriedhof, Oldenburg

| religion = Lutheranism

}}

Peter II ({{langx|de|Nikolaus Friedrich Peter}}) (8 July 1827 – 13 June 1900) was the reigning Grand Duke of Oldenburg from 1853 to 1900. He claimed hereditary parts of Duchy of Holstein after the Second Schleswig War in 1864. After signing a treaty on 23 February 1867 in Kiel, he renounced his claims. In return, he received the district of Ahrensbök, the Prussian parts of the former Principality of Lübeck other than the village of Travenhorst, and was given a million taler as compensation from Prussia. Thus the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg gained access to the Baltic Sea.

Birth and family

Duke Nikolaus Friedrich Peter was the only son of Augustus, Grand Duke of Oldenburg by his second wife Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. He was born on 8 July 1827 in Oldenburg.{{Citation

| title = Grand Duke of Oldenburg Dead

| newspaper = The New York Times

| location = Berlin

| date = 14 June 1900

| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1900/06/14/archives/grand-duke-of-oldenburg-dead-connected-with-russian-imperial-family.html?sq=Grand+Duke+of+Oldenburg+Dead&scp=1&st=p

| accessdate = }}

Early life

In his youth, he served as a General of Cavalry in the Prussian army. He also served as General of Infantry in the Hanoverian Army.

Marriage

On 10 February 1852, Peter married Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg. She was the fourth daughter of Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Amelia of Württemberg, and was a sister of Queen Marie of Hanover and Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia.

They had two sons, Frederick Augustus (born in 1852) and George (born in 1855). Peter II may have had an illegitimate son, Peter Altmann (Rastede 1857-Brighton 1934), married and had issue.

Reign

He succeeded his father as Grand Duke in 1853.{{Citation

| title = Obituary

| newspaper = The New York Times

| date = 15 May 1881

| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1881/05/15/archives/obituary-1-no-title.html?sq=%22Duke+of+Oldenburg%22+Prussia&scp=21&st=p

| accessdate = }} Peter ruled over a population of roughly 800,000.

Peter's family had ties to the Russian imperial family (both were descendants of Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp), so that he sided with Russia against Austria during the Crimean War. During the First Schleswig-Holstein War, he laid claim to part of the territories seized by Prussia, but in 1866 ceded his claim to the duchies. The following year, he created a military compact with Prussia, in which his troops were incorporated into the corps of Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War.

In 1896, his wife Elisabeth died.{{Citation

| title = Duchess of Oldenburg Dead

| newspaper = The New York Times

| location = Berlin

| date = 3 February 1896

| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1896/02/03/archives/duchess-of-oldenburg-dead.html?sq=Grand+Duke+of+Oldenburg+Dead&scp=3&st=p

| accessdate = }} She died a year after their daughter-in-law Elisabeth Anna.

After he suffered from heart trouble resulting from overwork, Peter's physicians recommended he have a long trip abroad.{{Citation

| title = Grand Duke of Oldenburg To Go Abroad

| newspaper = The New York Times

| location = Berlin

| date = 29 December 1899

| accessdate = }} He died the following year, on 13 June 1900 at his summer residence in Rastede. He was succeeded as Grand Duke by his eldest son, Frederick Augustus.

Honours

{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|

{{flag|Oldenburg}}: Grand Prior of the House and Merit Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig{{cite book|author=Staat Oldenburg|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: für ... 1852|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wNTAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA24|year=1852|publisher=Schulze|page=24}}
{{flag|Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach}}: Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 25 May 1847Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1859), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00183885/Staatshandbuch_Film_Nr_13_0218.tif p. 12]
{{flagicon|Saxe-Coburg-Gotha}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Altenburg}} {{flagicon|Saxe-Meiningen}} Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, June 1847Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg (1854), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" [https://zs.thulb.uni-jena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00242549/Parladrusa_Staatshandbuch_SA_166810592_1855_0034.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00472799 p. 21]
{{flagicon image|Flag of Anhalt Duchies.png}} Ascanian duchies: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, 30 November 1847Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Herzogtum Anhalt (1867) "Herzoglicher Haus-orden Albrecht des Bären" p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=TYEp3N5O48EC&pg=PA16 16]
{{Flagicon image|Flag of the Kingdom of Prussia (1803-1892).svg}} Kingdom of Prussia:{{citation|title=Königlich Preussische Ordensliste|journal=Preussische Ordens-Liste|volume=1|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=5&skin=2021|pages=[https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=13&skin=2021 5], [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015049878831&view=1up&seq=30&skin=2021 22]|lang=German|location=Berlin|year=1886}}
Knight of the Black Eagle, 17 May 1850; with Collar, 1868
Grand Cross of the Red Eagle, 8 August 1866
{{flag|Denmark}}: Knight of the Elephant, 2 April 1853{{cite book |year=1883 |orig-year=1st pub.:1801 |editor1-last=Bille-Hansen |editor1-first=A. C. |editor2-last=Holck |editor2-first=Harald |title=Statshaandbog for Kongeriget Danmark for Aaret 1883 |trans-title=State Manual of the Kingdom of Denmark for the Year 1883 |url=https://dis-danmark.dk/bibliotek/900758.pdf#page=32|series=Kongelig Dansk Hof- og Statskalender |language=da |location=Copenhagen |publisher=J.H. Schultz A.-S. Universitetsbogtrykkeri |page=3 |access-date=30 April 2020 |via=:da:DIS Danmark}}
{{flag|Grand Duchy of Hesse}}: Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 3 April 1853Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" p. [https://archive.org/details/hofundstaatshan00gergoog/page/n34/mode/2up 10]
{{flag|Baden}}:Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1869), "Großherzogliche Orden" [https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/1873333 pp. 54], [https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/periodical/pageview/1873343 64]
Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1853
Grand Cross of the Zähringer Lion, 1853
{{flag|Kingdom of Bavaria}}: Knight of St. Hubert, 1853{{Cite book|title=Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Bayern|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJljAAAAcAAJ|publisher=Königl. Oberpostamt|date=1867|language=de|page=8}}
{{flag|Belgium}}: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold, 10 April 1853{{cite book|title=Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi|volume=1|author=H. Tarlier|year=1854|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=p35NAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA37 37]|language=fr}}
{{flag|Württemberg}}: Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1853Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1896), "Königliche Orden" p. [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Pc5CAAAAYAAJ/page/n61/mode/2up 27]
{{flag|Kingdom of Hanover}}: Knight of St. George, 1855{{cite book|author=Staat Hannover|title=Hof- und Staatshandbuch für das Königreich Hannover: 1865|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAFTAAAAcAAJ|year=1865|publisher=Berenberg|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bAFTAAAAcAAJ/page/n56 38]}}
{{flag|Austrian Empire}}: Grand Cross of St. Stephen, 1858[http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm "A Szent István Rend tagjai"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222022855/http://tornai.com/rendtagok.htm|date=22 December 2010}}
{{flag|Kingdom of Saxony}}: Knight of the Rue Crown, 1876{{cite book|title=Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1877|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UmYRr_5ZWvUC&pg=PA3|year=1877|publisher=Heinrich|page=3}}