Günther Victor
Prince of Schwarzburg
Günther Victor (21 August 1852 – 16 April 1925) was the final sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He was born in Rudolstadt the son of Prince Adolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801–1875) and his wife Princess Mathilde of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1826–1914). His mother Princess Mathilde was the daughter of Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1785–1861) and Princess Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795–1861) a cousin of Prince Günther's father. His sister was Marie, Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Following the death of his father on 1 July 1875 Prince Günther became the heir presumptive to the principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Following the death of his first cousin once removed Prince Georg on 19 January 1890 Prince Günther succeeded him as sovereign prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. With the death of Prince Leopold of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen on 20 April 1906 Prince Günther then became heir presumptive to the other Schwarzburg principality. The death of the prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Karl Günther on 28 March 1909 united the two Schwarzburg principalities under Prince Günther in a personal union. This was the first time the two principalities had been united under the same ruler since the 16th century when the Sondershausen and Rudolstadt lines had been formed. Following his succession in Sondershausen Prince Günther dropped the name Rudolstadt from his title and assumed the
title Prince of Schwarzburg. Following the outbreak of the German revolution Prince Günther abdicated on 22 November 1918. Following his death in Sondershausen in the spring of 1925, he was succeeded as head of the House of Schwarzburg by Prince Sizzo. Prince Günther was married to Princess Anna Louise of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1871–1951) at Rudolstadt on 9 December 1891. She was daughter of his uncle Prince Georg of Schönburg-Waldenburg (1828–1900) and Princess Luise of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (1844–1922). The marriage was childless.
The 1st King's Mounted Rifles (Regiment Königs-Jäger zu Pferde Nr. 1) were a light cavalry regiment of the Royal Prussian Army from 1901 to 1918. The 1st King's Mounted Rifles belonged to the V Army Corps and was garrisoned in Posen. When the regiment was mobilized in 1914, it formed 10th Cavalry Brigade. Colonel-in-Chief of the regiment was Wilhelm II, German Emperor who was also the King of Prussia, hence the title King's. The Jäger zu Pferde were units of light cavalry, which were mainly used for reconnaissance and security tasks. By Allerhöchste-Kabinetts-Order (A.K.O.) of 25 March 1901, a ‘Combined Jäger Regiment on Horseback’ was established from 1 October 1901 (Foundation Day). As the 2nd Leib-Husaren-Regiment ‘Königin Viktoria von Preußen’ No. 2, which had previously been stationed in Posen, had been transferred to Danzig, it seemed necessary to establish a new cavalry regiment in Posen. For this purpose, the five signal cavalry escadrons of the II, III, IV, V and VI Army Corps in Posen were combined into one regiment and placed in the former hussar barracks. The first commander of the regiment was Major Gustav von Hollen from Cuirassier Regiment No. 6, and the personnel, horses and equipment were drawn from 17 Dragoon, 14 Hussar and 11 Uhlan regiments for the formation of the regiment (or rather the preceding Meldereiter Detachments).
The year 1905 was the year in which a new uniform was determined and the re-dressing was completed (the previous dragoons, hussars and ulans had worn their original uniforms until then, which was detrimental to the uniform appearance). After the Reichstag had authorised the formation of three regiments of Jäger zu Pferde in the same year, the regiment was entered in the army list under the name Jäger-Regiment zu Pferde Nr. 1. On 9 August 1905, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King of Prussia in personal union, appointed himself head of the regiment, whereupon it received the official designation Regiment Königs-Jäger zu Pferde Nr. 1 and the royal name with crown was added to the epaulette and cartouche.
The House of Schwarzburg was one of the oldest noble families of Thuringia, which is in modern-day central Germany. Reigning over the County of Schwarzburg and founded by Sizzo I of Schwarzburg (died 1160), the family split in the 16th century into the lines of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, with the Sondershausen line dying out in 1909. 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. It was ruled by counts from the House of Schwarzburg. Schwarzburg Castle was first mentioned in a 1071 deed. In 1123 Count Sizzo III of Käfernburg (Kevernburg), mentioned by the medieval chronicler Lambert of Hersfeld and according to the Annalista Saxo a grandson of Prince Yaropolk Izyaslavich of Turov by his mother, rebuilt the castle calling himself a "Count of Schwarzburg". Sizzo also established Georgenthal Abbey and in 1157, he accompanied Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa during his campaign against High Duke Bolesław IV the Curly of Poland. In 1197, Sizzo's grandson Henry II divided the common heritage with his
brother Günther III and made Schwarzburg Castle his residence. His territory then also comprised the nearby castle of Blankenburg. The most famous family member is Günther XXI von Schwarzburg. In 1349, he was elected as German king by the majority of electors. But, due to waning support, he renounced some months later and died shortly after. The Schwarzburg lands were again divided among his successors until in 1538 when Count Günther XL the Rich was able to unite the territories including Frankenhausen and Rudolstadt under his rule. He was succeeded by his eldest son Günther XLI. However, after his death in 1583, his younger brothers again divided the county: John Günther I received the territory around Arnstadt, later called Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, while Albrecht VII inherited the lands of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. The partition was finally confirmed by the 1599 Treaty of Stadtilm.
Awards: Collar and sash of the Cross of Honour of Schwarzburg (Fürstlich Schwarzburgisches Ehrenkreuz), Star of the Order of the Black Eagle (Hoher Orden vom Schwarzen Adler).
