by Susan Flantzer

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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The wife of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Princess Marie Gasparine of Saxe-Altenburg was born on June 28, 1845, at her father’s palace on Karlsstrasse in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was the only daughter and the younger of the two children of Prince Eduard of Saxe-Altenburg and his second wife Princess Luise Karoline Reuss of Greiz. Her paternal grandparents were Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (formerly Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen) and Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Marie Gasparine’s maternal grandparents were Heinrich XIX, 3rd Prince of Reuss-Greiz and Princess Gasparine of Rohan-Rochefort. Her father’s sister, born Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen, was the wife of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, which is why Bavaria focused so much in her family’s life.

Marie Gasparine had one older sibling:

• Albert of Saxe-Altenburg (1843 – 1902), married (1) Marie of Prussia, had two daughters, died from childbirth complications (2) Helene of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, no children

Marie Gasparine had four half-siblings from her father’s first marriage to Amalie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen who died in 1841 due to childbirth complications:

• Therese of Saxe-Altenburg (1836 – 1914), married Prince August of Sweden, no children
• Antoinette of Saxe-Altenburg (1838 – 1908), married Friedrich I, Duke of Anhalt, had six children
• Ludwig of Saxe-Altenburg (1839 – 1844), died in childhood
• Johann of Saxe-Altenburg (1841 – 1844), died in childhood

Marie Gasparine spent the early years of her life in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria where her father, Lieutenant General and Commander of the Cavalry Division of the 1st Army Corps in Munich, was stationed near his favorite sister Queen Therese of Bavaria. In 1852, Marie Gasparine’s father died when she was just seven-years-old. After her father’s death Marie Gasparine, her mother, her brother, and her two surviving half-siblings were moved to Nymphenburg Palace in Munich.

In 1854, Luise Karoline Reuss of Greiz, Marie Gasparine’s mother, married for a second time to Prince Heinrich IV Reuss of Köstritz, a nobleman from the Princely House of Reuss. Marie Gasparine’s family moved to the Paragiat, a settlement for younger sons of ruling or noble houses and their families, in the Principality of Reuss-Köstritz.

Marie Gasparine had four half-siblings from her mother’s second marriage:

• Heinrich XXIV Reuss of Köstritz (1855 – 1910), a composer, married Elisabeth Reuss of Köstritz, had five children
• Eleanore Reuss of Köstritz (1860 – 1917), married Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria (second wife), no children
• Helene Reuss of Köstritz (1864 – 1876), died in childhood
• Elisabeth Reuss of Köstritz (1865 – 1937), unmarried

After her confirmation in April 1860, fifteen-year-old Marie Gasparine was sent to the court of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, her older first cousin, in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg. During her nine-year stay, Fraulein von Liederskron, her lady-in-waiting, was responsible for her upbringing and education.

In March 1868 at the royal court in Dessau, Duchy of Anhalt, Marie Gasparine met her future husband, then Hereditary Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and soon they became engaged. The wedding, scheduled for August 1868, had to be postponed because Marie Gasparine was seriously ill with diphtheria.

On June 12, 1869, at Altenburg Castle in Altenburg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, now in the German state of Thuringia, Maria Gasparine and Karl Günther were finally married. Their impressive guest list included the Crown Prince of Prussia (the future German Emperor Friedrich III), Heinrich XXII, the reigning Prince of Reuss-Greiz, Marie Gasparine’s first cousin Grand Duchess Alexandra Iosifovna of Russia (born Princess Alexandra of Saxe-Altenburg and the wife of Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia), Hereditary Prince Friedrich and Hereditary Princess Antoinette of Anhalt, (the future Duke and Duchess of Anhalt, Antoinette was Marie Gasparine’s sister) and Karl Günther’s brothers Prince Leopold and Prince Hugo of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

During the 1870 – 1871 Franco-Prussian War, Hereditary Princess Marie Gasparine showed great commitment to the wounded and the soldiers’ families. She founded an organization that collected funds for soldiers’ wives and children and mobilized women who produced bandages and who obtained other necessary items. However, the marriage of Marie Gasparine and Karl Günther remained childless and this would cause a succession crisis.

On July 17, 1880, 79-year-old Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen abdicated in favor of his son Karl Günther due to old age and illness. He survived nine more years, dying on September 15, 1889.

In addition to her duties as Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Marie Gasparine was interested in culture and history. She was particularly interested in Mon plaisir, the miniature doll town of Auguste Dorothea of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Princess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (1666–1751), wife of Anton Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Mon plaisir is a replica of a baroque town in miniature format, with 400 dolls, 2,670 individual items, in 82 miniature scenes. The scenes give an impression of everyday life in the 18th century. The doll collection had long been forgotten. Marie Gasparine restored the collection and made it important once again. The doll collection is still on display at the Schloss Museum in Arnstadt.

• Schloss Museum in Arnstadt: Miniature Town “Mon plaisir”

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. Because Karl Günther was childless and his unmarried brothers had died, the two Schwarzburg principalities were united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union and he was then styled Prince of Schwarzburg.

After the death of her husband, a separate court was established for Marie Gasparine as Dowager Princess. She lived mostly at Schloss Sondershausen (link in German) and Schloss Gehren (link in German). After the defeat of the German Empire in World War I, the November Revolution of 1918 led to the end of all the German monarchies. On November 23, 1918, Günther Victor abdicated the throne of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and on November 25, 1918, he abdicated in Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Günther Victor made an agreement with the new government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. At the same time, Marie Gasparine received the right to live in a wing of Schloss Sondershausen which she shared with the abdicated Günther Victor and his wife Anna Luise.

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

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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. 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].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Princess Marie Gasparine Of Saxe-Altenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Marie_Gasparine_of_Saxe-Altenburg> [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].