The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, which is in modern-day central

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Upon the death of Prince Friedrich Günther in 1971, a claim to the headship of the house passed under Semi-Salic

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

to his elder sister, Princess Marie Antoinette of Schwarzburg who married Friedrich Magnus V, Count of Solms-Wildenfels.James, John ''Almanach de Gotha, Volume I'', 2013. Reigning over the County of Schwarzburg and founded by Sizzo I of Schwarzburg (died 1160), the family split in the 16th century into the lines of

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

and

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 House of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg dy ...

, with the Sondershausen line dying out in 1909.

Family history

The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into

and

. It was ruled by counts from the House of Schwarzburg. Schwarzburg Castle was first mentioned in a 1071 deed. In 1123 Count Sizzo III of Käfernburg (Kevernburg), mentioned by the medieval chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld and according to the Annalista Saxo a grandson of Prince Yaropolk Izyaslavich of Turov by his mother, rebuilt the castle calling himself a "Count of Schwarzburg". Sizzo also established Georgenthal Abbey and in 1157, he accompanied Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aa ...

during his campaign against High Duke Bolesław IV the Curly of Poland. In 1197, Sizzo's grandson Henry II divided the common heritage with his brother Günther III and made Schwarzburg Castle his residence. His territory then also comprised the nearby castle of Blankenburg. The most famous family member is Günther XXI von Schwarzburg. In 1349, he was elected as German king by the majority of electors. But, due to waning support, he renounced some months later and died shortly after. The Schwarzburg lands were again divided among his successors until in 1538 when Count Günther XL the Rich was able to unite the territories including Frankenhausen and Rudolstadt under his rule. He was succeeded by his eldest son Günther XLI. However, after his death in 1583, his younger brothers again divided the county: John Günther I received the territory around

Arnstadt Arnstadt () is a town in Ilm-Kreis, Thuringia, Germany, on the river Gera (river), Gera about south of Erfurt, the capital of Thuringia. Arnstadt is one of the oldest towns in Thuringia, and has a well-preserved historic centre with a partially ...

, later called

, while Albrecht VII inherited the lands of

. The partition was finally confirmed by the 1599 Treaty of Stadtilm. File:Schloss Schwarzburg mit Zeughaus.jpg, The castle at Schwarzburg. The building is being renovated now. File:Schloss Sondershausen.jpg, Sondershausen Palace. File:Karte Schwarzburger Fürstentümer.jpg, The Schwarzburg principalities in 1910

Rulers of Schwarzburg

House of Schwarzburg

Partitions of Schwarzburg under Schwarzburg rule

Note:Below it is presented a simplified organisation of the Schwarzburg lands. Some particularities of certain feuds are explained in footnotes.

Table of rulers

Note: There are two manners for numbering the rulers of this noble family: birth numbers or regnal numbers. Albeit the birth number is more commonly used, the table uses the sequential regnal numbers presented in Stammliste des Hauses Schwarzburg, to avoid confusion or holes in the counting. According to this alternative numbering, there's a different counting for Schwarzburg, Käfernburg (from 1223 onwards) and Hallermund (as an already existing county which came into the family by marriage). However, even this alternative counting is not perfect: it counts only the ''ruling'' members, but by ''birth order'', which means that people with higher count may start to rule first than others. These cases will be pointed out in the table.

References

External links

House Laws of Schwarzburg
{{DEFAULTSORT:House Of Schwarzburg Schwarzburg