Oh! I didn't know that in German the called the House of Oldenburg the House of Holstein. That's interesting!
Yes, I'm aware of that. My point was that the House name Oldenburg seems more common among English speakers while in German the preferred House name is Holstein.
King Christian I of Denmark was the son of Dietrich or Theoderic Count of Oldenburg.
The County of Oldenburg was a county of the Holy Roman Empire. Elimar I was Count of Oldenburg from 1101 to 1108. Christian I of Denmark is a direct male line descendant of Count Elimar and Christian I was a Count of Oldenburg when he was elected King of Denmark.
In 1460, following the death of his uncle, Duke Adolphus of Schleswig, Count of Holstein, Christian also became Duke of Schleswig and Count of Holstein.
I wonder where this "House of Oldenburg" comes from. In the Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch the House name is Holstein. To the House of Holstein belong two Lines: the elder Line Holstein-Sonderburg with the first branch Holstein, whose head is Christoph Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, and the second branch Denmark (and Greece and Norway). The younger Line is Holstein-Gottorp with the first branch being Russia and the second branch the Grand Dukes of Oldenburg, who are thus the most junior branch.
Wikipedia - for what it’s worth - agrees with this under “House of Oldenburg” (I couldn’t get a link to work, sorry).
As I understand it (please correct me as necessary) the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg is a cadet branch of the German House of Oldenburg. IIRC the Greek Republic insisted on calling King Constantine of the Hellenes “Constantine Glücksburg.” Since Prince Philip descended from the Glücksburg cadet branch of Oldenburg, would that impact this discussion in any way?
I know it’s probably just academic, but it would be a point of fun trivia (if not too pendantic) to say that the House of Windsor used to be an agnate cadet branch of Coburg (headed by the Duke of Coburg), but now the House of Windsor is a cadet branch of the House of Glücksburg (headed by the Duke of Glücksburg) which is itself a cadet branch of the House of Oldenburg (headed by the Duke of Oldenburg).
Alas, the last Kaiser’s refrain The Merry Wives of Saxe Coburg Gotha has run its course.
The head of the entire House of Oldenburg is the titular Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, who is also the Duke of Glücksburg.
The former Grand Duchy of Oldenburg was held by a junior branch of the family; they were generally called Holstein-Gottorp and their state was called Oldenburg despite being a junior branch of said house.
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