Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, with its capital at Rudolstadt.

History

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since the 11th century, the ancestral seat of the comital family had been at Schwarzburg Castle, though after 1340, for most of its existence as a polity had the capital at the larger town of Rudolstadt. In 1583 Count Günther XLI of Schwarzburg, the eldest son of Günther XL the Rich and ruler over the united Schwarzburg lands, had died without issue. He was succeeded by his younger brothers, whereby Albert VII received the territory around Rudolstadt. After their brother Count William of Schwarzburg- Frankenhausen had died in 1597, the surviving brothers Albert VII and John Günther I established the two counties of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen by the 1599 Treaty of Stadtilm. Albert's descendants ruled as sovereign counts of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. Count Albert Anton (1662–1710) was elevated to the rank of a

Prince A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...

by Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg; it was however his son Louis Frederick I (1710–1718) who first bore the princely title, whereby Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1711 became a principality under the same entity. It withstood mediatisation and after the Empire's dissolution joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807 and the German Confederation in 1815. In 1905 Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt had an area of and a population of 97,000. On 23 November 1918, during the German Revolution of 1918–1919 and the fall of all the German monarchies, Prince Günther Victor was the last to abdicate. The former principality became a "Free State" in 1919 and joined the Weimar Republic as a constituent state. In 1920, it joined with other small states in the area to form the new state of Thuringia. File:Schloss Schwarzburg 1900.jpg, The castle at Schwarzburg File:Treppsteinblick 1900.jpg, Aerial view of Schwarzburg File:Heidecksburg.jpg, Heidecksburg residence at Rudolstadt

Rulers of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

Counts of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

* 1574–1605: Count Albrecht VII (1537–1605), son of Count Günther XL of Schwarzburg, founder of the county (state) of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt * 1605–1630: Count Charles Günther I (1576–1630), succeeded by younger brother Louis Günther I * 1612–1634 Count Albrecht Günther (1582–1634) * 1630–1646: Count Louis Günther I (1581–1646) * 1646–1662:

Regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

Emilie of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst (1614–70) * 1662–1710: Count Albert Anton (1641–1710)

Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

* 1710–1718: Prince Louis Frederick I (1667–1718) * 1718–1744: Prince Frederick Anton (1692–1744) * 1744–1767: Prince John Frederick (1721–67) * 1767–1790: Prince Louis Günther II (1708–90) * 1790–1793: Prince Frederick Charles (1736–93) * 1793–1807: Prince Louis Frederick II (1767–1807) * 1807–1814:

Caroline Louise of Hesse-Homburg (1771–1854) * 1814–1867: Prince Frederick Günther (1793–1867) * 1867–1869: Prince Albert (1798–1869) * 1869–1890: Prince Georg Albert (1838–90) * 1890–1918: Prince Günther Victor (1852–1925), also succeeded as Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909 upon the death of Prince Karl Günther.

Heads of the princely house of Schwarzburg post-monarchy

On the death of the childless Prince Günther Victor in 1925, he was succeeded by Prince Sizzo (1860–1926), who was the son of Prince Friedrich Günther (1793–1867) from his second, morganatic marriage. Prince Sizzo was recognised as a full member of the House of Schwarzburg in 1896. He was succeeded in 1926 by his son, Prince Friedrich Günther (1901–1971). Upon the death in 1971 of Prince Friedrich Günther, the last in the male line, his elder sister, Princess Marie Antoinette of Schwarzburg, who married Friedrich Magnus V, Count of Solms-Wildenfels, could have had a claim to the headship under semi-Salic primogeniture.James, John ''Almanach de Gotha, Volume I'', 2013. * 1918–1925: Prince Günther Victor (1852–1925) * 1925–1926: Prince Sizzo (1860–1926) * 1926–1971: Prince Friedrich Günther (1901–1971)

References

External links

House laws of Schwarzburg
* {{Authority control 1599 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1919 disestablishments in Germany Rudolstadt States and territories disestablished in 1919 States and territories established in 1599 States of the Confederation of the Rhine States of the German Confederation States of the German Empire States of the North German Confederation States of the Weimar Republic