The second part of this three-part set is concerned with relationships between the sovereigns of the German Empire’s constituent realms, which I usually shorten to just the German Realms (I’m not sure by the way whether this is my coinage or not, but anyway I rather like the way it sounds). As explained in the introduction to the first part, since Kaiser Wilhelm II was King of Prussia as well as German Emperor he is included in this part as well as in the first, and indeed in the third.

When I began looking at doing a chart of these relationships, I quailed somewhat. There were a lot of sovereigns to consider, but I went ahead anyway, and I’m glad I did. I enjoyed doing it greatly and learned an immense amount about not just the relationships of these sovereigns but their lives, their ancestries and the realms they ruled, small, patchwork states for the most part but forming a fascinating tapestry of little linked nations within a nation. All had their roots far in the past of the Holy Roman Empire, and were inheritances from rulers with Imperial immediacy, that is owing allegiance to no one but the Emperor, who due to the importance of their dominions, the strength of their alliances, their personal qualities or a combination of the three avoided mediatisation in the convulsions of the Napoleonic years and the end of the Empire. Though I don’t plan to do this in other threads, it might be convenient at this point to show a table of all the rulers involved:

As can be seen, they are arranged first by rank (king, grand duke, duke, prince) and then by accession date, and this is the plan that will be followed in the charts. My original intention was to have three of these, kings and grand dukes with each other followed by kings and grand dukes with dukes and princes, then finally dukes and princes with each other. However, forum size limits derailed this idea, and I ended up with six charts not three. The only part of the concept that survived was kings and grand dukes with each other, though to keep even that one in one piece after a change in the Genealogics software that broke all my red links, but allowed me to add considerably more of them during the course of repair, I had to resort to an expedient explained below the chart. Next comes kings and grand dukes with the dukes, then with the princes, followed by dukes with each other, dukes with princes, and finally princes with each other. So far as statistics are concerned I have though adhered to the original concept, regarding split charts as parts of a whole rather than entities in themselves, and statistical summaries appear after the key for the last chart in a set and cover all its charts, rather than being individual to each. The figures for number of connections formed shown in brackets after names in the keys do however pertain to that individual chart. 

Combined statistics, broken into three parts, follow the charts and keys. In the headings of the statistics tables, please read 'II' and 'III' as meaning 'II a-b' and 'III a-c'; to have put this in the headings would have given the column widths an incongruous appearance. A two-part note on posterities appears after the tables. And now, with altogether 21 sovereigns, 64 ancestors and 278 relationships, here goes.

For an explanation of how to read the charts, click here.

A note on posterities

In view of the number of sovereigns involved, it seems best to start with a table showing which of them has living descendants today. In the headings of the table that follows, p (proles) signifies that the sovereign does have descendants today, sps (sine proles superstite) that the sovereign had at least one child and perhaps further descent, but all descent is now extinct, and sp (sine prole) that the sovereign was childless. Sovereigns that had children are linked to a Genealogics chart of their descendants, and those that did not to their Genealogics individual page.

Of the six sovereigns that were childless, Adolf Friedrich VI and Heinrich XXIV in fact never married, the former apparently not inclined to marry and the latter not able to, as he was left physically and mentally disabled by a tragic childhood accident. He was the last of his line, no doubt adding to his parents’ anguish, if anything could have, so the Princes Reuss Younger Line are now simply Princes Reuss. Descent survives from three of Heinrich XXIV's sisters, including Hermine who was second wife of Emperor Wilhelm II. By her first marriage she was great-grandmother to Grand Duke George of Russia; we must hope that he will eventually marry equally and produce further descent.

Adolf Friedrich VI was not quite the last of his line, but his suicide in 1918 still left the Strelitz succession in a fair muddle, eventually resolved after various twists and turns by demorganatising the Carlow branch of the family, the head of which, Duke Borwin, is today heir to both the Mecklenburg Grand Duchies; his nearest relationship to Adolf Friedrich VI is shown here.

The other childless sovereigns were married but failed of issue. Interesting collateral descendants include, for Friedrich II of Baden, Margrethe II of Denmark and Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, great-great-grandchildren of his sister Viktoria; for Friedrich II of Anhalt, Grand Duke George again, great-great-grandson of his brother Eduard; for Günther Viktor, Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, great-great-grandson of his sister Marie; and for Adolf II his brother Stephan's grandson Christoph, Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, present head of the entire House of Oldenburg.

More tragedy is involved in the stories of the two sovereigns that had issue, but with no descent surviving. Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine had three children and three grandchildren, but his daughter died young, his elder son perished in an air crash along with two of the grandchildren, the third of whom died two years later aged only two, and his younger son died childless in 1968, at which point the Hesse-Darmstadt branch became extinct in male line, though ample descent survives from Ernst Ludwig’s sisters Victoria and Irene. Victoria’s descendants include the present Prince of Wales, her great-grandson.

Bernhard III of Saxe-Meiningen had just one child, his daughter Feodora, who married but had no children. After suffering all her life from the agonising hereditary disease porphyria, she killed herself aged 66, unable to face yet more years of torment. His most prominent collateral descendant is Archduke Karl of Austria, great-grandson of his paternal half-brother Friedrich, who aged 52 was killed in action in the early days of the war.

Posterity does survive from the other 13 sovereigns, as can be seen from the links, but only one of them can claim a current sovereign among their descent. This is Carl Eduard of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who was the maternal grandfather of Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Ernst August III of Brunswick could make that claim, and will be able to again; Constantine II, former King of the Hellenes, is his grandson and the Prince of Asturias his great-grandson. And since Ernst August's wife was Princess Victoria of Prussia, only daughter of the Emperor Wilhelm II, he could also say as much. Another who one day will be able to is Ludwig III of Bavaria, since Prince Joseph Wenzel of Liechtenstein is his great-great-great-grandson. Due to forum size limits, I will continue what I have to say in the next post.

If you wish to reply to this topic, you are invited to do so in the discussion thread at the top of the page. This thread has been locked, for reasons explained there.