County of Delmenhorst

The County of Delmenhorst was founded in the 13th century after the conquest of the Stedingers. It was closely associated with Oldenburg, but apparently exercised full sovereignty. The Archbishopric of Bremen had administrative responsibility between 1414 and 1447, after which it reverted to Oldenburg. Between 1476 and 1547, it was controlled by the Bishopric of Münster.

 

In 1547, Delmenhorst became unambiguously Oldenburgian when it entered into a personal union with Oldenburg (a period during which I render the country name as Delmenhorst-Oldenburg). Between 1577 and 1647, however, it was spun off as a nonsovereign county (during which period, I render the country name as simply Delmenhorst). The spin-off county contained not only the historical lands of Delmenhorst (the Hausvogtei plus the Vogteien of Berne, Altenesch, and Stuhr), but also the noncontiguous Amt Varel, which was otherwise never associated with Delmenhorst. Furthermore, the spin-off county held administrative responsibility for the neighboring Amt Harpstedt, which was part of the County of Hoya.

 

When the Delmenhorst line died out in 1647, the county reverted to a personal union with Oldenburg. When the Oldenburg line died out in 1667, both counties entered into a personal union with Denmark (during which period I retain the country name of Delmenhorst-Oldenburg, but shift it from Oldenburgian Germany to Danish Germany). Between 1711 and 1731, the Electorate of Hannover had administrative responsibility over both Delmenhorst (making the country name Delmenhorst-Hannover) and parts of Oldenburg. Then, in 1773, both Oldenburg and Delmenhorst were traded to the Duke of Holstein-Gottorp in exchange for his Holstein territories. Thus, Delmenhorst was once again part of Oldenburgian Germany. The following year, the county was subsumed into the new Duchy of Oldenburg, becoming a subdivision thereof (the name of which is “Grafschaft Delmenhorst”, in keeping with my practice of rendering subdivision names in German).