Georg Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (23 November 1838 – 19 January 1890) was the penultimate sovereign prince of

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a small historic state in present-day Thuringia, Germany, with its capital at Rudolstadt. History Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a resettlement of Schwarzburg dynasty lands. Since ...

Biography

He was born in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide v ...

the son of Prince Albert of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and his wife Princess Augusta of

Solms-Braunfels Solms-Braunfels was a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hesse in Germany. Solms-Braunfels was a partition of Solms, ruled by the House of Solms, and was raised to a Principality of t ...

(1804–1865). Princess Augusta was the daughter of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Solms-Braunfels (1770–1814) and his wife Duchess Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1778–1841), the daughter of Grand Duke Charles II. Following the death of his uncle Friedrich Günther on 28 June 1867, his father Albert ascended the throne thereby making Georg the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

with the title Hereditary Prince. His father died on 26 November 1869, two years after ascending the throne, with Georg becoming the new sovereign prince. During his reign, the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation (german: Norddeutscher Bund) was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated st ...

was dissolved following the victory of the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

backed by states of the confederation in the Franco-Prussian War over the

Second French Empire The Second French Empire (; officially the French Empire, ), was the 18-year Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 14 January 1852 to 27 October 1870, between the Second and the Third Republic of France. Historians in the 1930s ...

. As a result, on 18 January 1871, the King of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor and so Prince Georg no longer ruled over an independent state as Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt became a state of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

and therefore Prince Georg was subordinate to the German Emperor.

Personal life

Prince Georg was engaged to Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, his second cousin once removed and stepdaughter of his cousin Grand Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She broke off the engagement to marry

Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Влади́мир Александрович; 22 April 1847 – 17 February 1909) was a son of Emperor Alexander II of Russia, a brother of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and the senior Gr ...

. After that, he never married and following his death in Rudolstadt he was succeeded as prince by his first cousin once removed Günther. He was buried in Stadtkirche in Rudolstadt.

Honours

* : Knight of St. Hubert, ''1858'' *

: ** Knight of the Red Eagle, 3rd Class with Swords, ''1864''; 1st Class with Swords, ''1871''; Grand Cross with Swords on Ring, ''12 October 1880'' ** Member of Honour of the Johanniter Order, ''1884'' *

Ernestine duchies The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose num ...

: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, ''October 1865'' * : Grand Cross of the

Ludwig Order The Ludwig Order (german: Großherzoglich Hessischer Ludwigsorden), was an order of the Grand Duchy of Hesse which was awarded to meritorious soldiers and civilians from 1807 to 1918. History The order was founded by Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse ...

, ''28 November 1865'' * : Grand Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Golden Crown, ''3 January 1870'' *

Duchy of Anhalt The Duchy of Anhalt (german: Herzogtum Anhalt) was a historical German duchy. The duchy was located between the Harz Mountains in the west and the river Elbe and beyond to the Fläming Heath in the east. The territory was once ruled by the House ...

: Grand Cross of Albert the Bear, ''1872'' * : ** Knight of the Military Order of St. Henry, ''1872'' ** Knight of the Rue Crown, ''1882''

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:George Albert, Prince Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1838 births 1890 deaths German princes House of Schwarzburg Generals of Cavalry (Prussia)