by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2022

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.

The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen without an heir in 1909 caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born on November 6, 1793, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was the eldest of the four sons and the second of the seven children of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Karoline of Hesse-Homburg.

Only two of Friedrich Günther’s six siblings survived childhood:

• Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
• Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
• Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
• Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1798 – 1869), married Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels, had three children
• Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
• Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

Friedrich Günther’s father Ludwig Friedrich, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, and his fourteen-year-old son became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. As stipulated in Ludwig Friedrich’s will, Friedrich Günther’s mother Karoline served as Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until her son came of age in 1814. Friedrich Günther was rather disinterested in government affairs and after he came of age, he left the decisions to other people. As a result, his mother Karoline, who died in 1854 at the age of 82, continued to have a strong influence on government decisions.

After being educated by private tutors, Friedrich Günther was sent to Geneva, Switzerland from 1810 – 1811 to perfect his French. From 1813 – 1814, he accompanied his maternal uncle Philip of Hesse-Homburg, who was an officer in the Imperial Austrian Army, as an observer during battles against Napoleon’s French forces during the Napoleonic Wars.

On April 15, 1816, Friedrich Günther made the first of his three marriages. He married Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt-Dessau, now in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Auguste was the eldest child of Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau and Amalie of Hesse-Homburg. Her mother and Friedrich Günther’s mother were sisters and so husband and wife were first cousins. Auguste was popular with the people of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and was a supporter of the arts and sciences.

Friedrich Günther and Auguste had three sons. All three predeceased their father, leaving Friedrich Günther with no male heirs. Auguste died on June 12, 1854, in Rudolstadt, aged 60, and was buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt.

• Friedrich Günther, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1818 – 1821), died in early childhood
• Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1821 – 1845), unmarried, died in his 20s
• Prince Gustav of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1828 – 1837), died in childhood

On August 7, 1855, in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, Friedrich Günther married Countess Helene of Reina (1835 – 1860). Helene was the daughter of Prince Georg Bernhard of Anhalt-Dessau from his morganatic, second marriage. She was adopted by her paternal uncle Prince Wilhelm of Anhalt shortly before her marriage and assumed the title of Princess of Anhalt. Regardless, Helene’s marriage to Friedrich Günther was considered morganatic under the House Laws of the Schwarzburg family. They had a set of twins, one boy and one girl, but Helene, aged 25, died three days after their birth. She was buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. The children were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg shortly after their birth but the son did not have succession rights.

• Princess Helene (1860 – 1937), married Prince Hans of Schönaich-Carolath, had two children
• Prince Sizzo (1860 – 1926), married Princess Alexandra of Anhalt, had three children

In 1896, Prince Sizzo’s succession rights were recognized by all members of the House of Schwarzburg. He was made a full member of the house and able to use the title of Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the agreement, Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, ahead of the Schwarzburg -Sondershausen princes, and third in line to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Following the death of Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen in 1909, the Sondershausen branch became extinct and the Schwarzburg principalities were united in a personal union under Prince Günther Victor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Prince Sizzo became the heir presumptive to the two principalities. After the end of the German monarchies in 1918 and following the death of Prince Günther Victor in 1925, Prince Sizzo succeeded him as Head of the House of Schwarzburg.

Friedrich Günther’s third marriage to Marie Schultze (1840 – 1909) on September 24, 1861, was also morganatic and was childless. After Friedrich Günther’s death, Marie married a second time to Dr. Marcellus von Nencki and died on March 19, 1909, aged 68, in Bern Switzerland where she was buried.

Several important events happened during Friedrich Günther’s reign. In 1815, the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt joined the German Confederation, an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe, created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, which had been dissolved in 1806. The principality received its first constitution in 1816 which required the approval of the state parliament to raise taxes and pass laws. The last years of his reign saw the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 when Friedrich Günther kept Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt neutral and following the conclusion of the war the creation of the North German Confederation, the German federal state which existed from July 1867 to December 1870 and was the precursor of the German Empire that was established in 1871.

Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died on June 28, 1867, at the age of 73, at Schloss Heidecksburg (link in German) in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. He was first buried in the Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) in Rudolstadt. When that cemetery was closed sometime after 1869, his remains along with the remains of his first two wives were moved to the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German) in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Friedrich Günther was succeeded by his brother Albrecht as all of his sons by his first wife had predeceased him and his son by his second wife was born from a morganatic marriage.

In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began.

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Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Index
• Royal Burial Sites of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Auguste Von Anhalt-Dessau. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auguste_von_Anhalt-Dessau> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich Günther (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_G%C3%BCnther_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Friedrich Günther, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_G%C3%BCnther,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 1 November 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].