BIRKENFELD. ) General Features.—The total population of the republic of Oldenburg in 1933 was 512,868. The bulk of the inhabitants are of Saxon stock, but to the north and west of the republic there are numerous descendants of the ancient Frisians. Low German (Platt-deutsch) is universally spoken, except in one limited dis trict, where a Frisian dialect has maintained itself.
Oldenburg is mainly a Protestant country, but Roman Catholi cism preponderates in the south-western provinces, which formerly belonged to the bishopric of Munster, and Oldenburg Roman Catholics are under the sway of the bishops of Munster.
The constitution of 1919 provided for a single representative chamber (Landtag), elected by universal suffrage and exercising rights of legislation and taxation. The chamber which consisted of 48 members, was elected every three years.
Count Christian, who in 1448 was chosen king of Denmark as Christian I., became king of Norway in 145o, and in 1457 king of Sweden. In 146o he inherited the duchy of Schleswig and the county of Holstein, an event of high importance for the future history of Oldenburg. In 1454 he handed over Oldenburg to his brother Gerhard (c. Count Anton GUnther (1583
1667), who succeeded in 1603, proved himself the wisest prince who had yet ruled Oldenburg. By his prudent neutrality during the Thirty Years' War he secured for his dominions an immu nity from the terrible devastations to which nearly all the other states of Germany were exposed. He also obtained from the emperor the right to levy tolls on vessels passing along the Weser, a lucrative grant which soon formed a material addition to his resources. From 1702 to 1773 the county was ruled by the kings of Denmark, this period being on the whole one of peaceful de velopment. In the latter year Frederick Augustus, bishop of Lu beck, a kinsman of the Emperor Paul of Russia, became count, and in 1777 the county was raised to the rank of a duchy. In 1815 the title of grand duke was allowed to the reigning duke, in consideration of his services to the allies, but was not taken up till 1829. In 1871 Oldenburg became a state of the new German empire and in 1918 the Grand Ducal family was expelled by the German revolution.
For the history of Oldenburg see Runde, Oldenburgische Chronik (Oldenburg, 2863) ; E. Pleitner, Oldenburg im r9 Jahrhundert (Olden burg, 1899-190o) ; and Oldenburgisches Quellenbuch (Oldenburg, 1903). See also the Jahrbuch fur die Geschichte des Herzogtums Oldenburg (1892 seq.).