Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (6 November 1793 – 28 June 1867) was a 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 th ...

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 second son of the reigning prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Louis Frederick II and his wife Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Homburg (1771–1854). His grandfather Friedrich Karl had died seven months before his birth and so he was born as

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 ...

and Hereditary Prince. His father died on 28 April 1807 when he was thirteen so his mother acted as

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

until he turned twenty one on 6 November 1814 when he assumed control of the principality. His reign spanning sixty years saw the creation of the Landtag of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, which he introduced in 1816 during the early years of his personal reign. When he ascended the throne in 1807, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was a member of the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

which was dissolved in 1813 with the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

on 30 May 1814 declaring the independence of the former Confederation states with Prince Friedrich Günther becoming the ruler of an independent principality. In 1815 the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

was created and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt along with other German monarchies joining. The last years of his reign saw the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866 where Prince Friedrich Günther kept Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt neutral and following the conclusion of the war the creation of 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 ...

. Following his death at

Heidecksburg Heidecksburg is a Baroque palace in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, and served as the residence of the princes to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. It is located prominently approximately 60 m above the old town. After a fire in 1735 and its reconstruction, it ha ...

castle he was succeeded as prince by his brother Prince Albert as all of his sons by his first wife had predeceased him and his son by his second wife, Prince Sizzo of Leutenberg was born from a

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

marriage.

Marriages and children

Prince Friedrich Günther was married three times: His first wife was Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau (1793–1854) whom he married on 15 April 1816 at

Dessau Dessau is a town and former municipality in Germany at the confluence of the rivers Mulde and Elbe, in the '' Bundesland'' (Federal State) of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 1 July 2007, it has been part of the newly created municipality of Dessau-Roßlau ...

. They had three children. *Prince Friedrich Günther (1818–1821) *Prince Günther (1821–1845) *Prince Gustav (1828–1837) He married secondly Countess Helene of Reina (1835–1860) on 7 August 1855 at

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. She was a daughter of

Prince George Bernhard of Anhalt-Dessau George Bernhard of Anhalt-Dessau (21 February 1796 – 16 October 1865), was a German prince of the House of Ascania from the Anhalt-Dessau branch. Early life He was born in Dessau on 21 February 1796. He was the second son of Frederick, Heredit ...

in his second morganatic marriage, but she was adopted by her paternal uncle William on 1 April 1855 and assumed the title of "Princess of Anhalt"; however, this marriage was considered morganatic under the House Laws of the Schwarzburg family, and their children were created Prince and Princess of Leutenberg.House Laws of Schwarzburg
/ref> *Princess Helene (1860–1937) * Prince Sizzo (1860–1926) His third wife was Marie Schultze (1840–1909) whom he married at

Schwarzburg Schwarzburg may refer to: * Schwarzburg (municipality) * The House of Schwarzburg * Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt * Schwarzburg-Sondershausen * House of Schwarzburg * 13th-century fortress built by the Teutonic Order in Transylvania, present day Codlea ...

on 24 September 1861. This marriage was also morganatic and in 1864 he created the title Countess of Brockenburg for his wife. The marriage was childless. In addition with his legitimate issue, from his relationship with Friederike Thorwart (13 March 1820 – 18 July 1884) he had three daughters, all of whom were legally accepted as offspring of Friedrich Macheleidt (Thorwart's husband since 1847): *Marie (b. Frankfurt, 12 April 1843) *Emma (b. Neuhaus nr Coburg, 12 December 1846), married by 1884 N Graef *Helene (b. Rudolstadt, 7 November 1848)

Ancestry

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Gunther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt German princes House of Schwarzburg 1793 births 1867 deaths People from Rudolstadt Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Royal reburials