Monarchy of Germany
 | This articlepossibly containsoriginal research.(September 2019) |
| Monarchy ofGermany | |
|---|---|
Federal | |
 | |
 Wilhelm II | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Imperial and Royal Majesty |
| First monarch | William I |
| Last monarch | William II |
| Formation | 18 January 1871 |
| Abolition | 9 November 1918 |
| Residence | Stadtschloss,Berlin |
| Appointer | Hereditary |
TheMonarchy of Germany(theGerman Monarchy) was the system of government in which ahereditary monarchwas the sovereign of theGerman Empirefrom 1871 to 1918.
History
[edit]The Monarch of Germany was created with the proclamation of the President of theNorth German Confederationand theKing of Prussia,William I of Prussia,as "German Emperor"during theFranco-Prussian War,on 18 January 1871 at thePalace of Versailles.
The titleGerman Emperor(German:Deutscher Kaiser) was carefully chosen byMinister President of PrussiaandChancellor of the North German ConfederationOtto von Bismarckafter discussion until (and after) the day of the proclamation. William I accepted this title grudgingly as he would have preferred "Emperor of Germany" which was, however, unacceptable to the federated monarchs, and which would also have signalled a claim to lands outside of his reign (Austria,Switzerland,Luxembourgetc.). The titleEmperor of the Germans,as had proposed at theFrankfurt Parliamentin 1848, was ruled out as he considered himself chosen "By the Grace of God",not by the peopleas in a democracy.
By this ceremony, theNorth German Confederationwas transformed into theGerman Empire.This empire was afederal monarchy;the emperor was head of state andpresidentof thefederated monarchs(thekingsofBavaria,Württemberg,Saxony,thegrand dukesofOldenburg,Baden,Mecklenburg-Schwerin,Hesse,as well as other principalities, duchies and of thefree citiesofHamburg,LübeckandBremen).
Some organisations such asTradition und Lebenadvocate a return to monarchy; however, there is currently little mainstream support for a restoration of the monarchy.[citation needed]
List of German monarchs
[edit]| Monarch | Consort | Reign | Royal House | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Portrait | Name | Portrait | Name | Reign start | Reign end | |
| 1 | 
|
EmperorWilliam I (1797–1888) Kaiser Wilhelm I |
|
EmpressAugusta (1811–1890) Kaiserin Auguste |
18 January1871 [1] |
9 March1888 | House of Hohenzollern |
| 2 | 
|
EmperorFrederick III (1831–1888) [2] Kaiser Friedrich III |
|
EmpressVictoria (1840–1901) [3] Kaiserin Viktoria |
9 March1888 | 15 June1888 | House of Hohenzollern |
| 3 |
|
EmperorWilliam II (1859–1941) Kaiser Wilhelm II |
|
EmpressAugusta Victoria (1858–1921) Kaiserin Auguste Viktoria |
15 June1888 | 9 November1918 (Abdicated) |
House of Hohenzollern |
Heads of the House of Hohenzollern
[edit]Despite theabolition of the monarchy in 1918,the House of Hohenzollern never relinquished their claims to the thrones of Prussia and the German Empire. These claims are linked by theConstitution of the German Empire:according to this, whoever was King of Prussia was also German Emperor. However, these claims are not recognised by theFederal Republic of Germanyor anyone else, this included theWeimar Republic,Nazi GermanyandWestorEastGermany.
In 1933Prince Williamrenounced his claim to the former throne when he marriedDorothea von Salviati,in 1940 William II accepted Dorothea and his daughters Felicitas and Christa as dynastic members thus styled HRH Dorothea, Princess of Prussia, HRH Felicitas, Princess of Prussia and HRH Christa, Princess of Prussia, Prince William was killed in 1940.
Prince Louis Ferdinandwho was third in line of the succession by 1933, his first son Prince Friedrich Wilhelm renounced his claim in 1967 to marry Waltraud Freytag whom he divorced in 1975 and his second son Prince Michael renounced his claim in 1966 to marry Jutta Jörn like his brother he divorced her in 1982, then his third son Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia, Jr. was involved in a severe accident during military maneuvers when he was pinned between two vehicles. Although his leg was amputated, he succumbed several weeks later to the trauma and died in 1977.
Prince George Frederickinherited from his grandfather, and during his time as head of House of Hohenzollern his two uncles Princes Friedrich Wilhelm and Michael challenged him to a lawsuit claiming that, despite their renunciations asdynastsat the time of their marriages, the loss of their inheritance rights based on their selection of spouse was discriminatory and unconstitutional.[4]His uncles were initially successful, the Regional Court ofHechingenand the higher Regional Court ofStuttgartruling in their favour in 1997 on the grounds that the requirement tomarry equallywas "immoral".[5]However, theFederal Court of Justice of Germanyoverturned the original rulings in favour of Georg Friedrich's uncles, the case beingremandedto the courts atHechingenandStuttgart.This time both courts ruled in favour of Georg Friedrich. His uncles then took their case to theFederal Constitutional Court of Germanywhich overruled the previous court rulings in Georg Friedrich's favour.[4]On 19 October 2005, a German regional court ruled that Georg Friedrich was indeed the principal heir of his grandfather, Louis Ferdinand (who was the primary beneficiary of thetrustset up for the estate of Wilhelm II), but also concluded that each of the children of Louis Ferdinand was entitled to a portion of the Prussian inheritance.[citation needed]
| Pretender | Consort | Reign | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Portrait | Name | Portrait | Name | Reign start | Reign end |
| 1 |
|
EmperorWilliam II (1859–1941) |
|
EmpressAugusta Victoria (1858–1921) |
9 November1918[6] | 4 June1941 |
|
EmpressHermine Reuss (1887–1947) | |||||
| 2 | 
|
Crown PrinceWilliam (1882–1951) |
|
Crown PrincessCecilie (1886–1954) |
4 June1941 | 20 July1951 |
| 3 | 
|
PrinceLouis Ferdinand (1907–1994) |
|
PrincessKira Kirillovna (1909–1967) |
20 July1951 | 26 September1994 |
| 4 | 
|
PrinceGeorge Frederick (1976–) |
|
PrincessSophie (1978–) |
26 September1994 | |
Imperial and Royal Consorts
[edit]- Princess Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach(wife ofEmperor William I)
- Princess Victoria, Princess Royal(wife ofEmperor Frederick III)
- Princess Augusta Viktoria of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg(first wife ofEmperor William II)
- Princess Hermine Reuss of Greiz(second wife ofEmperor William II)
- Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin(wife ofCrown Prince Wilhelm)
- Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia(wife ofPrince Louis Ferdiand)
- Princess Sophie of Isenburg(wife ofPrince Georg Friedrich)
See also
[edit]
- German State Crown
- Crown of Wilhelm II
- List of heads of state of Germany
- List of heirs to the Prussian throne
- List of monarchs of Prussia
- List of Prussian consorts
References
[edit]- ^President of theNorth German Confederationsince 1 July 1867 and King ofPrussiasince 2 January 1861
- ^Enumerated as successor ofFrederick IIwho was King of Prussia 1740–1786 but not German Emperor.
- ^AlsoPrincess Royal of the United Kingdom
- ^abThe Hohenzollern Succession Dispute
- ^Andrew Gimson,"Kaiser's rule on marriage still applies to heirs"[dead link],The Telegraph(18 December 1998).
- ^His abdication was announced by the chancellor on 9 November and the king went into exile in the Netherlands. He did not formally abdicate until 28 November.