Louis Frederick I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (25 October 1667 in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within 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 ...

– 24 June 1718, in Rudolstadt) was the ruling 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 House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

, Count of Hohenstein, Lord of Rudolstadt, Blankenburg and Sondershausen from 1710 until his death.

Life

Louis Frederick was the son of Albert Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his wife, the poet and pietist, Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen. Between May 1687 and October 1688, he made a Grand Tour, accompanied by his Hofmeister Johann von Asseburg. He was received at the

Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...

by King

Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

and in Vienna by Emperor Leopold I. He was also received by Duke

Frederick I Frederick I or Friedrich I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I ...

of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, whose daughter Anna Sophie he would marry on 15 October 1691 at

Friedenstein Castle Friedenstein Palace () is an early Baroque architecture, Baroque palace in the city of Gotha, built in the mid-17th century by Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha at Gotha, Thuringia, Germany. In Germany, ''Friedenstein'' was one of the largest palaces o ...

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. The pair would have 15 children. His father was raised to

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

in 1697 and again in 1710. In 1710, his father had accepted the elevation, but not made it public. After his father died in 1710, Louis Frederick I inherited Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and published the promotion. From 15 April 1711, he styled himself ''Prince'' of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. At the time, the principality had around inhabitants. The elevation strengthened the position of the

House of Schwarzburg The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia, which is in modern-day central Germany. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic primogeniture t ...

against the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () was a dynasty which included Saxon monarch, kings, Prince Elector, prince-electors, dukes, and counts, who once ruled territories in the present-day German federated states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The dynas ...

and ensured its survival into modern times. Between 1697 and 1719, they added an ''Imperial Hall'' to the southern side of their Schwarzburg Castle, underlining the importance the princes attached to their elevation. Louis Frederick I assisted his father in administrating the principality even before 1710. After he inherited the throne, he reformed the administration on an absolutist basis. George Ulrich von Beulwitz was the highest civil servant in the principality. Inspired by the Sun King, Louis Frederick I toyed with the idea to move his residence to Schwarzburg. However, his financial position made this impossible. Louis Frederick I took his own life on 24 June 1718 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Frederick Anton.

Marriage and issue

On 15 October 1691 at

, Louis Frederick I married Princess

Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Duchess Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (22 December 1670 – 28 December 1728) was a princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Duchess in Saxony by birth, and by marriage a Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.L. Renovanz: ''Chronik der fürstl. Sch ...

, the daughter of Duke

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg () was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany. The extinction of the line in 1825 led to a major re-organisation of the Thuringian states. History In 1640 the sons of the ...

. They had 13 children: * Frederick Anton (1692-1744), Prince of

, married: *# Princess Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1690-1727) *# Princess Christina Sophia of Ostfriesland (1688-1750) * Amalie Magdalene (1693-1693) * Sophie Louise (1693-1776) * Sophie Juliane (1694-1776), a nun at

Gandersheim Abbey Gandersheim Abbey () is a former house of secular canonesses ( Frauenstift) in the present town of Bad Gandersheim in Lower Saxony, Germany. It was founded in 852 by Count Liudolf of Saxony and his wife, Oda, progenitors of the Liudolfing or Ot ...

* William Louis (1696-1757), married in 1726 morganatically to Caroline Henriette Gebauer (1706-1794), who was made Baroness of Brockenburg in 1727 * Christine Dorothea (1697-1698) * Albert Anton (1698-1720) * Emilie Juliane (1699-1774) * Anna Sophie (1700-1780), married in 1723 to Duke Francis Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1697-1764) * Sophia Dorothea (1706-1737) * Friederike Louise (1706-1787) * Magdalena Sibylle (1707-1795), a nun at Gandersheim Abbey * Louis Günther II (1708-1790), Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, married in 1733 to Countess Sophie Henriette of Reuss-Untergreiz (1711-1771)

References

* ''Die Fürsten von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt'', Thüringer Landesmuseum Heidecksburg, Rudolstadt, 1997 (3rd ed., 2001), * Horst Fleischer, Hans Herz, Lutz Unbehaun and Frank Esche: ''Die Grafen von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: Albrecht VII. bis Albert Anton'', Taschenbuch, 2000 * Johann Christian August Junghans: ''Geschichte der schwarzburgischen Regenten'', Leipzig, 182
Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis Frederick 01 Schwarzburg Rudolstadt House of Schwarzburg Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1667 births 1718 deaths 17th-century German nobility 18th-century German people Princes of the Holy Roman Empire