View source for Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

{{short description|Historic state of Germany}}
{{coord missing|Thuringia}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name = {{native name|de|Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt}}
|conventional_long_name = County (Principality) of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
|common_name = Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
|era         = [[Early modern period]]
|status      = Vassal
|status_text= [[States of the Holy Roman Empire|State]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] <small>(until 1806)</small>, <br> [[States of the Confederation of the Rhine|State]] of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], <br> [[States of the German Confederation|State]] of the [[German Confederation]], <br> [[States of the North German Confederation|State]] of the [[North German Confederation]], <br> [[States of the German Empire|State]] of the [[German Empire]], <br> [[States of the Weimar Republic|State]] of the [[Weimar Republic]]
|empire      = Holy Roman Empire
|government_type = [[Principality]]
|title_leader      = Prince 
|leader1           = [[Louis Frederick I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Frederick I]] {{small|(first)}}
|year_leader1      = 1710–1718
|leader2           = [[Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg|Günther Victor]] {{small|(last)}}
|year_leader2      = 1890–1918
|legislature = [[Landtag of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Landtag]]
|year_start  = 1599
|year_end    = 1918
|event_start = Emerged from<br>{{spaces|4}}[[County of Schwarzburg|Schwarzburg]]
|date_start  =
|event1      = Raised to [[Fürst|Principality]]
|date_event1 = 1711
|event_end   = [[German Revolution of 1918–1919|German Revolution]]
|date_end    =
|event_post  = Merged into [[State of Thuringia (1920–1952)|Thuringia]]
|date_post   = 1920
|p1          = County of Schwarzburg
|flag_p1     = Flagge Fürstentümer Schwarzburg.svg
|s1          = State of Thuringia (1920–1952){{!}}Thuringia
|flag_s1     = Flag of Thuringia (state).svg
|image_flag  = Flagge Fürstentümer Schwarzburg.svg
|image_coat  = Coat of Arms of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt.svg
|image_map   = Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in the German Reich (1871).svg
|image_map_caption = Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt within the [[German Empire]]
|image_map2  = Locator County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1680).svg
|image_map2_caption = Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt within [[Thuringia]]
|capital     = [[Rudolstadt]]
| stat_year1             = 1835
| stat_pop1              = 58,000<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1835 |title=The Metropolitan Magazine Volume 14 |url= |location=London |publisher=Saunders and Otley |page=187 |isbn=}}</ref>
| stat_year2 = 1848
| stat_pop2 = 62,000<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1848 |title=A Pictorial Geography of the World: Comprising a System of Universal Geography, Popular and Scientific |url= |location=Boston |publisher=C.D. Strong |page=763 |isbn=}}</ref>
|demonym=|area_km2=|area_rank=|GDP_PPP=|GDP_PPP_year=|HDI=|HDI_year=|today=[[Germany]]
}}

'''Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt''' was a small historic state (1599–1918) in present-day [[Thuringia]], Germany, with its capital at [[Rudolstadt]].

==History==
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was established in 1599 in the course of a restructuring of [[House of Schwarzburg|Schwarzburg dynasty]] lands. The ancestral seat of the [[comital]] family was the 11th-century [[Schwarzburg (municipality)|Schwarzburg]] Castle, although in 1571 the seat moved to the larger town of Rudolstadt.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rudolstadt in Thüringen |url=https://www.thueringen.info/rudolstadt.html |access-date=5 September 2025 |website=Thüringen.info |language=de}}</ref> In 1583 Count [[Günther XLI, Count of Schwarzburg-Arnstadt|Günther XLI]] of Schwarzburg, the eldest son of [[Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg|Günther XL]] the Rich and ruler over the united Schwarzburg lands, died without issue. He was succeeded by his younger brothers, with [[Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albert VII]] receiving the territory around Rudolstadt. After their brother [[William I, Count of Schwarzburg-Frankenhausen]] died in 1597, the surviving brothers [[Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albert VII]] and [[John Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen|John Günther I]] established the two counties of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and [[Schwarzburg-Sondershausen]] by the 1599 Treaty of [[Stadtilm]].

Albert's descendants ruled as sovereign [[Graf|counts]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. Count [[Albert Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albert Anton]] (1662–1710) was elevated to the rank of a [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire|prince]] by Emperor [[Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor|Leopold I]]; it was however his son [[Louis Frederick I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Frederick I]] (1710–1718) who first bore the princely title, whereby Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1711 became a [[principality]] under the same entity. It withstood [[German Mediatisation|mediatisation]] and after the empire's dissolution joined the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] in 1807 and the [[German Confederation]] in 1815.

In 1905 Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt had an area of {{convert|940|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and a population of 97,000.

On 23 November 1918, during the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]] and the fall of all the [[German monarchies]], Prince [[Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg|Günther Victor]] was the last to abdicate. The former principality became the [[Free State of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]] in 1919 and joined the [[Weimar Republic]] as a constituent state. In 1920, it joined with other small states in the area to form the new state of [[State of Thuringia (1920–1952)|Thuringia]]. 

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Schloss Schwarzburg 1900.jpg|The castle at [[Schwarzburg (municipality)|Schwarzburg]]
File:Treppsteinblick 1900.jpg|Aerial view of Schwarzburg
File:Heidecksburg.jpg|[[Heidecksburg]] residence at Rudolstadt
</gallery>

== Rulers of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt ==
{{Further|House of Schwarzburg #Rulers of Schwarzburg}}
=== Counts of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt ===
* 1574–1605: Count [[Albrecht VII of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albrecht VII]] (1537–1605), son of Count [[Günther XL, Count of Schwarzburg|Günther XL of Schwarzburg]], founder of the county (state) of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
* 1605–1630: Count [[Charles Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Charles Günther I]] (1576–1630), succeeded by younger brother Louis Günther I
* 1612–1634 Count [[Albrecht Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albrecht Günther]] (1582–1634)
* 1630–1646: Count [[Louis Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Günther I]] (1581–1646)
* 1646–1662: [[Regent]] [[Emilie of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst]] (1614–70)
* 1662–1710: Count [[Albert Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albert Anton]] (1641–1710)

=== Princes of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt ===
[[File:Günther Victor von Schwarzburg.jpg|thumb|Prince [[Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg|Günther Victor]], the last ruler of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt]]
* 1710–1718: Prince [[Louis Frederick I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Frederick I]] (1667–1718)
* 1718–1744: Prince [[Frederick Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Frederick Anton]] (1692–1744)
* 1744–1767: Prince [[John Frederick, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|John Frederick]] (1721–67)
* 1767–1790: Prince [[Louis Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Günther II]] (1708–90)
* 1790–1793: Prince [[Frederick Charles, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Frederick Charles]] (1736–93)
* 1793–1807: Prince [[Louis Frederick II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Louis Frederick II]] (1767–1807)
* 1807–1814: [[Regent]] [[Caroline of Hesse-Homburg|Caroline Louise of Hesse-Homburg]] (1771–1854)
* 1814–1867: Prince [[Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Frederick Günther]] (1793–1867)
* 1867–1869: Prince [[Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Albert]] (1798–1869)
* 1869–1890: Prince [[George Albert, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt|Georg Albert]] (1838–90)
* 1890–1918: Prince [[Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg|Günther Victor]] (1852–1925), also succeeded as Prince of [[Schwarzburg-Sondershausen]] in 1909 upon the death of Prince [[Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen|Karl Günther]].

== See also ==
* [[House of Schwarzburg]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.heraldica.org/topics/royalty/HGSchwarzburg.htm House laws of Schwarzburg]
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt}}

{{Upper Saxon Circle}}
{{States of the Confederation of the Rhine}}
{{States of the German Confederation}}
{{States of the North German Confederation}}
{{States of the German Empire}}
{{States of the Weimar Republic}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1599 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1919 disestablishments in Germany]]
[[Category:Rudolstadt]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1919]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1599]]
[[Category:States of the Confederation of the Rhine]]
[[Category:States of the German Confederation]]
[[Category:States of the German Empire]]
[[Category:States of the North German Confederation]]
[[Category:States of the Weimar Republic]]