Kingdoms of Germany - Württemberg (original) (raw)

Württemberg During the general collapse of East Francia, or Germany, in the twelfth century, [Swabia](GermanySwabia.htm#Dukes of Swabia)'s dissolution left the way clear for its main successors to emerge from the shadows. Württemberg and Baden grew to encompass most of Swabia's former territory. The collapse of Swabia was effectively triggered by the death of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. Duke Frederick II of[Swabia](GermanySwabia.htm#Dukes of Swabia) put himself forward as a candidate for the imperial title but was defeated by the successful election of Lothar II. Conflict erupted between the two, and the rivalry had a destabilising effect on Germany as a whole and Swabia in particular. In 1137 the county of[Württemberg](GermanyWurttemberg.htm#County of Wurttemberg) was formed in western central Swabia as another step towards the total disintegration of the duchy during the general political crisis, although it took a further century to complete the process.
County of Württemberg AD 1137 - 1495 (Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lars Ulwencreutz.)
1137 - 1181 Louis I
1137 - 1154 Emich
1181 - 1201 Henry
1201 - 1228 Louis II
1228 - 1241 Eberhard
1241 - 1265 Ulrich I
1265 - 1279 Ulrich II
1279 - 1325 Eberhard I the Illustrious
1313 With the death of John Parricide, any claim to the former[Swabian](GermanySwabia.htm#Dukes of Swabia) duchy dies with him. Large areas of its territory have already gone to the established county of Württemberg and the margraviate of Baden. Territory formerly belonging to the Alemanni people also later forms parts of[Austria](GermanyAustria.htm#Habsburg Margraves) (Vorarlberg),France (Alsace) and Switzerland, as well as the Bavarian Swabia region of[ Bavaria](GermanyBavarians.htm#Duchy of Bavaria %28Wittelsbachs%29).
1325 - 1344 Ulrich III
1344 - 1392 Eberhard II the Whiner Acted as regent for John I of[Lorraine](FranceLorraine.htm#Duchy 2), his future son-in-law.
1344 - 1366 Ulrich IV
1392 - 1417 Eberhard III the Mild
1417 - 1419 Eberhard IV Son.
1419 - 1441 Louis I Urach. d.1450.
1419 - 1480 Ulrich V
1457 - 1496 Eberhard V Urach. Became Duke Eberhard I.
1480 - 1495 Eberhard VI Became Duke Eberhard II.
Duchy of Württemberg AD 1495 - 1806 (Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lars Ulwencreutz.)
1495 - 1496 Eberhard I Formerly Count Eberhard V.
1496 - 1498 Eberhard II Formerly Count Eberhard VI. d.1504.
1498 - 1519 Ulrich I
1519 - 1534 Württemberg is controlled by[Austria](GermanyAustria.htm#Habsburg Archdukes).
1525 The monastic state of the Teutonic Knights is secularised during the Protestant Reformation and replaced with a duchy in eastern [East Prussia](EasternPrussia.htm#East Prussia). The new master of the Knights moves the headquarters to Bad Mergentheim in the northernmost tip of the duchy of Württemberg. Map of German states AD 1560 Introduced in 1560, the system of imperial states replaced the now-outdated feudal system, with an imperial circle ('reichskreis') being a regional grouping of the imperial states (click or tap on map to view full sized)
1534 - 1550 Ulrich I Restored?
1550 - 1568 Christopher
1568 - 1593 Louis III the Pious
1593 - 1608 Frederick I
1608 - 1628 John Frederick
1628 - 1674 Eberhard III
1674 - 1677 William Louis
1677 - 1733 Eberhard IV Louis
1733 - 1737 Charles I Alexander
1737 - 1793 Charles Eugene
1780 The future Duke Frederick III marries Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on 15 October 1780 at Brunswick. Augusta is the maternal great-granddaughter of King George II of Great Britain and Hanover.
1793 - 1795 Louis Eugene
1795 - 1797 Frederick II Eugene
1797 - 1806 Frederick III Elector (1803). Became King Frederick.
Kingdom of Württemberg AD 1806 - 1918 The duchy was elevated to a kingdom by [France](FranceFranks.htm#First Empire)'s Napoleon Bonaparte when it joined his Confederation of the Rhine. Thanks to the marriage between Frederick and Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1780, their children, including the future William I, were direct descendants of King George II of Great Britain and Hanover. (Additional information from Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lars Ulwencreutz,and from The First World War, John Keegan (Vintage Books, 2000).)
1806 - 1816 Frederick First king of Württemberg. Formerly Duke Frederick III.
1806 - 1817 Ludwig Frederick Alexander Duke.
1816 - 1864 William I Son of Frederick.
1836 The younger brother of William I is Prince Paul of Württemberg. Prior to his marriage in 1805, Paul has a mistress named Friederike Porth by whom he fathers an illegitimate daughter named Karolina von Rothenburg (born 1805, shortly after her father's marriage). Despite his marriage, the child grows up around her father and finds a supportive and loving uncle in William I. In 1836, Karolina falls pregnant by Karl, Baron (Freiherr) von Pfeffel of [Bavaria](GermanyBavarians.htm#Kingdom of Bavaria). Paul is the one to make arrangements behind the scenes to ensure that his daughter receives a wedding which takes place before important dignitaries in the private chapel of the Bishop's Palace in Augsburg. The great-great-great-grandson of this union is Boris Johnson, mayor of London (2008-2012). This also makes him a direct (if illegitimate) descendant of George II of Great Britain and Hanover (as backed up by the BBC television series, Who Do You Think You Are). Map of Confederation of German States AD 1815 Following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte 1814, the Congress of Vienna took on board much of his vital restructuring of the German principalities, with the result that a map of the new Confederation of German States in 1815-1817 looked very different to maps of the previous century (click or tap on map to view full sized)
1864 - 1891 Charles
1871 Württemberg becomes a sub-kingdom in Prussia's German empire.
1891 - 1918 William II Died 1921.
1918 Wilhelm of Urach, a member of the royal house, is briefly elected king of Lithuania in the hope that this will bring about a form of independence. Instead, Germany's collapse in 1918 brings about the creation of a republic. Worse still for Württemberg, all German monarchies are abolished upon the defeat of the German empire at the end of the First World War. Württemberg becomes a constituent part of the new federal Germany and its future fortunes would be tied to this new political creation.