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Francia Orientalis, Germany

The German Confederation, 1815-1866

Believe it or not, the Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) greatly simplified the political division of Germany. The Holy Roman Empire of 1648 contained 234 territorial units, with 51 Free Cities, and multiple ecclesiastical states, like the great Archbishoprics of Salzburg, Magdeburg, and Trier and the Bishopric of Münster. Nevertheless, the 32 entities that remained after Vienna (with only 4 Free Cities and no ecclesiastical territories) were still a mess. The "German Confederation" established by the Congress (which makes it sound like the successor of Napoleon's "Confederation of the Rhine"), with exactly the same boundaries as the Empire of 1648, had even less power than the state that, according to Voltaire, was neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire. As an institution the Confederation collapsed when Prussia and Austria went to war in 1866. All the pieces, except for Austria itself, Liechtenstein, and Luxembourg, were then scooped up by Prussia into the new German Empire of 1871. The maps here are based on E.J. Passant, A Short History of Germany, 1815-1945 [Cambridge University Press, 1962]. Some errors in Passant are corrected with sources listed at individual listings. At this scale some detail is lost:  There is even more fragmenation than what you see here (e.g. Brunswick was in seven pieces, not just five). Note that in each map, territories in yellow are possessions of non-German states.

Since the original mediaeval Empire was based on the Kingdom of the East Franks, it never made any sense that there would be other kingdoms inside it. Bohemia was acquired and created a Kingdom by the German Emperors, perhaps with the sense that it was still in some sense external to East Francia; and the Margrave of Brandenburg became the King of Prussia, far outside the Empire. The other Kingdoms were all created either by Napoleon or by the Congress of Vienna after the Holy Roman Empire was abolished. The Kingdom of Saxony suffered the most at the Congress of Vienna, penalized by Prussia for having been an ally of France. Bavaria, although it had been an ally of France also, did rather well at Vienna, retaining the family lands in both the Rhenish and the Upper Palatinate and the extensive lands that had been attached to it by Napoleon. The King of Hanover was also the King of England until 1837, when the Salic Law passed over Queen Victoria. Later this left Hanover, as an ally of Austria, at the mercy of Prussia.

The Duchies of Holstein and Lauenburg were ruled by Denmark, together with the Danish Duchy of Schleswig, which contained both German and Danish speakers. Prussia and Austria occupied the Duchies in 1864, with Austria taking Holstein and Prussia Schleswig. A falling out over this led to the Prussian defeat of Austria in 1866, with Prussia taking all the Duchies. Part of Schleswig was returned to Denmark after World War I, when a plebiscite was mandated by the Treaty of Versailles. A son of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Albert, married Queen Victoria of England. Their daughter Victoria married the future Emperor Frederick of Germany. They became the parents of Emperor Wilhelm II.

Liechtenstein discovered, to everyone's surprise, that it was one of the Allies in World War II, because it had never formally ended hostilities, as an ally of Austria, against Prussia in 1866. Passant [A Short History of Germany, 1815-1945] shows some mistakes when it comes to these states. His source, which he says is a map, The German Confederated States [London, 1839], must have contained the errors:  (1) What he shows as the "Principalities" of Anhalt had become Duchies in 1806/7; (2) What he shows as the "Principality" of Hesse-Homberg was never a Principality but only a Landgravate; and (3) The Principality of Layen, listed by Passant, is not actually shown on the map. This curiosity is treated under the entry in question. The 1839 map was evidently not quite up to date with some of the small domains.

There had been 51 Free Cities under the Holy Roman Empire. Vienna cut this down to four. Frankfurt held a special status, both as the place of the election of the old Emperors (of their coronation too, after Ferdinand I, and of their portraits, held in the Römer Saal), and as the headquarters of the German Confederation, where a German National Assembly was convened in 1848. The triumph of Prussia ended both Frankfurt's independence and its status. I would like to know why, when West Germany needed a more practical capital than the isolated Berlin, it choose the obscure Bonn rather than Frankfurt, whose historical associations were not only of mediaeval Germany, but of liberal and republican movements in the 19th century. Now, with a reunited Germany, the capital has returned to Berlin, whose associations are entirely of Prussia, Kaiser, and Hitler. See more about Frankfurt under the Rothschild's. Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen were the final members of the Hanseatic League, was finally abolished in 1862.

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Copyright (c) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019 Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved

Counts & Dukes of Berg,
Jülich, Mark, & Cleves
 
This collection of small Counties that become small Duchies straddles the border between the Stem Duchies of Saxony and Lower Lorraine. Cleves and Jülich are along or to the west of the Rhine, in Lower Lorraine, while the Mark, Berg, and Ravensberg are further inland, in Saxony. Ravenstein was a small territory on the Maas completely surrounded by the
United Provinces of the Netherlands. They are treated together because they do become unified through marriage and then, as a whole, became a matter of serious political conflict when the Duke John William died in 1609. There were no male heirs, and the Emperor Rudolf II claimed the lands as defaulted to the Empire. He sent an army under the Archduke Leopold to occupy them. But this was disputed by John Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg, whose mother was John William's sister, and William Wolfgang, Duke of Neuburg, whose mother was another sister. John Sigismund was a Lutheran and William Wolfgang a Calvinist. They pooled their resources, rallied the Protestants (and, well, the French), and managed to expel the Austrians. Their agreement was to share the rule of the Duchies. But they had a falling out. William Wolfgang converted to Catholicism and drew Bavaria and the Catholic League of German princes in on his side. John Sigismund countered by switching to Calvinism, which was more to the liking of Dutch and French Protestants. Despite these maneuvers, the business was settled in 1614 with a provisional partition, Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg going to Brandenburg, Jülich and Cleves to Neuberg. This was made permanent in 1666. Besides looking something like a preliminary skirmish for the Thirty Years War, this transaction is of interest because it gave Brandenburg, soon to be the Kingdom of Prussia, a foothold on the Rhine. Neuberg was of the House of Wittelsbach, heirs of the Palatinate and Bavaria, all of whose lands would be united in 1777. From the Congress of Vienna, Prussia took away all the lands on both sides of the lower Rhine. One might also note that Anne of Cleves, the 4th wife of King Henry VIII of England, was an aunt of the Duke John William.

The genealogy of Cleves, etc. was complied mainly from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997, pp.599-613], with some details from other volumes. The discussion of the succession dispute draws on The Rise of Brandenburg-Prussia to 1786, by Sidney B. Fay & Klaus Epstein [1937, Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1964].

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index

Counts, Dukes & Kings
of Württemberg
Louis ICount,
1137-1181
Emich1137-1154
Henry1181-1201
Louis II1201-1228
Eberhard1228-1241
Ulrich I1241-1265
Ulrich II1265-1279
Eberhard I
the Illustrious
1279-1325
Ulrich III1325-1344
Eberhard II
the Whiner
1344-1392
Ulrich IV1344-1366
Eberhard III
the Mild
1392-1417
Eberhard IV1417-1419
Louis IUrach,
1419-1441,
d.1450
Ulrich V1419-1480
Eberhard V,
I as Duke
Urach,
1457-1496
Duke,
1495-1496
Eberhard VI,
II as Duke
1480-1498
Duke,
1496-1498,
d.1504
Ulrich I1498-1519,
1534-1550
Austria, 1519-1534
Christopher1550-1568
Louis III
the Pious
1568-1593
Frederick I1593-1608
John
Frederick
1608-1628
Eberhard III1628-1674
William Louis1674-1677
Eberhard IV
Louis
1677-1733
Charles I
Alexander
1733-1737
Charles II
Eugene
1737-1793
Louis Eugene1793-1795
Frederick II1795-1797
Frederick
(III)
Duke,
1797-1806;
Elector,
1803-1806
King,
1806-1816
Ludwig
Frederick
Alexander
Duke,
1806-1817
William I1816-1864
Charles1864-1891
German Empire, 1871
William II1891-1918,
d.1921
Princes of Liechtenstein
Charles1608-1627
Gundakar1623-1658
Hartman1658-1686
John (Johann/Hans)
Adam I
1699-1712
Joseph Wenzel1712-1718,
1748-1772
Anthony Florian1718-1721
Joseph John Adam1721-1732
John Nepomonk Charles1732-1748
Franz Josef I1772-1781
Aloysius I1781-1805
John I1805-1836
Aloysius II1836-1858
John II the Good1858-1929
Independent, 1866
Franz1929-1938
Franz Josef II1938-1989
John III Adam/
Hans Adam II
1989-
Liechtenstein, tucked away in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria, in the Valley of Rhine before it flows into Lake Constance, was the only small German state to avoid getting swept up into the German Empire. Hitler might have added it to the Third Reich, but perhaps he overlooked it.

The Principality is hardly of strategic significance. But when World War I ended, Liechtenstein, to the astonishment of all, came to be counted among the Allies; for its declaration of war against Prussia in 1866 and never formally been ended by any treaty. Strictly speaking, it had been at war with Prussia, grown into Germany, ever since. Meanwhile, its greatest claim to fame seems to have largely come from its postage stamps.

The original flag of Liechtenstein, adopted officially in 1921, is in the bicolor form that is so familiar from German States (and even European states like Poland, Monaco, and San Marino). At the 1936 Olympics, however, the Liechtensteiners were suprised to discover that their flag was identical to that of Haiti. The crown was therefore added in 1937. The Haitians also modified their flag.

The Heir of Liechtenstein, Aloys (or Alois), has married an heiress, Sophie, of the Wittelsbachs. While the Princes of Liechtenstein are certainly venerable enough, the Wittelsbachs are another matter altogether. But Sophie also happens to be in the line of descent of the British House of Stuart, making her son by Alois, Joseph Wenzel, the Heir of Stuart claims to the British Throne.


Württemberg, the heart of the old Duchy of Swabia, seems to have avoided most of the spotlight of history. In 1803, Napoleon made it an Electorate of the Holy Roman Empire but then, when he abolished the Empire in 1806, the Duchy was elevated to a Kingdom. Having gone along with the French Empire, Württemberg then went along with the German Empire in 1871, and the Kings survived until all the princely states were abolished in 1918. In modern Germany, the flag of the State of Baden-Württemberg combines the upper black stripe of Württemberg and the lower yellow stripe of Baden.


The genealogy for some of the last Dukes and most of the Kings of Württemberg highlights a connection to the British Royal Family. Queen Mary of Teck, of the House of Württemberg, wife of King George V, was also a great-granddaugher of King George III, through her mother. The great Queen Mary oceanliner, now permanently docked in Long Beach, California, is named after Mary of Teck. The story is that the President of the Cunard line told King George V that their new ship would be name after the most illustrious Queen in British history, meaning Elizabeth I. However, King George then thanked him and said that Queen Mary would be flattered. So the Cunard line named the ship after Mary.

The list for Württemberg was taken entirely from Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy. The genealogy for Württemberg was from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997, pp.342-346]. The list for Liechtenstein comes from Tompsett and Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies. The genealogy has now been updated simply with information from Wikipedia. I had originally missed the descent of King William II. Since William himself had no sons, the Throne of Württemberg would have passed to Albrecht, on a collaterial line. However, by then the Kingdom no longer existed. The reversed crown for "pretenders" simply indicates the descent of the Head of the House of Württemberg. Since we tend to find disposessed royality often still marrying each other, we have the striking case here of the intermarriage of Württemberg with the family of the Orléanist Pretenders to the Thone of France.

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index
 
Lords, Counts, & Princes of Lippe
Herman of Lipped.1096
Bernard ILord, 1123-1158
Herman I1124-1160
Bernard II1160-1224
Herman II1196-1229
Simon1229-1277
Bernard III1229-1265
Herman III1265-1274
Bernard IV1265-1275
Simon I1275-1344
Simon IId.1334
Otto1344-1360
Bernard V1344-1365
Simon III1360-1410
Bernard VI1410-1415
Simon IV1415-1429/30
Bernard VII the Warlike1430-1511
Simon V1511-1528
Count, 1528-1536
Bernard VIII1536-1563
Simon VI1563-1613
Simon VIIDetmold,
1613-1627
Philip ISchaumburg,
1647-1681
Simon Louis1627-1636
Simon Philip1636-1650
John Bernard1650-1652
Herman Adolph1652-1666
Simon Henry1666-1697Frederick
Christian
1681-1728
Frederick
Adolph
1697-1718
Simon Henry
Adolph
1718-1720
Prince,
1720-1734
Albert
Wolfgang
1728-1748
Simon Augustus1734-1782William
Frederick,
Don Quixote
1748-1777
Leopold I1782-1802Philip II1777-1787
George I1787-1807
Leopold II1802-1851Prince,
1807-1860
Leopold III1851-1875Adolph I1860-1893
Woldemar1875-1895
Alexander1895-1905George II1893-1911
Leopold IV of
Lippe-Biesterfeld
1905-1918,
d.1949
Adolph II1911-1918,
d.1936
In 1815 Lippe consisted of at least three discontinuous pieces in between Hanover, Brunswick, and Westphalian Prussia. The ordinary feudal divisions resulted in a separation of Lippe-Detmold and Lippe-Schaumurg in 1674 that survived until the end of Germany princely states in 1918.

This list is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index
 

The Descent of the Hohenzollern
The Hohenzollern, who would later rule Brandenburg, Prussia, and Germany, originated in the 11th century and for many years contributed Counts, the Comes Urbani or Burggraffen, to the City of Nuremberg (Nürnberg). Various brances of the family arose. Some died out. Another assumed the important Electoral office of Brandenburg. Other another continued in small Counties, later Principalities, in southern Germany, to be reunited in the service, at least, of the Northern family, and to contribute Royalty to Romania.

With, probably, little enough to do in their small Counties, many of the Counts occupied themselves in military service to the Emperors; and in one generation, no less than three brothers were killed in the struggle that the Emperor Maximilian waged against France to secure the Burgundian Succession.

After Count Charles I's death in 1576, the Southern succession simplified to two lines, as given below.

This genealogy is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 1, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser I [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

Counts & Princes of Hohenzollern Henchingen-Sigmaringen

Hohenzollern Margraves & Electors of Brandenburg

Kings of Prussia

Hohenzollern Emperors of German "Second Reich"

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index

Counts & Princes of Hohenzollern
The Principality of Hohenzollern was in the south of Germany. At the end, the line was divided between Hechingen and Sigmaringen -- the latter is actually on the Danube, north of Lake Constance. Hechingen and Sigmaringen separated in 1575. The division between this line of southern Princes and the northern Hohenzollerns of Brandenburg was with two sons of Frederick I, Burggraf of Nuremberg, who died around 1200. One son, Conrad I (d.1260/61), led to the northern Hohenzollerns, the other, Frederick II (d.1251/55), led to the southern Hohenzollerns. The ten generations that separate Frederick II from Charles I in the genealogy at left are given in the table at The Descent of the Hohenzollern above.

In 1849 both Princes abdicated and ceded the whole Principality to their distance cousin, the King of Prussia. They were rewarded in 1850 with royal status and important commissions under the Kingdom. Charles Anthony, the last sovereign prince of Sigmaringen, was even the Prime Minister of Prussia from 1858 to 1862, not long (6 months) before Otto von Bismarck. The heirs of Sigmaringen, however, found sovereinty elsewhere, as Kings of Romania. All the Kings of Romania and the surviving heirs are Hohenzollerns.

This genealogy is taken out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 1, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser I [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997], with the Romanian information from Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume II, Part 2, Europäische Kaiser-, Königs-, und Fürstenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Second Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997], with updates from Wikipedia.

The Descent of the Hohenzollern

Hohenzollern Margraves & Electors of Brandenburg

Kings of Prussia

Hohenzollern Emperors of German "Second Reich"

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index
 

Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg
Frederick ILandgrave,
1622-1638
William
Christopher
1650-1669
George
Christian
1669-1677
Frederick II1680-1708
Frederick III1708-1746
Frederick IV1746-1751
Frederick V1751-1806,
1815-1820
Frederick VI1820-1829
Louis1829-1839
Philip1839-1846
Gustav1846-1848
Ferdinand1848-1866
passses to Hesse-Darmstadt,
then Prussia, 1866

Hesse-Homburg was a very tiny fragment of Hesse, consisting of little more than the city of Homburg and its environs, just north of Frankfurt-am-Main. Taken by Napoleon for the Confederation of the Rhine, it was restored by the Congress of Vienna. After all five sons of Frederick V served as Landgrave and died without male heir, title reverted in 1866 to what had become the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. However, Prussia annexed Hesse-Cassel in 1866, and for some reason Homburg ended up in the catch.

This list and genealogy is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index
 

The Zähringens & Baden

With the decline of German Imperial power, the Zähringen family appeared to be poised as the local successors to power in the Southwest of Germany and in the Northwest of the old Kingdom of Burgundy. By founding the city of Bern in 1191, Duke Berthold V of Zähringen indicates to us one of the centers of Zähringen power. Burgundy east of the Jura and west of the Reuss River was known as the "Lesser Duchy" of Burgundy (Burgundia Minor, klein Burgund), while around Bern itself was the Landgravate (Landgrafschaft) of Burgundy. However, Berthold died without heirs. Bern itself was made a Imperial City by the Emperor Frederick II in 1218. Andreas Thiele says of Berthold, "sein erbenloser Tod bedeutet den völligen Zerfall des deutschen Sudwestens(!)" [Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997, p.352], "his death without heirs meant the complete disintegration of the German Southwest." This disintegration allowed for the development of Switzerland, in whose shadow Burgundy is forgotten. Bern joined the Swiss Confederation in 1353.

Meanwhile, however, a collateral line of the family had become the Margraves of Baden. They continued there until the 20th century.

Margraves & Grand
Dukes of Baden;
Zähringens
Herman I1064-1073,
d. 1074
Herman II1073-1130
Margrave
of Baden,
1112
Herman III1130-1160
Herman IV1160-1190
Herman V1190-1243
Herman VI1243-1250
Frederick I1250-1268
Rudolf I1243-1288
Rudolf II1288-1295
Hesso1288-1297
Rudolf Hesso1297-1335
Rudolf III1288-1332
Herman VII1288-1291
Frederick II1291-1333
Herman VIII1333-1353
Rudolf IV1291-1348
Rudolf V1348-1361
Frederick III1348-1353
Rudolf VI1353-1372
Rudolf VII1372-1391
Bernard I1372-1431
James I1431-1453
George1453-1454,
d. 1484
Bernard II1453-1458
Charles I1453-1475
Christopher I1475-1515,
d.1527
Philip I1515-1533
Ernest1515-1552,
d.1553
Baden-Durlach,
1535
Bernard IV1552-1553
Charles II1552-1577
Ernest Frederick1577-1590
James III1577-1590
Ernest James1590-1591
George Frederick1577-1622,
d.1638
Frederick V1622-1659
Frederick VI1659-1677
Frederick VII1677-1709
Charles III William1709-1738
founds Karlsruhe
Karl Friedrich1738-1811
inherits
Baden-Baden,
1771
Elector,
1803;
Grand Duke,
1806
Karl1811-1819
Ludwig I1818-1830
Leopold1830-1852
Ludwig II1852-1856,
d.1858
Friedrich I1856-1907
German Empire, 1871
Friedrich II1907-1918,
d.1928

Baden was a relatively large state along the east bank of the Rhine, running north deep into Germany, and in the south along the Swiss border all the way to Lake Constance. Two branches of the Margravate divided in 1535, but the Baden-Baden line ended in 1771.
Bernard III1515-1536
Baden-Baden,
1535
Christopher II1536-1556,
d.1575
Edward
Fortunatus
1588-1594,
d.1600
Philibert1536-1569
Philip II1569-1588
William1622-1677
Hermann (d.1691), son of William, commanded 2nd Imperial & Saxon infantry, Center of Christian Relief Army at Siege of Vienna, 1683
Louis William1677-1707
Defeats Turks with Imperial Army in Hungary, 1686; Blenheim campaign with Eugene of Savoy & Duke of Marlborough, 1704; dies of wound
Louis George1707-1761
Augustus George1761-1771

The most outstanding figure of either line may have been Louis William of Baden-Baden, who as an Imperial General defeated the Turks in 1686 and then campaigned in the War of the Spanish Succession with Eugène of Savoy (whose aunt Louise was his mother) and John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, who had marched into Bavaria from Flanders.

Unfortunately, Louis William was of the old school of commanders who liked sieges and disliked pitched battles. Since both Marlborough and Eugène intended to fight battles, this was not a good match; yet the Margrave, who was also pretty self-important, was the one nominallly in command.

Having sent Eugène off, the Duke persuaded Louis William that they needed to take the crossing of the Danube at Donauworth, which was defended by the fortress of Schellenberg, which had only ever fallen to one enemy, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. With great personal bravery the Margrave may have actually carried the day and won the battle, but he was wounded in the process. His horse fell on him and crushed his foot. This wound was to cost him his life, but at first its severity was not apparent.

This action was preliminary to the Battle of Blenheim. Marlborough and Eugène knew that a battle against what were actually superior French forces would not be agreeable to the Margrave. Since they knew he liked sieges, they urged him to attack the city of Ingolstadt; and he took the bait. When Marlborough and Eugène then combined to defeat the French, Louis William perceived their trick, was furious, and never forgave them -- despite the certainty that he would not have agreed to their action in the first place -- as he in fact obstructed their efforts to follow up on the victory. Indeed, he went on to besiege Landau, which ate up the rest of the compaigning season, rather proving the point for Marlborough and Eugène.

In subsequent operations, as Louis William seemed to hesitate and prevaricate, Eugene and Churchill began to suspect him of disaffection or even dealing with the French. This was probably a combination of his continuing resentment and trouble from his unhealed foot. Only his death revealed the sad truth, that he had been laboring with a mortal wound.

Louis William's uncle, Hermann, had distinguished himself before Vienna in 1683. Commanding troups intended as a reserve, Hermann nevertheless attacked the Turks, with great success.

Napoleon bestowed the office of Elector of the Holy Roman Empire on Baden in 1803; but this didn't last long, since Napoleon then abolished the Empire in 1806. In compensation, Karl Friedrich was made a Grand Duke. Subsequent Dukes were wise enough not to oppose Prussia; Baden joined the German Empire in 1871; and Zähringen rule lasted until the German princely states were all abolished in 1918.

This list and genealogy was originally taken entirely from Brian Tompsett's Royal and Noble genealogy. Now additions and corrections are from the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997, "Zähringen," pp.351-352, & "Baden," pp.357-375].

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Burgundy Index

Francia Index
 

Counts & Princes of Schwarzburg
The first Count of Schwarzburg, in the midst of the Saxon Duchies, was Sizzo III, who died in 1160. Twelve generations elapse from Sizzo to Henry XXXI, as shown at left.

 

Various branch lines, Leutenberg, Käfernburg, Wachsenburg, and Blankenburg, had reduced to two by 1815, Sonderhausen and Rudolstadt, both of which derived from Günther XL of Blankenburg. At left only the direct line of Blankerburg is shown. Below, the full lines of Sonderhausen and Rudolstadt are given.

 

 

 

 

Conveniently, the Rival Emperor, Günther of Schwarzburg, is in the Blankenburg line, the brother of Henry X. He was killed in battle against the Emperor Charles IV.

 

 

 

This genealogy is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Sonderhausen and Rudolstadt lines became Principalities in 1697.

 

 

 

 

The last Sonderhausen Prince died in 1909 and the whole of Schwarzburg was reunified, but this was just in time for the princely states to end in 1918.

German Confederation Index

Stem Duchies Index

Francia Index
 

Princes & Dukes of Anhalt
The genealogy of Anhalt here begins with Joachim Ernest in 1551 mainly because he ended up inheriting all of the fragments of Anhalt that had become distributed in earlier lines. He himself then has no less than five sons among whom the Principality becomes fragmented all over again. The first Prince of Anhalt was Henry I in 1212. From Henry to Joachim Ernest was nine generations.

Far and away the most noteworthy connection of the House of Anhalt is the marriage of Sophia Augusta, daughter of Christian Augustus of Anhalt- Zerbst, to the Russian Tsar Peter III (d.1762). Sophia Augusta quickly becomes the Sovereign in her own right, as the Empress Catharine II the Great of Russia. The subsequent Romanov family is all descended from her.

In 1806 and 1807 Napoleon made the three remaining Princes of Anhalt into Dukes. The male line of Anhalt-Köthen then died out in 1847, and the line of Anhalt-Bernburg in 1863. Anhalt-Dessau thus gathers in all of Anhalt, though of course the Duke then joined the German Empire in 1871, and all power was lost in 1918.

This genealogy is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

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Counts & Princes of Waldeck
Adolf I of
Schwalenberg
Count,
1228-1270
Adolf II1270-1302
Otto I1276-1305
Henry IV1305-1348
Otto II1344-1369
Henry VI1369-1397
Henry VII1397-1442
Wolrad I1442-1475
Philip I1475
Philip II1475-1524
Philip III1524-1539
Wolrad II1539-1578
Josiah1578-1588
Wolrad IV1588-1640
Christian1588-1637
Philip VII1637-1645
Christian Louis1645-1706
George Friedrich (d.1690), son of Wolrad IV, commanded Center of Christian Relief Army at Siege of Vienna, 1683
Anthony Ulrich1706-1712,
Prince,
1712-1728
Christian Philip1728
Charles1728-1763
Frederick I1763-1812
George I1812-1813
George II1813-1845
George Victor1845-1893
Frederick II1893-1918,
d.1946
Derived from the Counts of Schwalenberg, the Counts and Princes of Waldeck then survive until the end of the German princely states in 1918. The first Count of Schwalenberg was Widekind I (1127-1137). Adolf I comes five generations later. The heir of the line is now Wittekind, grandson of Frederick II, born in 1936. Wittekind did not marry until 1988 and does not have any children, but his two uncles have many descendants.

This list is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

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Lords, Counts, & Princes of Reuß


 
The Princes of Reuß survive until the end of the German princely states in 1918. There were other lines besides the ones shown here, and these themselves follow succession to different sub-domains, but this diagram traces the descend of the two final Princes, beginning with Henry XIII when the lines separate. The bewildering thing about Reuß is that every single heir is named "Henry" (Heinrich). The numbering doubtless follows some logic for the sub-domains, but this is very difficult to reconstruct systematically. As it is, the straight succession gives numbers that look completely scrambled and bizarre.

This genealogy is taken entirely out of the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume I, Part 2, Deutsche Kaiser-, Königs-, Herzogs- und Grafenhäuser II [Andreas Thiele, Third Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 1997].

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Lords of Gondorf & Adendorf,
Lords, Counts, & Prince of Leyen
E.J. Passant's A Short History of Germany, 1815-1945 [Cambridge University Press, 1962] lists a "Principality of Layen" as one of the members of the German Confederation in 1815. However, Layen is not then shown on the attendant map. His source, which he says is a map, The German Confederated States [London, 1839], must have contained this anomaly. A correspondent then called to my attention the entry for "Leyen" in Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies. Gordon explained that Leyen was a Principality by dispensation of Napoleon from 1806 to 1814. If Leyen is then Passant's "Layen," in 1815 it had already been annexed to Baden. Gordon says that Leyen was "a small territory in the Rhineland, between Speyer and Worms" and that it was ruled by the "Lords of Adendorf" who "became Barons of the Empire in 1653, and Counts of the Empire in 1711."
Lords, Counts, &
Prince of Layen/Leyen
Hugo Ernest1653-1665
Charles
Caspar
1665-1711
Count,
1711-1739
Frederick
Ferdinand
Francis
Anthony
1739-1760
Francis
Charles
1760-1775
Philip Francis1775-1814
Prince of
Leyen,
1806-1814,
d.1829
to Baden, 1814

I then was able to find Leyen in the Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte, Volume III, Ergänzungsband [Andreas Thiele, Second Edition, R. G. Fischer Verlag, 2001, p.68]. Thiele lists Hugo Ernest, whom he says became a Reichs-Freiherr of Leyen in 1663, which must be Gordon's "Baron of the Empire" (though off by ten years), but then has him dying in 1665, not Gordon's 1670. Unfortunately, Thiele does not list the descendants of Hugo Ernest, but he does say that they became Counts in 1711 (agreeing with Gordon) and Princes in 1806. We do get mention of a subsequent Count, Francis Charles, who is cited, as "Karl," as the husband of Maria Anna Helene of Dalberg (d.1804, p.10). It is certainly Francis Charles since he is listed as a Count of Leyen who died in 1775. There is another connecton between Leyen and Dahlberg, since earlier a niece of Hugo Ernest, Anna Catharine, married Philip Francis Eberhard, Treasurer of Worms and great-grandfather of Maria Anna Helene. Also Hugo Ernest was a brother of Karl Kaspar, Archbishop Elector of Trier (not the Charles Caspar who succeeds Hugo Ernest).

Further information has now come from a correspondent in the Netherlands, who has provided the entire genealogy of Gondorf-Adendorf-Leyen from Detlev Schwennicke's Europäische Stammtafeln, Standesherrliche Häuser I, Neue Folge, Volume IV (Verlag J.A. Stargardt, Marburg, 1981, tables 39-42). I have reproduced this above at right, beginning with Werner. The ancestor of the line is said to have been Engelbertus of Guntreve (Gondorf), who was living around 1158-1160. Schwenniche also has Hugo Ernest dying in 1665, but then has him becoming the Reichs-Freiherr in 1653, not 1663 like Thiele.

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