Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt

Albrecht VII of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (16 January 1537 – 10 April 1605) was Count of Schwarzburg and founder of the Line of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, which later received the title of Prince. He was the youngest of the surviving sons of Count Günther XL of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg and his wife Countess Elisabeth zu Ysenburg-Büdingen in Birstein.

All possessions, which were united under his father, came after the death of Günther XL in 1552 to his four surviving sons, Günther XLI, Johann Günther, Wilhelm I and Albrecht VII, who divided their country in 1571. After the deaths of childless Günther XLI in 1583 and Wilhelm I in 1597, his possessions were divided between the still living brothers Johann Günther and Albrecht VII. This partition became the beginning of two lines of the house of Schwarzburg, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, both of which existed until the post-World War I major governmental changes of 1918.

Albrecht, studied at several German universities and in Padua. From 1557 he resided at the court of the Princes of Orange-Nassau. He served from 1563 under his brother Günther in the army of King of Denmark and from 1573 lived in Rudolstadt.

Family and children

He was married twice. Firstly, on 14 June 1575 he married Countess Juliana of Nassau-Dillenburg, daughter of Count William I of Nassau-Dillenburg and had the following children:
# Count Karl Günther I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (6 November 1576 – 24 September 1630)
# Elisabeth Juliane (1 January 1578 – 28 March 1658)
# Sophie (1 March 1579 – 24 August 1630), married on 30 March 1595 to Count Jobst II of Barby-Mühlingen
# Magdalene (12 April 1580 – 22 April 1632), married on 22 May 1597 to Heinrich II Reuss zu Gera
# Count Ludwig Günther I of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (27 May 1581 – 4 November 1646)
# Albrecht Günther I (8 August 1582 – 20 January 1634)
# Anna Sybilla (14 March 1584 – 22 August 1623), married on 15 November 1612 to Count Christian Günther I of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
# Katharina Maria (13 July 1585 – 19 January 1659)
# Katharina Susanna (13 February 1587 – 19 April 1662)
# Heinrich Günther, died young in 1589

Secondly, on 2 March 1591 he married with Countess Albertine Elisabeth of Leiningen-Westerburg, but this marriage was childless.