Augusteum, Oldenburg



The Augusteum is a German art museum in the city of Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. The museum houses the old master painting collection of the State Museum for Art and Cultural History.

The museum building was commissioned by Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg in 1873 to house his collection and opened in 1876 as Oldenburg's first art museum. The building is in the neo-Renaissance style decorated with a grand staircase with paintings by Christian Griepenkerl, all commissioned by the Grand Duke. The Augusteum functioned as a public museum until 1918, when Peter II's son Frederick Augustus II was forced to abdicate and absconded to the Netherlands with the paintings. In a series of sales a third of the collection was sold off, and the town was left with works of secondary importance. The curators have been buying back works since then, a crusade that continues to this day.

The Augusteum presents old master artworks near the northeast corner of the Schlossgarten Oldenburg. The Prinzenpalais, Elisabeth-Anna-Palais, and Schloss Oldenburg are also close by.