History of the Old Almanach de Gotha

Original Royal Genealogical Reference Handbook

Genuine Editions - 1763-1944  

The Almanach de Gotha book would enter the language in its own right with the words  'all the Gotha was there'. Historically the Gotha has listed the Ruling Imperial, Royal and Princely Families of Europe, finally coming to an end with the Soviet occupation of the former Saxon Duchy of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha in the Year 1944 after nearly 181 years of European Royal Genealogical Reference.

The Almanach provided detailed facts and statistics on nations of the world, including their reigning and formerly reigning houses, those of Europe being more complete than those of other continents. It also named the highest incumbent officers of state, members of the diplomatic corps, and Europe's upper nobility with their families. Although at its most extensive the Almanach de Gotha numbered more than 1200 pages, fewer than half of which were dedicated to monarchical or aristocratic data, it acquired a reputation for the breadth and precision of its information on royalty and nobility compared to other Almanach's. 

It was Emmanuel Christoph Klupfel (1712-76) being chaplain and later tutor to the young hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg, who was the founder of the Almanach de Gotha. The Almanach de Gotha published by Justus Perthes made its debut in the German Duchy of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha in 1763, the Court which during the 1760's under Duke Friedrich III and later under Duke Ernest II attracted Voltaire and which in the mid 1800's produced Prince Albert as consort for Queen Victoria. The Gotha's own familiar crown was stamped on the cover of what was to become the ultimate power register of the ruling classes.

The Almanach de Gotha was unmoved by government decrees or bribes, those not included in its pages found themselves thwarted, Pretenders claims left in ruins, by the publisher who would not compromise itself for either inclusion or exclusion. Napoleon's reaction was typical. On 20 October 1807 the Emperor wrote to his Foreign Minister, de Champagny: 'Monsieur de Champagny, this year's Almanach de Gotha is badly done. I protest. There should be more of the French Nobility I have created and less of the German Princes who are no longer sovereign. Furthermore, the Imperial Family of Bonaparte should appear before all other royal dynasties, and let it be clear that we and not the Bourbons are the House of France. Summon the Minister of the Interior of Gotha at once so that I personally may order these changes'.

The Almanach de Gotha simply produced two editions the following year, the first the extremely rare "Edition for France - at His Imperial Majesty's Request" and the other "The Gotha - Correct in All Detail" Historically the Gotha was the determining instrument when it came to matters of protocol. Not only were orders of precedence easily checked, but marriages between parties not listed in the same Gotha section were often considered unequal at some courts, participants thereby loosing dynastic privileges and sometimes title and rank. The term morganatic applied to the marriage; it derived from the High German morgangeba, a gift by a groom to his bride on the morning following their wedding. It indicated that this was the full and only entitlement that the wife could expect from her new husband. Morganatic marriages were often called 'left hand marriages' due to the fact that inequality in rank required the groom to use his left hand instead or the right during the wedding ceremony.

Concerning listing within the Gotha, the Ducal House of Saxe-Coburg was listed first therein well into the 19th century, usually followed by kindred sovereigns of the House of Wettin and then, in alphabetical order, other families of princely rank, ruling and non-ruling. Although always published in French, other almanacs in French and English were more widely sold internationally. The almanac's structure changed and its scope expanded over the years. The second portion, called the Annuaire diplomatique et statistique ("Diplomatic and Statistical Yearbook"), provided demographic and governmental information by nation, similar to other Almanach's. Its first portion, called the Annuaire Genealogique ("Genealogical Yearbook"), came to consist essentially of three sections: reigning and formerly reigning families, mediatized families and non-sovereign families at least one of whose members bore the title of prince or duke.  

The first section always listed Europe's sovereign houses, whether they ruled as emperor, king, grand duke, duke, prince (or some other title, e.g., prince elector, margrave, landgrave, count palatine or pope). Until 1810 these sovereign houses were listed alongside such families and entities as Barbiano-Belgiojoso, Clary, Colloredo, Furstenberg, the Emperor, Genoa, Gonzaga, Hatzfeld, Jablonowski, Kinsky, Ligne, the Order of Malta, Paar, Radziwill, Starhemberg, Thurn and Taxis, Turkey, Venice and the Order of Malta and the Teutonic Knights. In 1812, these entries began to be listed in groups. First, were German sovereigns who held the rank of grand duke or prince elector and above (the Duke of Saxe-Gotha was, however, listed here along with, but before, France.

Listed next were Germany's reigning ducal and princely dynasties under the heading "College of Princes", e.g., Hohenzollern, Isenburg, Leyen, Liechtenstein and the other Saxon duchies. They were followed by heads of non-German monarchies, i.e. Austria, Brazil, Great Britain, etc. Fourthly were listed non-reigning dukes and princes, whether mediatized or not, including Arenberg, Croy, Furstenberg alongside Batthyany, Jablonowski, Sulkowski, Porcia, and Benevento. In 1841 a third group was added to those of the sovereign dynasties and the non-reigning princely and ducal families. It was comprised exclusively of the mediatized families of countly rank recognized as belonging, since 1825, to the same historical category and sharing some of the same privileges as reigning dynasties by the various states of the German Confederation; these families were German with a few exceptions (e.g. Bentinck, Rechteren-Limpurg). The 1815 treaty of the Congress of Vienna had authorized and Article 14 of the German Confederation's Bundesakt (charter) recognized retention from the German Imperial regime of equality of birth for marital purposes of mediatized families (called Standesherren) to reigning dynasties. The Almanach added a third section consisting exclusively of mediatized families of countly rank.

In 1877, the mediatized countly families of the Holy Roman Empire were moved from section III to section II A, where they joined the princely mediatized families of Europe. For the first time in the century of its existence, the largely non-German, un-mediatized princely and ducal families of the Almanach de Gotha were removed from the same section as other non-reigning families bearing princely titles. While non-mediatized German and Austrian families (e.g. Lichnowsky, Wrede), were likewise relocated from the almanac's second to its third section, the second section's new preponderance of German families, princely and countly, which were henceforth recognized as possessing the exclusive privilege of inter-marriage with reigning dynasties was salient. Excluded were members of such historically notable Princely and Ducal families as the Rohans, Orsinis, Ursels, Norfolks, Czartoryskis, Galitzines, La Rochefoucaulds, Kinskys, Radziwills, Merodes, Dohnas and Albas. 

Although theoretically mediatized families were distinguished from Europe's other nobility by the former status of their territories as Reichsstand and their exercise within the Holy Roman Empire of "semi-sovereignty" or imperial immediacy (Reichsunmittelbarkeit), many Standesherr families, especially those bearing the comital title, had not been fully recognized as legally possessing immediate status within the Empire prior to its collapse in 1806. No other families whose highest title was count were admitted to any section of the Gotha Almanach.