German Royalty

Book categories: History, Medieval, Franks, Charlemagne, Holy Roman Empire, Frederick III, William II, Bavaria, Palaces, Coburg, Hanover, Palatinate, Prussia, Saxony, Miscellaneous

German History & Royalty

A Concise History of Germany by Mary Fulbook. Spans the early Middle Ages to the present day.

The Cambridge Illustrated History of Germany by Martin Kitchen. Chronological account of German history from Charlemagne to the modern era. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

Mad Princes of Renaissance Germany by H. C. Erik Midelfort. As the title suggests, this is a study of insanity among German royals.

Fatherlands: State-Building and Nationhood in Nineteenth-Century Germany by Abigail Green. Focuses on the three kingdoms of Hanover, Saxony and Wurttemberg. Includes a chapter on the modernization of German monarchy.

Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany by Jonathan Petropoulos. The author, who was given unprecedented access to royal archives, tells the story of the Princes of Hesse and the important role they played in the Nazi regime. The princes made the Nazis socially acceptable to high-society patrons, but they were betrayed by Hitler and later prosecuted by the Allies.

Medieval Germany

Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany by Benjamin Arnold. Looks at why a multiplicity of states and territories emerged by the end of the Middle Ages instead of a "nation state" under the crown.

Itinerant Kingship and Royal Monasteries in Early Medieval Germany, C. 936-1075 by John W. Bernhardt examines the relationships between monarchs and monasteries.

Medieval Germany: An Encyclopedia by John M. Jeep. This A-Z encyclopedia provides in-depth coverage of the history and culture of the German and Dutch-speaking world from c.500 to 1500 CE. Includes illustrations and some 700 signed entries.

Courtly Culture: Literature and Society in the High Middle Ages by Joachim Bumke. Describes aristocratic society -- castles and clothing, weapons and transportation, food, drink, etiquette, tournaments, knighting ceremonies, and princely feasts, courtly love, and more. Out of print, but sometimes available at Alibris.

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Friedrich III

An Uncommon Woman by Hannah Pakula. Biography of the Empress Frederick, who was the daughter of Queen Victoria and mother of Wilhelm II. Her husband, Frederick III, died shortly after becoming emperor.

Dearest Vicky, Darling Fritz by John Van Der Kiste tells the tragic love story of Frederick III and his wife.

Books About Queen Victoria & Her Family

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Kaiser Wilhelm II by Christopher M. Clark. This biography explores both the ruler and his times. It covers the entire span of his life, and assesses his personal failings as a ruler.

The Kaiser and His Times by Michael Balfour is a scholarly biography of Wilhelm II.

The Kaiser and His Court by John C. G. Rohl is about Wilhelm II and the government of Germany.

Wilhelm II: The Kaiser's Personal Monarchy, 1888-1900 by John C. G. Röhl. A detailed account of the first half of the German ruler's reign.

The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II's Role in Imperial Germany edited by Annika Mombauer and Wilhelm Deist. Collection of essays examining Wilhelm II's role in imperial Germany, focusing on the later years of his reign.

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War by Robert K. Massie. Vividly describes turn-of-the-century European royal families and their role in the First World War.

King, Kaiser, Tsar: Three Royal Cousins Who Led the World to War by Catrine Clay. The story of Britain's George V, Germany's Wilhelm II, and Russia's Nicholas II. They were tied to one another by history, and history would ultimately tear them apart.

The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II by Giles MacDonogh. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

Kaiser Wilhelm II: Germany's Last Emperor by John Van Der Kiste. Out of print, but sometimes available from Alibris.

Young Wilhelm: The Kaiser's Early Life, 1859-1888 by John C. G. Rohl. Describes the future kaiser's life from his birth in 1859 to his accession in 1888. Out of print, but sometimes available from Abebooks.

Bavaria

The Utility of Splendor by by Samuel John Klingensmith. Ceremony, social life, and architecture at the court of Bavaria, 1600-1800.

Lola Montez: A Life by Bruce Seymour. Montez (real name: Eliza Gilbert) was a dancer whose love affair with King Ludwig I created such a scandal that the king was forced to abdicate.

The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria by Christopher McIntosh. "Mad King Ludwig," is best remembered today for building exotic palaces and giving financial support to composer Richard Wagner. He died mysteriously, an apparent suicide, in 1886 after being declared insane.

King Ludwig II: Reality and Mystery by Hans Rall, Michael Petzet, and Franz Merta. First published in German in 1968, this book has become a standard work on Ludwig II. This edition is translated into English. It includes a biography of the king and an essay on his relationship with the arts. Illustrated.

Furniture for the Dream King: Ludwig II and Anton Possenbacher, Munich Cabinet-maker to the Bavarian Court by Afra Shick, photographs by Rainer Herrmann, Ulrich Pfeuffer, Maria Scherf. Possenbacher created furnishings for Bavaria's "Mad King" Ludwig II. He also designed for other rulers, such as King Charles I of Romania. This book introduces his furnishings in historical context.

A Palace for the Heart: Laments for Ludwig II by Nick Norwood. American elegiac poetry about King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

King Ludwig's Castle: Germany's Neuschwanstein by Lisa Trumbauer. For children ages 9 to 12.

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Movie About King Ludwig

Ludwig. Haunting 1972 movie about Ludwig II's tragic life starring Helmut Berger as the king. (Formatted for North American audiences.)

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German Castles & Palaces

Books About German Castles & Palaces

Coburg

The Coburg Conspiracy: Royal Plots and Manoeuvres by Richard E. Sotnick. At the dawn of the 19th century, the Duchy of Coburg was small, poor, and had no influence. One hundred years later, the genes of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family ran in 13 royal families. How did they achieve this turnaround? Available from Alibris.

Hanover

England Und Hannover/England and Hanover by Adolf M. Birke, edited by Kurt Kluxen.

Palatinate

The Winter King

The Winter King: Frederick V of the Palatinate and the Coming of the Thirty Years' War by Brennan C. Pursell, David M. Jones. A detailed biographical account of Frederick V, elector Palatine of the Rhine and king of Bohemia, and an examination of the reasons for the war.

The Winter Queen

The Winter Queen: The Story of Elizabeth Stuart by Josephine Ross. A 1979 biography. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

The Winter Queen by Carola Oman. Biography of Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of Britain's James I and wife of Bohemia's Frederick I. She suffered poverty and exile after the death of her husband. The Hanoverian kings of England were descended from Elizabeth. From Alibris.

The Winter Queen by Jane Stevenson. Novel, set in 17th century Holland, in which Elizabeth of Bohemia secretly marries an African prince. First book in a trilogy.

The Shadow King by Jane Stevenson. This sequel to The Winter Queen tells the story of Balthasar Stuart, the child of Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia and her secret husband Pelagius, an African prince.

The Empress of the Last Days by Jane Stevenson. Third book in the trilogy. A group of modern scholars discover that the true queen of England may be a young scientist who is the last living descendant of a black prince, Pelagius, and Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia.

The King's Daughter by Christie Dickason. Set in the court of Britain's King James I, this novel tells the story of his daughter Elizabeth, whose love match with Frederick of Bohemia, Elector Palatine, is opposed by her parents. Available from Alibris.

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Other

The Correspondence Between Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia and Rene Descartes translated by Lisa Shapiro. Between 1643 and 1649, Princess Elisabeth of Bohemia (daughter of Frederick V) and René Descartes exchanged 58 letters discussing metaphysics and philosophy. This book also includes Elisabeth's correspondence with the Quakers William Penn and Robert Barclay.

Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier by Charles Spencer. The son of Elector Palatine Frederick V, Prince Rupert of the Rhine commanded Royalist forces during the English Civil War. This is the first comprehensive biography of the greatest cavalier of them all.

Prussia

Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947 by Christopher Clark. With its capital in Berlin, Prussia grew from a small medieval state into one of the most powerful nations in Europe.

History of Friedrich II of Prussia by Thomas Carlyle. The multiple volumes of this classic work have been reprinted.

Frederick the Great on the Art of War by Frederick the Great, edited by Jay Luvaas. A selection of Frederick the Great's writings on military matters.

Frederick William IV and the Prussian Monarchy 1840-1861 by David E. Barclay. The first full-scale study in English of the reign of Frederick William IV, King of Prussia from 1840 to 1861, and arguably the most important German monarch in the century between the death of Frederick the Great and the accession of William II.

Evening in the Palace of Reason: Bach Meets Frederick the Great in the Age of Enlightenment by James R. Gaines. Frederick the Great's brief conflict with composer Johann Sebastian Bach illuminates a pivotal moment in history.

Frederick the Great, Bismarck, and the Unification of Germany by Tom McGowen. For children ages 9 to 12.

Saxony

Pleasure and Ambition by Tony Sharp is about the life, loves, and wars of Augustus the Strong, king of Poland and elector of Saxony, 1670-1707.

Saxony in German History by James Retallack and Hartmut Zwahr. Culture, society, and politics, 1830-1933.

Miscellaneous

Kaspar Hauser: Europe's Child by Martin Kitchen. Kaspar Hauser was a teenager who appeared in Nuremberg, Germany in 1828. He was barely able to speak, and ate only bread and water. He claimed that he had been imprisoned in a tiny dark cell for most of his life. His supporters believed he was the rightful heir of the royal house of Baden. He was stabbed to death under mysterious circumstances in 1833. Out of print, but available from Alibris.

Books About the Habsburgs
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