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 ...

and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

Biography

He was born in Rudolstadt the son of Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801–1875) and his wife Princess Mathilde of Schönburg-Waldenburg (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 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 interli ...

. 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 Prince Günther abdicated on 22 November 1918. Following his death in Sondershausen in the spring of 1925, he was succeeded as head of the House of Schwarzburg by Prince Sizzo.

Marriage

Prince Günther was married to Princess Anna Louise of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1871–1951) at Rudolstadt on 9 December 1891. She was daughter of his uncle Prince Georg of Schönburg-Waldenburg (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)