by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

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.

*********************

Born in Arnstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia, on August 7, 1830, Karl Günther, was the last Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen from the House of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. After his death, the final Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen would come from the House of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Karl Günther was the second but the eldest surviving of the three sons and the third of the four children of Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg–Sondershausen and his first wife Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1809 – 1833), daughter of Prince Carl of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Luise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg, and the granddaughter of Friedrich Karl, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Karl Günther had three siblings:

• Günther Friedrich Carl Alexander (1828 – 1833), died in childhood
• Elisabeth Caroline Luise (1829 – 1893), unmarried
• Leopold (1832 – 1906), unmarried, served in the Prussian Army

Karl Günther’s mother died when he was three-years-old. His father married for a second time on May 29, 1835, to Mathilde of Hohenlohe-Öhringen (1814 – 1888), daughter of Prince August of Hohenlohe-Öhringen and Luise of Württemberg. Karl had two half-siblings from this marriage which ended in divorce in 1852:

• Marie (1837 – 1921), unmarried
• Hugo (1839 – 1871), unmarried

Karl Günther studied law and literature at the University of Bonn. After his studies, he joined the Prussian Army as an Oberleutnant (Senior Lieutenant) and served in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War. He progressed through the ranks of the Prussian Army, ultimately achieving the rank of General of the Infantry in 1886.

On June 12, 1869, in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, Karl Günther married Princess Marie Gasparine of Saxe-Altenburg, daughter of Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg and his second wife Princess Luise Caroline Reuss of Greiz. The marriage was childless and this would cause a succession crisis.

On July 17, 1880, 79-year-old Günther Friedrich Karl II abdicated in favor of his son Karl Günther due to old age and illness. He survived nine more years, dying on September 15, 1889. Karl Günther was more interested in hunting than in government affairs and he mostly left those matters to his ministers. However, Karl Günther oversaw advancements to the education system of the principality by opening a state school and a teacher-training facility.

Because Karl Günther was childless, his heir presumptive was his unmarried younger brother Prince Leopold. In 1890, the two brothers caused a scandal, published in newspapers worldwide, when they had a fistfight after 58-year-old Leopold was offended when 60-year-old Karl Günther suggested that he marry a commoner if no royal woman would agree to marry him.

The princely house of Schwarzburg consisted of two branches: Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was the senior line and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was the junior line. According to a 1713 family pact, upon the extinction of one of the lines, the principality would pass to the surviving line. However, because the Rudolstadt line was also threatened with extinction, an agreement was made in 1896 between the three remaining Schwarzburg dynasts, Karl Günther and his brother Leopold, and their childless cousin Günther Victor, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

To ensure the continued existence of the House of Schwarzburg, Prince Sizzo of Leutenberg was recognized as a member of the House of Schwarzburg with full succession rights. Prince Sizzo was the only son of Friedrich Günther, reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from a morganatic marriage. Sizzo and his twin sister were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg shortly after their birth but Sizzo did not have succession rights due to his parents’ morganatic marriage. When Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen died in 1906, Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, became heir presumptive to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

In 1906, Karl Günther suffered a debilitating hunting accident, never recovered, and spent the rest of his life bedridden. He died on March 28, 1909, aged 78, in a sanatorium in Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony, and was buried in the princely burial chapel at Trinitatiskirche (Trinity Church – link in German) in Sondershausen, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia. The two Schwarzburg principalities were united under Günther Victor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union and he was then styled Prince of Schwarzburg.

Marie Gasparine survived her husband by 21 years. She died on July 5, 1930, aged 85, in Sondershausen, Thuringia, Germany, and was buried with her husband in the princely burial chapel at Trinitatiskirche (Trinity Church) in Sondershausen.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Unofficial Royalty: Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Index
• Unofficial Royalty: Royal Burial Sites of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Günther Friedrich Carl II. (Schwarzburg-Sondershausen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnther_Friedrich_Carl_II._(Schwarzburg-Sondershausen)> [Accessed 13 November 2020].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Karl Günther (Schwarzburg-Sondershausen). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_G%C3%BCnther_(Schwarzburg-Sondershausen)> [Accessed 13 November 2020].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Marie Von Sachsen-Altenburg (1845–1930). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_von_Sachsen-Altenburg_(1845%E2%80%931930)> [Accessed 13 November 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Charles Gonthier, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Gonthier,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Sondershausen> [Accessed 13 November 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/gunther-victor-prince-of-schwarzburg/> [Accessed 13 November 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/german-royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-sondershausen/> [Accessed 13 November 2020].