[1] In 1808, he accompanied his father to the Congress of Erfurt, the meeting between Emperor Napoléon I of France and Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

In December 1810, the Duchy of Oldenburg was annexed by the French Empire and Augustus and his father traveled to Russia to stay in exile with their relatives, the Russian imperial family.

[2] This annexation was one of the causes for the diplomatic rift between former allies France and Russia, a dispute that would lead to war in 1812 and eventually to Napoleon's downfall.

She was a daughter of Victor II, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, and his wife, Princess Amalie Charlotte of Nassau-Weilburg.

[6] On 24 June 1825, after five years as a widower, Augustus married secondly Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, a younger sister of his first wife.

Augustus succeeded his father, Grand Duke Peter I, to the throne of Oldenburg, and the Principality of Birkenfeld on 21 May 1829.

As Grand Duke, Augustus was employed in reforming the administration of his small state and showed himself a patriarchal ruler who cared for agriculture, transport, social welfare, art and science.

Trade flourished along the lower Weser and Jade, and the city of Oldenburg developed into one of Northwestern Germany's cultural centres.