Grætz. Offspring: 1. Paul Friedrich, born May 12, 1882. 2. Marie Antoinette, born May 28, 1884. 3. Heinrich Borwin, born December 16, 1885. Duke Paul in 1884 renounced all hereditary rights to the Grand-duchy for himself and his descendants; he himself became a Roman Catholic. II. Marie, born May 14, 1854; married August 28, 1874, to Grand-duke Vladimir, second son of Alexander II., Emperor of Russia. III. Johann Albrecht, born December 8, 1857; married, November 6, 1886, to Princess Elisabeth, daughter of the late Karl Alexander, Grand-duke of Saxe-WeimarEisenach. IV. Elisabeth, born August 10, 1869; married, October 24, 1896, to Friedrich August, Grand-duke of Oldenburg. V. Adolf Friedrich, born October 10, 1873. VI. Heinrich, born April 19, 1876; married February 7, 1901, to Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, with the title 'Prince of the Netherlands.'

The Grand-ducal house of Mecklenburg is the only reigning family in Western Europe of Slavonic origin, and claims to be the oldest sovereign house in the Western world. In their full title, the Grand-dukes style them. selves Princes of the Wends. The genealogical table of the reigning Granddukes begins with Niklot, who died 1160, and comprises 25 generations. The title of Grand-duke was assumed in 1815.

6

The political institutions of the Grand-duchy are of an entirely feudal character. The fundamental laws are embodied in the Union' of 1523, the Reversales' of 1572 and 1621, and the charters of 1755 and 1817. Part of the legislative power (only in the Domain has the Grandduke the whole legislative power) is in the hands of the Diet-' Landtag.' There is only one Diet for both Grand-duchies, and it assembles every year for a few weeks; when it is not in actual session it is represented by a committee of nine members-Engerer Ausschuss.' Seats and votes in the Diet belong to the Ritterschaft-that is, the proprietors of Rittergüter, or Knights' Estates-and to the Landschaft, consisting of the burgomasters of 42 towns of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and 7 towns of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. The Ritterschaft has nearly 800 members, but only a few of them take seats in the Dict. The Domain has not a representation of its own. The only elected representatives of the people are the 6 deputies returned to the German Reichstag.

The executive is represented by a ministry divided into four departments, appointed by, and responsible to, the Grand-duke alone.

There is no other administrative division than that springing from the ownership of the soil, in which respect the country is divided as follows, with population in 1900 :—Grand-ducal Domains, 192,013; Knights' Estates (Rittergüter), 117,402; Convent Estates (Klostergüter), 7,976; Towns and Town Estates, 290,379. Total, 607,770. Of the total population in 1900 113,629 lived in medium towns, 67,990 in small towns, and 95,105 in country towns. The rural population was thus 331,046. The chief towns (1900) were Rostock (54,735 inhabitants), Schwerin (38,672 inhabitants), the capital, Wismar (20,222 inhabitants), Güstrow (16,882 inhabitants), and Parchim (10,242 inhabitants).

Nearly all the inhabitants are Protestants. In 1900 there were: Evangelicals, 597,268; Roman Catholics, 8,182; other Christians, 487; Jews, 1,763; not stated, 70. The State Church is Protestant. There are 477 Protestant churches and 360 clergymen. The parishes are generally well endowed with landed property.

There are 1,185 elementary schools in the Grand-duchy, with 94,765 pupils; Gymnasia, 7 with 1,447 pupils; Realgymnasien, 6 with 1,050 pupils; Realprogymnasien, 3 with 219 pupils; Realschulen, 3 with 261

pupils; higher private schools, 71 with 4,845 pupils; normal schools, 2 with 320 pupils; navigation schools, 2 with 73 pupils; agricultural school, 1 with 15 pupils; architectural schools, 2 with 210 pupils in the summer session and with 364 pupils in the winter session, institutions for the deaf and dumb, 1 with 62 pupils; institution for the blind, 1 with 66 pupils; schools for artisans, 48 with 4,064 pupils. There are besides several middle and special schools. There is a university at Rostock (see German Empire).

The Grand-duchy contains 43 Amtsgerichte, 3 Landgerichte, and 1 Oberlandesgericht at Rostock, which is also the supreme court for MecklenburgStrelitz. There are also certain special military and ecclesiastical tribunals. There exists no general budget for the Grand-duchy. There are three systems of finance, entirely distinct. 1. That of the Grand-duke, estimated for July 1, 1904-05, at 18,107,000 marks. 2. The financial administration of the States, the resources of which are very small. 3. The common budget of the Grand-duke and States, the receipts and expenditure of which balance at 4,452,000 marks (for July 1, 1904-05). On July 1, 1904, the public debt was estimated at 119,329,800 marks. The interest of the railway debt (8,236,500 marks), and of the consolidated loan of 1886, amounting to 12,000,000 marks, is covered by the annuity of 960,000 marks paid by the State railways, and the remaining debt is more than covered by the State funds. Consul-General.-Sir William Ward, C. V.O. (Hamburg).

MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ.)

The reigning Grand-duke is Adolf Friedrich, born July 22, 1848; the son of Grand-duke Friedrich Wilhelm and of Princess Augusta, the daughter of the late Duke Adolphus of Cambridge; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, May 30, 1904; married April 17, 1877, to Princess Elizabeth of Anhalt, born September 7, 1857, of which union there is offspring: Mary, born May 8, 1878; married June 22, 1899, to Count Georges Jametel; Jutta, born January 24, 1880; married July 27, 1899, under the name of Militza, to Prince Danilo of Montenegro; Adolf Friedrich, born June 17, 1882; and Karl Borwin, born October 10, 1888.

The reigning house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was founded, in 1701, by Duke Adolf Friedrich, youngest son of Duke Adolf Friedrich I. of Mecklenburg. There being no law of primogeniture at the time, the Diet was unable to prevent the division of the country, which was protested against by subsequent Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand-duke is, however, one of the wealthiest of German sovereigns, more than one-half of the country being his private property.

Mecklenburg-Strelitz has, in common with Mecklenburg-Schwerin, a Diet consisting of landowners and town magistrates. The country is divided into two provinces: Stargard, which alone participates in the Constitution, and Ratzeburg, whose special Constitution, framed in 1869, has never been put in force. Of the 48 burgomasters and nearly 800 members of the Ritterschaft (see Mecklenburg-Schwerin), 7 burgomasters and over 80 proprietors of Rittergüter belong to Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

The executive is entirely in the hands of the Grand-duke, and is exercised by him through his Government, at the head of which is a Minister of State.' For 1903-04 the revenue amounted to 4,807,700 marks, and the expenditure to 4,097,400 marks. In 1902 the debt stood at 1,418,800 marks.

The area of the country is 2,929 square kilometres, or 1,131 English square

miles, the ownership of which territory is divided between the sovereign, the feudal proprietors, and the corporations of certain towns, in the following manner :-527 square miles belong to the Grand-duke; 353 to the titled and untitled nobles; and 117 to the town corporations.

Marriages, 1903, 801; births, 2,898; deaths, 2, 184; surplus of births, 714. Among the births were 113 still-born, and 384 illegitimate children.

With the exception of 1,522 Catholics, 331 Jews and 1,853 persons of other confessions (1900), the people are Protestants. The capital, Neu Strelitz, had 11,340 inhabitants in 1900.

British Minister Plenipotentiary.-Rt. Hon. Sir F. C. Lascelles, G. C. B., G.C.M.G.

Consul-General.-Sir William Ward, C.V.O. (Hamburg).

Reference.

Mayer (A.), Geschichte des Grossherzogthums Mecklenburg-Strelitz, 1816-1890. 8. Neustrelitz, 1890.

OLDENBURG.

(GROSSHERZOGTHUM OLDENBURG.)

The reigning Grand-duke is Friederich August, Grand-duke of Oldenburg, born November 16, 1852; the son of Grand-duke Peter and of Princess Elizabeth of Saxe-Altenburg; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, June 13, 1900; married (1), February 18, 1878, to Princess Elizabeth (died August 28, 1895) daughter of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia; (2), October 24, 1896, to Princess Elizabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; issue of first marriage, a daughter, Sophia, born February 2, 1879; of the second, a son, Nicolaus, born August 10, 1897; and two daughters, Ingeborg Alix, born July 20, 1901, and Altburg Mathilda, born May 19, 1903. Brother of the reigning Grand-Duke.-Prince Georg, born June 27, 1855.

The ancient house of Oldenburg, which has given sovereigns to Denmark, Scandinavia, and Russia, is said to be descended from Wittekind, the celebrated leader of the heathen Saxons against Charlemagne. In the fifteenth century a scion of the House of Oldenburg, Count Christian VIII., was elected King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The main line became extinct with Count Anton Günther, in 1667, whereupon the territory of the family fell to the King of Denmark, who made it over to Grand-duke Paul of Russia, in 1773, in exchange for pretended claims upon Schleswig-Holstein. The Grandduke then (1773) gave Oldenburg to his cousin, Prince Friedrich August of Holstein-Gottorp, with whose descendants it remained till December 1810, when Napoleon incorporated it with the Kingdom of Westphalia. But the Congress of Vienna not only gave the country back to its former sovereign, but, at the urgent demand of Czar Alexander I., added to it a territory of nearly 400 square miles, with 50,000 inhabitants, bestowing at the same time upon the Prince the title of Grand-duke. Part of the new territory consisted of the Principality of Birkenfeld, on the left bank of the Rhine, close to the French frontier, and some three hundred miles distant from Oldenburg. The other part consists of the Principality of Lübeck. The Grand-duke has a civil list of 400,000 marks, or 20,000l., and the revenue from the crown lands (Krongut) is estimated at 255,000 marks, or 12,7507.; he draws also a considerable revenue from private estates of the family in Holstein.

A Constitution was given to the Grand-duchy on February 18, 1849, revised by a decree of November 22, 1852. The legislative power is exercised by a Landtag, or Diet, elected for three years, by the vote of all citizens paying taxes and not condemned for felony by a court of justice. The mode of election is indirect. One delegate (Wahlmann) for every 500 inhabitants is chosen by the first electors; and these delegates, grouped in nine districts, elect 40 deputies, or one for every 10,000 inhabitants. The executive is vested, under the Grand-duke, in a responsible ministry of three departments. The Principalities of Lübeck and Birkenfeld have also provincial councils (Provinzialräthe), both of 15 members, summoned twice a year by the provincial government.

The budgets are voted for three years at a time, and are divided into the budget of the Grand-duchy and the budgets of the Duchy of Oldenburg and the Principalities of Lübeck and Birkenfeld. The estimated revenue and expenditure for the last three years were:

The debt of the Grand duchy amounted, at the beginning of 1904, to 56,544,607 marks.

Oldenburg embraces an area of 2,479 English square miles. The popu lation of the chief divisions was in 1900:-Duchy of Oldenburg, 318,434; Principality of Lübeck, 37,340; Principality of Birkenfeld, 43,406. Total, 399,180 (198,308 males and 200,872 females).

In 1900 only 28.1 per cent. of the population lived in towns with 2,000 inhabitants or upwards. Oldenburg, the capital, had 26,797 inhabitants in

1900.

In 1900 Oldenburg contained 309,510 Protestants (77 6 per cent.), 86,920 Roman Catholics (218); other religions, 1,391 (0·4); 1,359 Jews (0·4). The State Church (Protestant) is under the Ministry for Ecclesiastical Affairs. The following table shows the public school statistics of Oldenburg in 1902 :

Oldenburg contains an Oberlandesgericht and a Landgericht. The Amtsgerichte of Lübeck and Birkenfeld are under the jurisdiction of the Landgerichte at Lübeck and Saarbrücken respectively. In the year 1900-1901

poor-relief was granted by the authorities of the communes to 4,943 persons with 3,298 dependents, total 8,241. Of these, 4,563 received continuous relief, and 3,678 temporary; 3,151 were supported entirely by relief, and 5,090 partially.

British Minister Plenipotentiary.-Sir F. C. Lascelles, G. C. B., G. C.M.G. Consul-General.-Sir William Ward, C.V.O. (Hamburg).

References.

Zeitschrift für Verwaltung und Rechtspflege (three times a year).

Statistische Nachrichten über das Grossherzogthum Oldenburg (published by the Bureau of Statistics.)

Kollmann (P.), Das Herzogthum Oldenburg in seiner wirthschaftlichen Entwickelung Oldenburg, 1893. Statistische Beschreibung der Gemeinden des Herzogthums Oldenburg. Oldenburg, 1897. Statistische Beschreibung der Gemeinden des Fürstenthums Lübeck. Oldenburg, 1901.

PRUSSIA.

(KÖNIGREICH PREUSSEN.)
Reigning King.

Wilhelm II., born Jan. 27, 1859, eldest son of Friedrich III., German Emperor and King of Prussia-who was eldest son of Wilhelm I., and was born Oct. 18, 1831, married, Jan. 25, 1858, to Victoria (Empress and Queen Friedrich), Princess Royal of Great Britain, succeeded his father March 9, 1888, and died June 15, 1888, when he was succeeded by his son, Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, under the title of Wilhelm II. The Emperor married, Feb. 27, 1881, Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein-SonderburgAugustenburg, born Oct. 22, 1858, daughter of the late Duke Friedrich of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

Children of the King.

1. Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, born May 6, 1882, Crown Prince of the German Empire and of Prussia; 2. Prince Wilhelm Eitel-Friedrich, born July 7, 1883; 3. Prince Adalbert, born July 14, 1884; 4. Prince August Wilhelm, born Jan. 29, 1887; 5. Prince Oscar, born July 27, 1888; 6. Prince Joachim, born Dec. 17, 1890; 7. Princess Viktoria Luise, born Sept. 13, 1892.

Brother and Sisters of the King.

1. Princess Charlotte, born July 24, 1860; married, Feb. 18, 1878, to Prince Bernhard, eldest son of Duke George II. of SaxeMeiningen. 2. Prince Heinrich, born Aug. 14, 1862; married, May 24, 1888, to Princess Irene, daughter of the late Grand-duke Ludwig IV. of Hesse; offspring of the union are two sons, Waldemar, born March 20, 1889; Sigismund, born Nov. 27,