About the Principalities
The two principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen were each
members of the German Empire. They were ruled by separate branches of the same house, although
in 1909 the two lines were brought together in a personal union.The lands of the Schwarzburg
counts were divided into two states in 1599. Schwarzburg-Sondershausen became a principality
in 1697 and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt followed suit in 1700. In 1807, both states were "invited"
to join Emperor Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine, of which they were part until 1813.
The two states entered the German
Confederation in 1815 and the North German Confederation in 1866. They joined the Empire on
its founding, and each had a vote in the Bundesrat.
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was divided into five enclaves having a total area of 363 square miles (940 square
kilometers), spread out over Thuringia and the province of Prussian Saxony. It had a population
in 1905 of 96,830. Its capital was the town of Rudolstadt.
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was divided into three larger and one tiny enclave having a
total area of 333 square miles (862 square kilometers). Like Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, its enclaves were
spread out over Thuringia and the province of Prussian Saxony. Schwarzburg-Sondershausen's
population in the 1905 census was 85,177 and its capital was the town of Sondershausen, the
second largest city, after Arnstadt, in the principality.
Fürst Günther Victor reigned over Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt from 1890 to 1918. In
1909, following the death of his cousin Fürst Carl Günther, Fürst Günther Victor also
reigned over Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. This was a personal union, and the
principalities were legally still separate member states of the Empire. Fürst
Günther Victor abdicated for both houses in 1918. With the death of the
childless Fürst Friedrich Günther, grandson of Fürst Günther Victor, in 1971,
the Princely House of Schwarzburg became extinct.
The Kyffhäuserdenkmal, also known as the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Denkmal auf dem Kyffhäuser,
is located in the former principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. This memorial,
located next to the site of the ruins of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa's castle,
commemorates all German veterans of the wars of unification. Its construction was
financed by contributions from members of the
Kyffhäuserbund, the organization of German veterans, which still exists today.
The Armed Forces of the Principalities
Like other Thuringian states, the Schwarzburg principalities were required to
contribute contingents to the Holy Roman Empire's Army when called upon. During the War
of the Spanish Succession beginning in 1701, the Reuss and Schwarzburg principalities formed a
joint regiment or four Schwarzburg and two Reuss companies. The war lasted until 1714 and the
regiment saw action in various campaigns. After the war, the regiment was partially
dissolved, but was reactivated in 1733.
The Schwarzburg principalities together provided one infantry battalion to the forces of Napoleon's
Confederation of the Rhine (1st Battalion, 6th Regiment). The regiment's 2nd Battalion
had three companies from Reuss and three from Waldeck. It succeeded the so-called
"Bataillon des Princes" which had been formed in 1807 of Reuss, Waldeck, Schwarzburg and Lippe
troops and sent to Spain, where it was almost completely destroyed. The 6th Confederation
Regiment fought in various campaigns on Napoleon's behalf.
After the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlacht) near
Leipzig in 1813, the Schwarzburg principalities joined the allies. In the the army of the German
Confederation, each contributed a battalion-sized contingent. For the
1866 war with Austria, each state contributed a fusilier battalion, the Fürstlich
Schwarzburg-Rudolstädtisches Füsilier-Bataillon and the Fürstlich Schwarzburg-
Sondershausensches Füsilier-Bataillon. These units would be reorganized after the war.
Following the conventions of 1867, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt's primary contribution to the German Army
was the 3rd Battalion of the 7. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.96 (III./IR 96),
garrisoned in Rudolstadt. Schwarzburg-Sondershausen's was the 1st Battalion of the
3. Thüringisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr.71 (I./IR 71), formed in 1869 and garrisoned in Sondershausen.
In the Franco-Prussian War, IR 71 fought in the battles of Beaumont and Sedan and in the
siege of Paris. During World War One, it served initially in Belgium and then on the Eastern
Front and in the Balkans before returning to the Western Front. Among the officers who served
with the regiment and received the Princely Schwarzburg Honor Cross 3rd Class with Swords were
the later Gen. d. Inf. Günther Blumentritt and Generalmajor Heinrich Kreipe, the commander of
the 22nd Infantry Division on Crete who was kidnapped by British SOE operatives in 1944.
As for IR 96, in 1870-71 it fought at Metz, Beaumont and Brie. On mobilization in August
1914, the regiment was sent to the Western Front and participated in the sieg of the Belgian
fortress of Namur. Like IR 71, it was soon sent to the Eastern Front, serving in East Prussia,
Poland and Galicia. IR96 returned to the Western Front in October 1915, fighting in some of the
bloodiest battles of the war - the Battles of Hill 304 and Dead Man's Hill in the Spring 1916 Verdun campaign,
the Somme, Arras and Flanders.
In addition to these regular army units, the two Schwarzburg principalities also contributed to
various reserve, Landwehr and other formations during the course of World War I. Among
these was the 1st Battalion of Thüringisches Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 82 (RIR 82), based
in Sondershausen and called up on mobilization in August 1914. RIR 82 belonged to the
22. Reserve-Division, made up primarily of troops from the Thuringian states, Prussian
Saxony and the former Electoral Hesse (part of Prussian Hessen-Nassau). Thüringisches
Reserve-Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 32, raised in Gera in the Principality of Reuß
(Junior Line) and also part of the 22. Reserve-Division, was made up primarily of older
reservists and younger members of the Landwehr from Gera and Rudolstadt. |
