Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg (21 August 1852 – 16 April 1925) was the final sovereign prince of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since th ...

and

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county until 1697. In that year, it became a principality, which ...

Biography

He was born in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide va ...

the son of Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801–1875) and his wife Princess Mathilde of

Schönburg-Waldenburg Waldenburg is a town in the district Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. The castle was owned by the House of Schönburg from 1378 until 1945. The pottery town of Waldenburg lies in the valley of the Zwickauer Mulde. The environment is characterized by fo ...

(1826–1914). His mother Princess Mathilde was the daughter of Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1785–1861) and Princess Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795–1861) a cousin of Prince Günther's father. Following the death of his father on 1 July 1875 Prince Günther became the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Following the death of his first cousin once removed Prince Georg on 19 January 1890 Prince Günther succeeded him as sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. With the death of Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen on 20 April 1906 Prince Günther then became heir presumptive to the other Schwarzburg principality.House Laws of Schwarzburg
/ref> The death of the prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,

Karl Günther Karl Günther (25 November 1885 – 27 June 1951) was an Austrian film actor. Selected filmography * '' The Masked Ones'' (1920) * ''The Riddle of the Sphinx'' (1921) * ''The Adventuress of Monte Carlo'' (1921) * ''The Call of Destiny'' (1922) * ' ...

on 28 March 1909 united the two Schwarzburg principalities under Prince Günther in a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interlink ...

. This was the first time the two principalities had been united under the same ruler since the 16th century when the Sondershausen and Rudolstadt lines had been formed. Following his succession in Sondershausen Prince Günther dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the outbreak of the

German revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

Prince Günther abdicated on 22 November 1918. Following his death in

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 it ...

in the spring of 1925, he was succeeded as head of the

House of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture to his elder sister, Princess Marie An ...

by Prince Sizzo.

Marriage

Prince Günther was married to

Princess Anna Louise of Schönburg-Waldenburg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning wiktionary:principal, principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. ...

(1871–1951) at

on 9 December 1891. She was daughter of his uncle Prince Georg of

(1828–1900) and Princess Luise of

Bentheim-Tecklenburg Bentheim-Tecklenburg was a German county based in the region around Tecklenburg in northern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. History Bentheim-Tecklenburg emerged as a partition of the County of Bentheim in 1277, and was partitioned between it ...

(1844–1922). The marriage was childless. In 1942 Princess Anna Luise adopted her nephew Prince Wilhelm of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1913–44) and his son Prince Ulrich (b. 1940).

Ancestry

References

External links

Painting of Prince Günther
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg 1852 births 1925 deaths People from Rudolstadt German princes House of Schwarzburg People from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt People from Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Monarchs who abdicated Generals of Cavalry (Prussia)