Under construction...
The German Reigning
Houses
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Last updated : August 2, 2001
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Copyright © Val Rozn 1999, 2000,
2001
The German Reigning
Houses
between the Downfall of Napoleon I and the November
Revolution
(1815-1918)
The Congress of Vienna and
the German Confederation
Dispossessed rulers of Brunswick-Hanover,
Brunswick-Wolfenbütel, Hesse-Kassel, Oldenburg and Nassau-Orange were
restored during the campaign against
Napoleon I in 1813.
The Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)
rearranged the map of Europe.
The congress restored independency of free cities
of
1. Lübeck,
2. Hamburg,
3. Bremen, and
4. Frankfurt.
The Congress returned sovereignty to Langrave of
Hesse-Homburg.
The Congress did not change the status of the
mediatized houses and the dispossessed rulers of Arenberg, Salm-Salm and
Salm-Kyrburg, but confirmed their privileges.
The Congress also upgraded titles of some
rulers':
1.Duke of Brunswick-Hanover to
King;
2.Duke of Saxony-Weimar to Grand
Duke;
3.Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin to Grand
Duke;
4.Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz to Grand
Duke;
5.Duke of Oldenburg to Grand
Duke.
Prince-Elector and Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
received the title of Grand Duke of Fulda,
but his main title was 'Prince-Elector and
Landgrave of Hesse'.
Prince of Nassau-Orange restored in his
hereditary German possessions, exchanged them for
Luxembourg where he became Grand Duke. He was
also proclaimed King of Netherlands
In 1815 German sovereigns and free cities, which
survived the Napoleonic wars, united in the German Confederation
(Deutsche Bund):
1. Emperor of Austria;
2. King of Prussia and Markgrave of
Brandenburg;
3. King of Bavaria;
4. King of Hanover [King of Great Britain]
(The union with the United Kingdom until 1837; 1866 annexed by
Prussia);
5. King of Württemberg;
6. King of Saxony;
7. Grand Duke of Saxony-Weimar;
8. Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin;
9. Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz;
10. Grand Duke of Oldenburg;
11. Grand Duke of Baden;
12. Grand Duke of
Hesse-Darmstadt;
13. Grand Duke of Luxembourg [King of
Netherlands, Prince of Nassau-Orange] (The union with the Netherlands until
1890);
14. Prince-Elector and Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel
(1866 annexed by Prussia);
15. Duke of Holstein, Schleswig and Lauenburg
[King of Denmark] (1866 annexed by Prussia);
16. Duke of Nassau-Usingen (1816 became extinct,
united with Nassau-Weilburg);
17. Duke of Anhalt-Dessau;
18. Duke of Anhalt-Köthen (1847 became
extinct, went to Anhalt-Dessau);
19. Duke of Anhalt-Bernburg (1863 became extinct,
went to Anhalt-Dessau);
20. Duke of Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld (1826
Saxony-Coburg-Gotha);
21. Duke of Saxony-Meiningen;
22. Duke of Saxony-Gotha-Altenburg (1825 became
extinct, 1826 went to Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Coburg and Duke of
Saxony-Hildburghausen);
23. Duke of Saxony-Hildburghausen (from 1826
Saxony-Altenburg);
24. Duke of
Brunswick-Wolfenbütel;
25. Prince of Waldeck;
26. Prince of Lippe-Detmold;
27. Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe;
28. Prince of Nassau-Welburg (1816 Duke of
Nassau, 1866 annexed by Prussia);
29. Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (1849 went
to Prussia);
30. Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (1849 went
to Prussia);
31. Prince of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt;
32. Prince of
Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen;
33. Prince of Reuss-Greiz;
34. Prince of Reuss-Schleiz;
35. Prince of Reuss-Lobenstein (1824 became
extinct, went to Reuss-Ebersdorf);
36. Prince of Reuss-Ebersdorf (1848 went to
Reuss-Schleiz);
37. Prince of Liechtenstein;
38. Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1866 became
extinct, went to Hesse-Darmstadt, then annexed by Prussia) and
39,40,41,42 four free cities : Lübeck,
Hamburg, Bremen, and Frankfurt.
There were six former members of the
Confederation of the Rhine that did not join the German
Confederation:
- Hieronymus Bonapart that lost Kingdom of
Westphalia (a brother of Napoleon I);
- Napoleon-Ludwig that lost Grand Duchy of Berg
(a nephew of Napoleon I);
- Karl of Dalberg that lost Grand Duchy of
Frankfurt ( the main ally of Napoleon I in Germany);
- Prince of Isenburg-Birstein , whose possessions
were mediatized;
- Prince of Leyen-Hohengeroldseck (a relative
Karl of Dalberg) , whose possessions were mediatized;
- Ferdinand of Austria that exchanged Grand Duchy
of Würzburg to Tuscany, his former possession.
Franz of Austria, a son of Ferdinand, ruler of
Breisgau-Ortenau, and grand-son of Hercules of Este, was given Duchy of Modena
in Italy.
The German Confederation did not include Savoy
and South Netherlands, which formally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire.
The Second Empire
In February 1864 Prussians and Austrians invaded
Denmark and King of Denmark lost his position of Duke of
Holstein, Schleswig and Lauenburg.
As a result of the Austro-Prussian war (1866) The
German Confederation seased to exist, and
King of Hanover, Prince-Elector of Hesse-Kassel
and Duke of Nassau lost their thrones.
Prussia incorporated Lauenburg in 1865, Holstein,
Schleswig, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Homburg, Nassau, and the free city of
Frankfurt in 1866.
The new German Empire (Deutsches
Reich) created by Prussia in 1871 included only 22 sovereigns and
three free cities.
King of Prussia was proclaimed hereditary German
Emperor.
Not included were Austria, Luxembourg and
Liechtenstein.
The German Empire included lands
of:
1. King of Prussia,
2. King of Bavaria,
3. King of Württemberg,
4. King of Saxony,
5. Grand Duke of Saxony-Weimar,
6. Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
7. Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
8. Grand Duke of Oldenburg,
9. Grand Duke of Baden,
10. Grand Duke of
Hesse-Darmstadt,
11. Duke of Anhalt-Dessau,
12. Duke of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha,
13. Duke of Saxony-Meiningen,
14. Duke of Saxony-Altenburg,
15. Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbütel ( 1884
became extinct, 1913 went to the Hanover branch),
16. Prince of Waldeck,
17. Prince of Lippe-Detmold,
18. Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe,
19. Prince of
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
20. Prince of Schwarzburg-Sonderhausen ( 1909
became extinct, went to Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt),
21. Prince of Reuss-Greiz,
22. Prince of Reuss-Schleiz and
23,24,25 three free cities.
Adolf, the dispossesed Duke of Nassau, inherited
the Luxembourg throne in 1890.
Ernst-August, a grandson of Georg V, the
dispossesed King of Hanover, was allowed to inherit Brunswick-Wolfenbütel
in 1913.
Adolf-Friedrich VI, the childless Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Strelitz died in February 1918. That time his only male relative
eligible to succeed was Duke Karl-Michael, who became the Russian subject and
renounced his right to the throne in favor of Friedrich-Franz IV, Grand Duke of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin.
Friedrich-Franz IV did not want not accept the
Mecklenburg-Strelitz throne until he could receive a confirmed abdication of
Duke Karl-Michael's. Because of
the World War the confirmation could reach
Germany only in the eve of the November Revolution of 1918.
In November 1918 all (20) rulers of the German
Empire and Emperor of Austria lost their thrones. Members of both reigning and
Standesherren families lost all their priviliges. The houses of
Liechtenstein and Nassau (in Luxembourg) continued to reign. In 1964 the house
of Nassau in Luxembourg was replaced by the house Bourbon-Parma.