by Susan Flantzer

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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Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was born in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt now in the German state of Thuringia, on August 9, 1767. He was the eldest son and the second of the six children of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his first wife and first cousin once removed Friederike of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt who was the daughter of  Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.

Ludwig Friedrich had five siblings but two sisters did not survive childhood:

• Friederike (1765 – 1767), died in infancy
• Henriette (1770 – 1783), died in childhood
• Karl Günther (1771 – 1825), married Louise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg, had seven children
• Karoline (1774 – 1854), married Günther Friedrich Karl I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, had two children
• Luise (1775 – 1808), married Ernst Konstantin, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal, had five children

When Ludwig Friedrich was ten-years-old, his mother died. Two years later, his father married Auguste of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg but their marriage was childless. After being educated by private tutors at home, in 1789, Ludwig Friedrich and his brother Karl Günther were sent on an educational trip to Geneva, Switzerland, and several other destinations. During this trip, the French Revolution was occurring and it was a constant topic of conversation among Ludwig Friedrich’s traveling entourage.

On July 21, 1791, in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse, Ludwig Friedrich married Karoline of Hesse-Homburg, daughter of Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt. Karoline of Hesse-Homburg’s brother Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg married Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, a daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom.

Ludwig Friedrich and Karoline had seven children including two reigning Princes of Schwarburg-Rudolstadt:

• Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
• Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867), married (1) Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children (2) Countess Helene of Reina, morganatic marriage, had two children (3) Marie Schultze, morganatic marriage, no children
• 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

Ludwig Friedrich’s father Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt suffered a stroke in 1792. He died on April 13, 1793, at the age of 56 and 23-year-old Ludwig Friedrich became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was known as a prince with high ideals and a supporter of the arts and sciences. He maintained correspondence with many famous personalities of the time, including writer Friedrich Schiller and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt. Along with his wife, Ludwig Friedrich continued the work on the Komödienhaus on the Anger, the theater his father had ordered to be constructed to provide education and culture to the citizens of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The theater opening took place on July 26, 1793, three months after Friedrich Karl’s death. The theater was under the artistic direction of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, considered the greatest writer in the German language. Despite being small, the theater was one of the best in the German monarchies at the time and evolved into the current Theater-Rudolstadt (link in German).

The Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was affected by the Napoleonic Wars. After Napoleon‘s victory at the twin battles of Jena and Auerstedt in 1806, the principality was placed under French administration and joined the Confederation of the Rhine, a confederation of the client states of Napoleon’s First French Empire. Due to the skillful negotiations of the Chancellor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Friedrich Wilhelm von Ketelhodt, the French administration was lifted on March 24, 1807, and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was allowed self-governance.

Ludwig Friedrich II of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, 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 were moved to the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German) at the Schloss Schwarzburg in Schwarzburg, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Ludwig Friedrich was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Friedrich Günther. As per the will of Ludwig Friedrich, his wife Karoline ruled the principality as regent until Friedrich Günther came of age in 1814.

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. Ludwig Friedrich’s wife Karoline died on June 20, 1854, aged 82. Her remains are now at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt but it is not known if they were previously buried in Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery) and/or Schlosskirche Schwarzburg.

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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. Ludwig Friedrich II. (Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Friedrich_II._(Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt)> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Louis Frederick II, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Frederick_II,_Prince_of_Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt> [Accessed 31 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].
• Theater Rudolstadt. 2020. Geschichte – Die Vielfältige Historie Des Theaters Rudolstadt. [online] Available at: <https://theater-rudolstadt.de/theater/geschichte/> [Accessed 30 October 2020].