Karoline of Hesse-Homburg, Princess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

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by Susan Flantzer

Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: 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.

At the end of World War I, Prince Günther Victor was the last German prince to renounce his throne, abdicating on November 22, 1918. He made an agreement with the government that awarded him an annual pension and the right to use several of the family residences. The territory that encompassed the Principalities of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen is now located in the German state of Thuringia.

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Karoline of Hesse-Homburg was the wife ofLudwig Friedrich II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt —  and served as Regent for the first seven years of the reign of their son Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until he came of age. The daughter of Friedrich V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt, she was born on August 26, 1771 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse.

Karoline had fourteen siblings but only the following ten survived childhood. Four of her brothers were reigning Landgraves of Hesse-Homburg. Three of them were childless and one had a son who predeceased him.

• Friedrich VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1769 – 1829), married Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, no children
• Ludwig Wilhelm, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1770 – 1839), married Princess Augusta of Nassau-Usingen, divorced, no children
• Luise Ulrike of Hesse-Homburg (1772 – 1854), married Prince Karl Günther of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, had seven children
• Amalie of Hesse-Homburg (1774 – 1846), Friedrich, Hereditary Prince of Anhalt-Dessau, had seven children
• Auguste of Hesse-Homburg (1776 – 1871), married Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, no children
• Philip, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1779 – 1846), married morganatically Rosalie Antonie, Baroness Schimmelpfennig von der Oye, no children
• Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1781 – 1848), married Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children but his only son predeceased him
• Ferdinand, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1783 – 1866), unmarried
• Marie Anna of Hesse-Homburg (1785 – 1846), married Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Karl of Prussia, had seven children
• Leopold of Hesse-Homburg (1787 – 1813), unmarried, killed at the Battle of Lützen during the Napoleonic Wars

On July 21, 1791, in Homburg, Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg, now in the German state of Hesse, Karoline married Ludwig Friedrich, then the Hereditary Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Ludwig Friedrich’s father Friedrich Karl, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt suffered a stroke in 1792. He died on April 13, 1793, and 23-year-old Ludwig Friedrich became the reigning Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Karoline was well educated and had a considerable influence on the artistic life of the principality.

Karoline and Ludwig Friedrich had seven children including two reigning Princes of Schwarburg-Rudolstadt:

• Cäcilie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1792 – 1794), died in childhood
• Friedrich Günther, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1793 – 1867), married (1) Princess Auguste of Anhalt-Dessau, had three children (2) Countess Helene of Reina, morganatic marriage, had two children (3) Marie Schultze, morganatic marriage, no children
• Thekla of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1795 – 1861), married Otto Victor, Prince of Schönburg-Waldenburg, had nine children
• Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1796), died in infancy
• Albrecht, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 1798 – 1869), married Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels, had three children
• Bernhard of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1816), twin of Rudolf, died in childhood
• Rudolf of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1801 – 1808), twin of Bernhard, died in childhood

Karoline’s husband Ludwig Friedrich, died at the age of 39, on April 28, 1807, and was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Friedrich Günther. As stipulated in Ludwig Friedrich’s will, Karoline served as Regent of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt until her son came of age in 1814. As Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Friedrich Günther was rather disinterested in government affairs and left the decisions to other people. As a result, Karoline continued to have a strong influence on government decisions

Karoline corresponded with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, considered the greatest writer in the German language, writer Friedrich Schiller, and philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt, who called Karoline “a woman who is seldom found.” Karoline left behind a large collection of her drawings, sketches, and watercolors, which are of high artistic quality and show her romantic approach to nature.

Karoline survived her husband by 47 years, dying on June 20, 1854, aged 82, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Her remains are now at the Stadtkirche St. Andreas (link in German) in Rudolstadt but it is not known if they were previously buried in Alter Friedhof/Garnisonfriedhof (Old Cemetery/Garrison Cemetery)  in Rudolstadt and/or Schlosskirche Schwarzburg (link in German). Her husband had been buried in both places. In the early 1940s, the remains of the Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt family buried at the Schlosskirche Schwarzburg were transferred to the Stadtkirche St. Andreas in Rudolstadt, Thuringia, Germany before the demolition of Schwarzburg Castle and Schlosskirche Schwarzburg by the German government who planned to convert the castle into Adolf Hitler’s Imperial Guest House. However, the construction was never completed and the ruins of the castle and the incomplete construction of the guest house were left for years until reconstruction of the original castle, which is still occurring, began.

Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Index
• Royal Burial Sites of the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Karoline Von Hessen-Homburg. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoline_von_Hessen-Homburg> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Caroline Of Hesse-Homburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_of_Hesse-Homburg> [Accessed 31 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Royal Burial Sites Of The Principality Of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-burial-sites/royal-burial-sites-of-the-principality-of-schwarzburg-rudolstadt/> [Accessed 20 October 2020].