Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg

Anthony Günther, Count of Oldenburg (aka Anton Günther, 10 November 1583 – 19 June 1667) was an Imperial Count and a member of the House of Oldenburg.

Anthony Günther
Count of Oldenburg
Anthony Günther of Oldenburg
Born	(1583-11-10)10 November 1583 Oldenburg
Died	19 June 1667(1667-06-19) (aged 83) Rastede
Noble family	House of Oldenburg
Spouse(s)	Sophie Catherine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg
Father	John VII, Count of Oldenburg
Mother	Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg

Early life and ancestry

Günther was born in Oldenburg, into the House of Oldenburg and was the ruling count of Oldenburg from 1603 until his death in Rastede, and of Delmenhorst from 1647 until his death. He was the son of John VII (1540–1603) and Countess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg.

Biography

S. Baring-Gould relates the following interesting anecdote about the count in his book "Strange Survivals Some Chapters in the History of Man":

In 1615 Count Anthony Günther of Oldenburg, on visiting a dyke in process of construction, found the workmen about to bury an infant under it. The count interfered, saved the child, reprimanded the dam-builders, and imprisoned the mother who had sold her babe for the purpose. Singularly enough, this same count is declared by tradition to have buried a living child in the foundations of his castle at Oldenburg.^[1]

Haus "Graf Anton Günther"

The Haus "Graf Anton Günther" is a historic house in central Oldenburg, dating from 1682.^[2] Count Anton Günther is depicted on the facade, which was redesigned in the neo-Renaissance style in 1894. The house was used by merchants and tobacco manufacturers.

Marriage

Anthony Günther married his relative, Duchess Sophie Catherine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg (28 June 1617 – 22 November 1696), a daughter of Alexander, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg and Countess Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1579–1639). They had no children.

Counts of Aldenburg

Coat of Arms of the Counts of Aldenburg

He had an extramarital liaison with his mistress, Elisabeth Margarethe von Ungnad, Freiin von Sonnegg (1605–1670), member of the Austrian nobility settled in the Kingdom of Bohemia. She was elder daughter of Andreas von Ungnad, Freiherr zu Sonnegg (1579–1634) by his wife, Margarethe von Prag, Freiin von Windhag zu Engelstein (1585–1669).^[3]

The affair resulted in birth of one son:

• Count Anton I von Aldenburg (1633–1680); married on 22 April 1659 to Countess Auguste Johanna of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1638–1669) and had issue.

Their issue became Counts of Aldenburg, whose line died out with its last representative, Countess Charlotte Sophie of Aldenburg, married to William, Count Bentinck, Lord of Rhoon and Pendrecht.

Their descendants became Counts of Bentinck-Aldenburg, a mediatised house, former ruling family of the Holy Roman Empire. As such, the House of Bentinck-Aldenburg belonged to the high nobility with equal status of birth for marriage purposes to other European royal families.