County (Principality) of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt | |||||||||
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1599–1918 | |||||||||
Status | State of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806), State of the Confederation of the Rhine, State of the German Confederation, State of the North German Confederation, State of the German Empire, State of the Weimar Republic | ||||||||
Capital | Rudolstadt | ||||||||
Government | Principality | ||||||||
Prince | |||||||||
• 1710–1718 | Louis Frederick I (first) | ||||||||
• 1890–1918 | Günther Victor (last) | ||||||||
Legislature | Landtag | ||||||||
Historical era | Early modern period | ||||||||
1599 | |||||||||
• Raised to Principality | 1711 | ||||||||
1918 | |||||||||
• Merged into Thuringia | 1920 | ||||||||
Population | |||||||||
• 1835 | 58,000 [1] | ||||||||
• 1848 | 62,000 [2] | ||||||||
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Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt.
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 William I, Count 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. Count Albert Anton (1662–1710) was elevated to the rank of a prince by Emperor Leopold I; 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 940 km2 (360 sq mi) 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.
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. [3] [4]
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen.
Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was Count of Schwarzburg and founder of the Line of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, which later received the title of Prince.
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg was the final head of the House of Schwarzburg and heir to the formerly sovereign principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
Günther Sizzo, Prince of Schwarzburg was the head of the House of Schwarzburg and pretender to the principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.
Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg was a younger sister of prince William I of Orange-Nassau.
Christian William I of Schwarzburg was Count and later Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Count of Hohenstein, Lord of Sondershausen, Arnstadt and Leutenberg. From 1681, he also carried the title of Count in Ebeleben, and from 1716 Count in Arnstadt.
Count Anton Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen from 1642 until his death in 1666.
Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a German Natural History collector, and from 1790 until his death the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Louis Frederick I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the ruling prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Count of Hohenstein, Lord of Rudolstadt, Blankenburg and Sondershausen from 1710 until his death.
Louis Günther II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, was the ruling prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1767 until his death.
John Frederick, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the ruling Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1744 to 1767.
Albert Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1662 to 1710. He was raised to Imperial Prince in 1697, however, he chose not to accept his elevation. In 1710, he was elevated again, and this time, he accepted.
Emilie Antonia of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst, was Princess consort of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and then regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt during the minority of her son Albert Anton from 1646 to 1662.
Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1612 until his death.
Charles Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a German nobleman. He was the ruling Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1605 to 1612 and then the ruling Count of Hohenstein, Lord of Rudolstadt, Leutenberg, Blankenburg, Sondershausen and Arnstadt from 1612 until his death.
Louis Frederick II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was from 1793 to 1807 reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.
Günther Friedrich Karl I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was the ruling Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen from 1794 until his abdication in 1835.