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GERMAN EMPIRE.
(Deutsches Reich.) Reigning Emperor and King.
Wilhelm II.» German Emperor, and King of Prussia, born January 27, 1859, became German Emperor June 15, 1888 (see Prussia).
Heir Apparent.
Prince Friedrich JVilhclm, born May 6, 1882, eldest son of the Emperor- King (see Prussia).
The present German Empire is essentially different from the Holy Roman Empire which came to an end in 1806, amid the convulsion of the Napoleonic wars, and of which Austria was the leading member. The East Frankish or Germanic throne, after the extinction of the Karling line, was filled by election, though with a tendency towards the hereditary principle of succession. At first the King and Emperor was chosen by the vote of all the great Princes of the realm ; but the mode came to be changed in the thirteenth century, when a limited number of princes, fixed at seven for a time, and afterwards enlarged to eight (nine from 1692 to 1777), assumed the privilege of disposing of the crown, and, their right being acknowledged, were called Electors. The election of Wilhelm I., King of Prussia, as Geiman Emperor (1871) was by vote of the Reichstag of the North German Confederation, on the initiative of all the reigning Princes of Germany. The Imperial dignity is hereditary in the House of Hohenzollern, and follows the law of primogeniture.
Since Charles the Great was crowned by the Pope at Rome Emperor of the West in the year 800, there have been the following German Kings and Roman Emperors, those never crowned or called Emperor being marked with an asterisk : —
House oj Charles the Great. Karl I., *DerGrosse' . 800-814 Ludwig I., ' Der Fromme ' 814-840 Ludwig II., * Der Deutsche ' 843-876 KarllL, 'Der Kahle' . 876-877 Karl, ' Der Dicke ' . . 881-887 Arnulf .... 887-899
- Ludwig III., 'Das Kind' 899-911
House of Franconia.
- Konrad I. . , . 911-918
House of Saxony.
- HeinrichI., 'DerVogel-
steller' . . . 919-936
Otto I., ' Der Grosse ' . 936-973 Otto II. ... 973-983
Otto III ... 983-1002
Heinrich II. * Der Heilige ' 1003-1024
House of Franconia. Konradll., 'DerSalierV 1024-1039
Heinrich III. Heinrich IV. Heinrich V.
1039-1056 1056-1106 1106-1125
House of Saxony. Lothar II., * Der Sachse ' 1125 House of Hohenstaufen.
Barbarossa '
- Konrad III.
Friedrich I., Heinrich VI. .
- Philipp and rivals .
Otto IV. of Brunswick Friedrich II. .
- Konrad IV. .
- Wilhelm of Holland
1138- 1152- 1190- 1198- 1208- 1215- 1250- 1254-
-1137
1152 1190 1197 1208 1215 1250 1254 1256
The Great Interregnum.
- Richard of Cornwall . 1256-1272
House of Habshurg.
- RudolfI. . . . 1273-1291
