OLDENBURG, the capital of the above grand duchy, is a well built though dull town, in a flat country, on the banks of the Hunte, 24 miles W.N.W. of Bremen. The castle, where the grand duke resides, is a handsome freestone building, surrounded by beautiful pleasure-grounds. Here also are a palace for the princes, government offices, a barracks, which is a large and imposing edifice, and two theatres. The old church of St. Lambert, the most remarkable of the three churches in Oldenburg, has a vault containing the tombs of the ducal family. For the intellectual culture of the inhabitants Oldenburg has many advantages: besides military, normal, and grammar schools, there are a collection of antiquities, a gallery of paintings, and a public library of 50,000 volumes. Sugar refineries, soap-works, breweries, distilleries, &c., are the principal manufactures; and timber, wool, &c., the chief articles of trade. The date of the foundation of the town is not known; but in 1155 it was first fortified as it still remains. Pop. (1852) 9526.