by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025
The County of Schwarzburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1195 to 1595, when it was partitioned into Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The new counties remained in the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution. In 1697, the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. The County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was elevated to the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in 1710.
The death of Karl Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, without an heir in 1909, caused the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen to be united under Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in a personal union. Following his succession in Sondershausen, Prince Günther Victor dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the title Prince of Schwarzburg.
Named for Saint Andrew the Apostle, the first church in Rudolstadt, now in Thuringia, Germany, dates back to the 12th century. A three-aisled late Gothic hall church was built between 1463 and 1475. Previously Roman Catholic, Stadtkirche Saint Andreas became a Lutheran church after the Protestant Reformation. From 1634 to 1636, the church was rebuilt with an early Baroque interior and is basically the church that exists today.
An image from an 1860 book depicting Katharina of Henneberg, Countess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, confronting Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba; Credit – Wikipedia
In the choir, a gravestone commemorates the fearless Katharina of Henneberg, Countess of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen (link in German), the wife of Heinrich XXXII, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. In 1547, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and his army marched through the County of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen after the Battle of Mühlberg. An army division consisting of Spanish troops commanded by Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba, entered Rudolstadt. Katharina had obtained a letter of protection from the Emperor stating that the Spanish troops should pass peacefully through Rudolstadt. However, the Spanish troops did not respect the imperial letter of protection, but plundered villages and drove away cattle. Katharina demanded a written order from the Duke of Alba directing his soldiers to return the stolen cattle, items, and money to the people of Rudolstadt. When the Duke of Alba did not seem willing to do so, Katharina had him surrounded by her armed servants and threatened to let flow “Fürstenblut für Ochsenblut” (Prince’s blood for ox blood) if he did not comply with her wishes. The Duke of Alba had to give in and promised not to take revenge. Because of this event, Katharina was later given the nickname “Katharina die Heldinnen” (Katharine the Heroic).
In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family, buried at the Schwarzburg Castle Church, were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany, before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and the Schwarzburg Castle Church. The German government planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed. The ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years. Schwarzburg Castle underwent a comprehensive renovation over several years and is now open to the public for visits and events.
Burials
- Katharina of Henneberg (1509 – 1567), wife of Heinrich XXXII, Count of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
- Juliane of Nassau-Dillenburg (1546 – 1588), wife of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Heinrich Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1588 – 1589), infant son of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1537 – 1605), founder of the House of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
- Albertine Elisabeth of Leiningen-Westerburg (1568 – 1617), wife of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Albrecht Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (link in German) (1582 – 1634)
- Ludwig Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1581 – 1646)
- Katharina Maria of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1585 – 1650), daughter of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Anna Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst (1584 – 1652), wife of Karl Günther, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Elisabeth Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1578 – 1658), daughter of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Dorothea Susanna of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1587 – 1662), daughter of Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Albertine Antonie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1668), daughter of Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Emilie Antonia of Oldenburg-Delmenhorst (1614 – 1670), wife of Ludwig Günther I, Count if Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Sophie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1639 – 1672), daughter of Ludwig Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Ludomilla Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1640 – 1672), daughter of Ludwig Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Christiana Magdalene of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1642 – 1672), daughter of Ludwig Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Maria Susanna of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1646 – 1688), daughter of Ludwig Günther I, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen (1637 – 1706), wife of Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1641 – 1710), son of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1667 – 1718)
- Sophie Wilhelmine of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1723), daughter of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Sophie Wilhelmine of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg (1693 – 1727), wife of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Anna Sophia of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1670 – 1728), wife of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Dorothea Sophia of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1737), daughter of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Christian Ernst of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1739), son of Ludwig Günther IV, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1692 – 1744)
- Christina Sophia of East Frisia (1688 – 1750), second wife of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Sophie Ernestine of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1749 – 1754), daughter of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Henriette Charlotte of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1752 – 1756), daughter of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Wilhelm Ludwig of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1696 – 1757), son of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Bernhardina Christina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1724 – 1757), wife of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1721 – 1767)
- Sophie Henriette Reuss of Untergreiz (1711 – 1777), wife of Ludwig Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friederike Sophie Auguste of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1745 – 1778), daughter of Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and wife of her first cousin Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Therese Sophie Henriette of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1770 – 1783), daughter of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Luise Friederike of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1787), daughter of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Ludwig Günther IV, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1708 – 1790)
- Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1736 – 1793)
- Friederike Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1734 – 1794), daughter of Ludwig Günther IV, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), daughter of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friedrich of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1798), son of Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the grandson of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Sophie Albertine of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1724 – 1799), daughter of Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Heinrich Theodor of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1800), son of
- Auguste of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1752 – 1805), second wife of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1767 – 1807)
- Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), son of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), son of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friedrich Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1818 – 1821), son of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1771 – 1825), son of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1828), son of Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1894 – 1829), first wife of Georg Bernhard of Anhalt-Dessau, daughter of Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and granddaughter of Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Gustav Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1828 – 1837), son of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friedrich Günther Leopold of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1821 – 1845), son of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Ernst Heinrich of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1848), son of Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau (1793 – 1854), first wife of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Luise Ulrike of Hessen-Homburg (1772 – 1854), wife of Karl Günther von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Karoline Luise of Hesse-Homburg (1771 – 1854), wife of Ludwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
- Helene of Anhalt (1835 – 1860), second wife of Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Augusta Luise of Solms-Braunfels (1804 – 1865, wife of Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867)
- Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1798 – 1869)
- Franz Friedrich Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1875), son of Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Georg Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1838 – 1890)
- Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1833 – 1896), daughter of Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and wife of Leopold III, Prince of Lippe-Detmold
- Mathilde of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1826 – 1914), wife of Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Günther Viktor, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1852 – 1925)
- Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1859 – 1939), daughter of Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
- Anna Louise of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1871 – 1951), wife of Günther Victor, Prince of Schwarzburg
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Works Cited
- Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2022). Katharina von Henneberg-Schleusingen, Gräfin von Schwarzburg. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharina_von_Henneberg-Schleusingen
- Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2008). Kirchengebäude in Rudolstadt, Landkreis Saalfeld-Rudolstadt, Thüringen, Deutschland. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Andreas_(Rudolstadt)
- Autoren der Wikimedia-Projekte. (2005). Schloss Schwarzburg. Wikipedia.org; Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Schwarzburg
- Flantzer, Susan. (2020). Royal Burial Sites of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Unofficial Royalty. https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/
- Förderverein Schloss Schwarzburg. (2018). Schloss Schwarzburg: Startseite. Schloss-Schwarzburg.de. http://www.schloss-schwarzburg.de/startseite/
- Kirchenkreis Rudolstadt-Saalfeld. (2025). Einrichtungen/Gemeinden. Kirchenkreis-Rudolstadt-Saalfeld.de. https://www.kirchenkreis-rudolstadt-saalfeld.de/kontakt/einrichtungen-gemeinden/rudolstadt/rudolstadt-ii/rudolstadt/stadtkirche-zur-ehre-gottes-st-andreas/
- Stadtkirche Sankt Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thüringen – Find a Grave Cemetery. (2020). Findagrave.com. https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2549298/stadtkirche-sankt-andreas
