by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

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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Born on January 8, 1721 in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Johann Friedrich was the only son and the eldest of the three children of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

Johann Friedrich had two younger sisters but one died in infancy and the other never married:

• Sophia Wilhelmina of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1723)
• Sophia Albertine of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1724 – 1799), unmarried

Johann Friedrich was raised and educated by private tutors from the age of four. When he was six-years-old, Johann Friedrich’s mother died. In 1729, his father married again to Christina Sophia of East Friesia but the marriage was childless. From 1737 – 1741, Johann Friedrich made the customary Grand Tour through Europe. He attended lectures on theology at the University of Strasbourg and lectures on mathematics and physics at the University of Utrecht. While in Utrecht, Johann Friedrich visited King George II of Great Britain who was also visiting Utrecht. During his time in France, Johann Friedrich was exposed to the ideas of the Enlightenment. In 1742, he represented his father at the coronation of Holy Roman Emperor Karl VII (also Prince-Elector of Bavaria).

Upon the death of his father Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt on September 1, 1744, 23-year-old Johann Friedrich became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Two months later, on November 19, 1744, in Eisenach, Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in the German state of Thuringia, Johann Friedrich married Princess Bernardina Christina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1724 – 1757). Bernardina Christina was the daughter of Ernst August I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and his first wife with Eleonore Wilhelmine of Anhalt-Köthen. Sadly, Bernadina Christina died in 1757 at the age of 33. She was deeply mourned by her husband who never remarried.

Johann Friedrich and Bernadina Christina had six children but only two daughters survived childhood:

• Princess Friederike of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1745 – 1778), married her first cousin once removed Friedrick Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, had six children including Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
• Daughter (born and died 1746)
• Son (born and died 1747)
• Princess Sophie Ernestine of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1749 – 1754), died in childhood
• Princess Wilhelmina of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1751 – 1780) married Ludwig I, Prince of Nassau-Saarbrücken, had one son
• Princess Henrietta Charlotte of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1752 – 1756), died in childhood

Johann Friedrich continued and completed the reconstruction project his father had started at Heidecksburg Castle (link in German) after a fire in 1735 caused two wings to be burned down to the ground floor. The fire had also destroyed the principality’s sheet music collection and Johann Friedrich with the assistance of his Kapellmeister Georg Gebel built up a new collection.

Johann Friedrich founded a theological seminary and a public library in Rudolstadt. He added his private library to the previous collections and from 1751 made the books available to the public once a week. During his reign, Johann Friedrich acquired more books for the Princely Public Library in Rudolstadt. The collection is now partly part of the historical library in Rudolstadt and partly in the collection at the Heidecksburg Castle library.

In 1760, Johann Friedrich granted Georg Heinrich Macheleid a license to run a porcelain factory. Johann Friedrich was the co-managing director of the porcelain factory which still exists under the name Volkstedter Porzellanmanufaktur. In 1764, upon the 100th anniversary of the local school in Rudolstadt being declared the Princely State School, Johann Friedrich officially declared it a gymnasium (secondary school), renamed it the Gymnasium Friedericianum, and added teaching posts for mathematics and natural science. The Gymnasium Friedericianum Rudolstadt is still in existence.

Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt died at the age of 46 on July 10, 1767, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in Thuringia, Germany. He was buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg, (link in German) the castle church at Schwarzburg Castle (link in German) in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, where his wife Bernadina Christina had been buried. Because he had no son, Johann Friedrich was succeeded by his uncle Louis Günther II. In 1763, Louis Günther II’s eldest son, the new Hereditary Prince Friedrich Karl, had married Johann Friedrich’s eldest daughter Friederike. Friedrich Karl succeeded his father Louis Günther II as the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1790.

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. Johann Friedrich (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Friedrich_(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 29 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. John Frederick, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Frederick,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 29 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Princess Bernardina Christina Sophia Of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Bernardina_Christina_Sophia_of_Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach> [Accessed 29 October 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].