What was Prince Albert the Prince of? Who the heck is Princess Mary of Teck? And where in Germany was Martin Luther from? In this post, I will take you down my rabbit hole of Grand Duchies, Kingdoms and Principalities to paint a picture of Germany, before it was Germany. But first, a brief history…
Humans have occupied the area that has become modern day Germany for thousands of years. In fact, German history starts before modern humans as the first Neanderthal fossil was discovered in the Neander Valley, located outside of Düsseldorf. And while this post will mostly focus on the states that became the German Empire, it is important to get a picture of how the area developed.
Post Neanderthals but pre Rome, the area that we know as Germany was inhabited by various Germanic tribes. As Rome expanded, these tribes and regions welcomed Rome, rebelled against Rome, and many stayed free of Rome all together. Fast forward to Charlemagne’s Era and Germany was part of the Frankish Empire, eventually becoming the Kingdom of East Frankia. In the tenth century, Otto the Great spent time unifying the Germanic tribes and ending the Hungarian invasion of Western Europe. Along with being King of the Germans, he was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor, marking the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire as we know it. (Technically Charlemagne was the first Holy Roman Emperor, but his empire is now often called the Frankish Empire.) The Holy Roman Empire lasted until 1806 when Napoleon came to power. At that time, German states agreed to be able to keep their ruling families and eventually became the German Confederation, and then the North German Confederation (which did not include Austria). Finally in 1871, the German Empire was born with the King of Prussia at the helm as the Kaiser. This Empire, while very powerful, did not last long as World War I brought its end in 1918.
Now that we have a brief picture of what Germany looked like through the years, we can move to the task of answering the questions that brought me down this rabbit hole to begin with…
WHO ARE ALL THESE “GERMANS?”
You see, when studying the various royal families of Europe, I (along with anyone else who looks into them) constantly run across minor German Royals, or members of German Nobility, that marry into other Royal families. They are often called “Prince” or “Princess” and so I began to wonder 1. Who these people actually were and 2. What their titles actually meant… So, here are my findings…
In 1900, these were the states of the German Empire, and a smattering of notable historical figures you may have heard of that hailed from these areas. (Many of these states were states during the Holy Roman Empire and before, but I am using the German Empire at this time just to provide a picture.)
-Kingdom of Prussia: Capital Berlin (Catherine the Great was Born in Prussia. Anne of Cleaves (4th wife of Henry VIII) was born in what would become Prussia.)
-Kingdom of Bavaria: Capital Munich
-Kingdom of Württemberg: Capital Stuttgart (Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary of the United Kingdom was the daughter of the Duke of Teck, was from this Kingdom. Albert Einstein was born in this Kingdom in the city of Ulm.)
-Kingdom of Saxony: Capital-Dresde (Martin Luther was born here.)
-Gand Duchy of Baden: Capital Karlsruhe
-Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin: Capital- Schwerin
-Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz: Capital-Neustrelitz (Caroline of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was Queen of the United Kingdom. She was married to George III and is the Queen you see in the popular show Bridgerton)
-Grand Duchy of Brunswick- Capital Brunswick (Caroline of Brunswick, Queen of the United Kingdom was from here. She was married to George IV.)
-Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt: Capital- Darmstadt (Princess Alice of the UK, daughter of Queen Victoria, was the Grand Duchess here. This is also where the Battenberg family, the family of Prince Philip’s mother, was from.)
-Duchy of Anhalt: Capital Dessau
-Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine: Capital Strasbourg
-Duchy of Schaumburg-Lippe: Capital Detmold
-Grand Duchy of Oldenburg: Capital- Oldenburg
-Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont: Capital- Arolsen
-Thuringian States (Thuringia Today): (Johan Sebastian Bach was born here in Eisenach)
-Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg: Capital Altenburg
-Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen: Capital Meiningen
-Principality of Reuss Elder Line: Capital- Greiz
-Principality of Reuss Junior Line: Capital Gera
-Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt: Capital Rudolstadt
-Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen: Sondershausen
-Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: Capitals Coburg and Gotha (Prince Albert, the Husband of Queen Victoria was born here. The name of the Royal family was actually Saxe-Coburg and Gotha until they changed it to Windsor after World War I so that they could appear less German).
-Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach: Capital Weimar
-Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
-Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
-Free and Hanseatic City of Lubeck
Now…to answer a few more questions…
Whether it was the Holy Roman Empire, or the German Empire, Germany has historically had MANY Kingdoms, Principalities, Electorates, Grand Duchies and Duchies that made up, in one way or another, a loose confederation of separate German States. So, here is how those titles fit together.
-Duchies are lands ruled by Dukes, but they are normally not sovereign states.
-A Grand Duchy is ruled by a Grand Duke and it is a sovereign state. An example today is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
-A Principality is a sovereign state that is ruled by a Prince. Today and example is the country Monaco.
-Kingdoms are ruled by Kings or Queens.
During the years of the German Empire, the states listed above were all answerable to the Kaiser, who was the Emperor, and also the King of Prussia. His family was the Royal family of Prussia long before they were ever the German Imperial family.
And lastly…answers to more of my questions!
So many Duchies start with “Saxe.” What does Saxe mean?
Saxe is an area around the upper Elbe River, the original home of the Saxons that went to England. Many of these areas were divided which is why you get Duchies and Grand Duchies with similar names. Normally the families all came from the same house and were different branches. It is much the same with the states that begin with “Reuss”, they are named after the family that ruled them.
What does Hanseatic mean?
A Part of the Hanseatic League, which was a group of cities who were devoted to promotion and protection of commerce.
What are Electors and Electorates?
A Prince Elector was a member of the Holy Roman Empire who Elected the Emperor. Hanover was an Electorate until it became a Kingdom and then eventually a part of Prussia. So, the Hanoverians that eventually came to rule Great Britain were first the Electors of Hanover (this is why you hear the name Electress Sophia of Hanover, who was the mother of George I). Then in 1814 they declared Hanover a Kingdom and were the Kings of Hanover. However Queen Victoria could not inherit the throne of Hanover because she was a woman, so the Kingdom passed to one of her Uncles. Eventually Hanover became a province in Prussia, the largest of the German States.
Ok, so where is the Duchy of Teck? Isn’t that where Queen Mary (Grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II) was from?
The Duchy of Teck was just a Duchy within the Kingdom of Württemburg. So, while she did have royalty in her lineage, Princess Mary of Teck was called that because her Father was the Duke of Teck, not because she was a German Royal. She was not a princess in the same sense that we commonly think of a royal “Prince” or “Princess” today.
Ok but….why were so many of these German Royals and Nobles married into the British Royal family all of a sudden anyways? Why did Henry VIII suddenly select Anne of Cleaves, a woman from a minor German Duchy rather than marry a royal princess with more elevated status?
We see this sudden influx of Germans (particularly in English history) because Germans were predominately Protestant, which is what England became as well. No more foreign Catholic Princesses to marry into England, and in fact, that is still true today. If a member of the British Royal family marries a Catholic, they will lose their place in the succession.
When you hear names and locations over and over, but don’t have a grasp of where they come from, it is hard to fully appreciate the person or place being mentioned. When learning about history, it is vital to give context to people, places and events to help us see history in color, not just black and white. So… there it is, a rough sketch of Germany before it was Germany. I hope that this post can be a reference point as you encounter the many prominent Germans both inside and outside royal families of Europe. There is much more in the works that this post is laying the foundation for…so…hold that thought!
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Until Next Time,
McKenzie