C harlemagne I (the great) 768-814, emperor 800-814

L ouis I (the pious) 814-840, Emperor 813-840

I nterregnum, civil war 840-843 Charlemagne´s heirs achieved advantages in the treaty of Vernun, in 843. Louis (the German) achieved control over land east of the Rhen and the Aare, among other things.

L ouis II (the German) 843-876

C arloman 876-882 (King of Bavaria) Louis III (the younger) 876-882 (King of Saxony, Thuringia, Franconia, and from 880, King of Bavaria)

C harles III (the fat) 876-887 (King of Swabia until 882, afterward, King of the whole Kingdom. Emperor 881-888)

A rnulf 887-899, emperor 896-899 False son of Carloman. After inheriting the duchy of Kärnten in advance, he later became the East Frankish King, after Charles III had been dethroned. He prevailed in Loewen against the Normands in 891, and occupied Rome later, as well, whereupon he was crowned emperor by the pope in 896.

L ouis IV (the child) 900-911

C onrad I 911-918 Sought help of the bishops to strengthen the German kingdom. However, his opponents, the Saxons, had an influence of such a degree, among other things in Bavaria, Swabia and Franconia, that this was hardly possible. In spite of the conflicts with the Saxons , he supported Henry´s admission to be king, when he stood before his own decease.

H enry I (the fowler) 919-936 A German kingdom could in conjunction with this man be said to have been definitely established. The status of the church and the nobility were consolidated. In 929, the inhabitants of Bohemia were made obligated to pay tax before the crown. In 934, Gnupa was defeated in Slesvig. ”The fowler” is an inadequate epithet, arisen from following tall stories.

O tto I (the great) 936-973, emperor 962-973 Fullfilled the strategy of his father, Henry, by increasing the support of the church, and appointing followers of his to dukes, thus achieving control over the tribal duchies. Took land from the Slavs in an advancement all the way to Oder. In 955, he won a victory against the Magyars, and their adherent rebellionists, among them his own son, Ludolf. The kingdom that was established through Otto I was called the German Roman Empire.

O tto II 973-983, emperor 967-983 Son of the former. Defended the kingdom sucessfully against various entries from Danes (in 974), Slavs and the French ( in 980, Lorraine), and against rebellious princes. Did, however, fail in a battle against the Saracens, in 980.

O tto III 983-1002, emperor 996-1002 Was driven by mysterious religious and ascetic ideals, and failed in his attempts to establish the old Roman positions, the northern most parts of the kingdom, which resulted in their decay.

H enry II (the holy) 1002-1024, emperor 1014-1024 Heir of Henry I, descending from an unbroken line. Elected king after Otto III:s decease in 1002. Much like his forerunners, he made good use of his contacts with the church, in order to consolidate his power. Gained control over Italy from Harduin in 1014.

C onrad II 1024-1039, emperor 1027-1039 Worked for internal consolidating, and gained Burgundy in 1032.

H enry III 1039-1056, emperor 1046-1056 Son of Conrad II. In 1028, he was crowned king, and he acceded in 1039. Claimed his power internally, by avoiding concentrations of power in addition to that of his own. Appointed the Pope Clemens II. He engaged in battle against Hungary several times.

H enry IV 1056-1105, emperor 1084-1105 Son of Henry III and his last consort, Agnes of Aquitaine. He did not became of age until in 1065, and ruled previously under guardianship. He was dethroned in a rebellion in 1074, but returned the following year, although with diminished power. He had to seek reconciliation after a conflict with Pope Gregorius VII. Nevertheless, he seized complete influence over Germany in 1080, and elected a new pope, Clemens III, at that point. Occupied Rome after crossing the Alps in 1081.He was forced to abdicate, by, and to the benefit of his own son, Henry V, in 1105.

R udolph of Swabia 1077-1080, Duke of Swabia, counter king

H erman 1081-1088, Count of Salm, counter king

C onrad 1087-1098, joint regent

H enry V 1105-1125, emperor 1111-1125 Won the crown after an oath-breaking rebellion against the father. Concordate with the church in 1122.

L othar II 1125-1137, emperor 1133-1137 Lother was crowned emperor, instead of Henry V:s nephew, Fredrik of Swabia, through the help of the Arch Bishop Adalbert. Lothars daughter, Gertrud, was married to Henry the proud, in an alliance, in which Lothar could claim his power against Conrad and Fredrik.. Occupied Selerno and Naples through battle, but died shortly after that.

C onrad III 1127-1135 (the first time) Grandson of Henry IV. Counter king of Lothar in 1126, but stepped aside for him in 1135.

C onrad III 1138-1157 (the second time). King, once again, after Lothars death, and remained so since then, in spite of resistance from Duke Henry the proud. Crusader between 1047 and 1049.

H enry 1147-1150, joint regent

F redrik I Barbarossa 1152-1090, emperor 1155-1190 Strengthened the royal power once again, principally by peaceful means. Received Burgundy (Arelat) through marriage. Performed various measures, with the intention to strengthen control over Northern Italy, among other things by appointing imperial officials there. Managed to secure peace with Pope Alexander III in 1177, after various differences with him.

H enry VI 1190-1197, emperor 1191-1197 Son of Fredrik I. Married to Constanza of Sicily in 1168, in whose hereditary kingdom he was crowned king in 1194. Died in Messina.

P hilip of Swabia 1198-1208, Duke of Swabia. Murdered in 1208.

O tto IV 1198-1214, emperor 1209-1214, Rome. Emperor 1182-1218 Arch Bishop Adolf identified him as a proper king, while the house of Hohenstaufen chose Phillip, at the same time. Won the acknowledgement of the pope in 1201, but wasn´t crowned until 1209, after the murder of Phillip, various misfortunes in war, and a new election. Fell into papal disfavour and was excommunicated in 1210.

F rederick II 1212-1250, emperor 1220-1250 Son of Henry VI. As an ally to Pope Innocentius III, in his confrontation with Otto IV, he was proposed to be the king of Germany, and was crowned to that in 1212, and in 1220 to emperor, as well. Did not fulfill an earlier promise to go on crusade until in 1228, whose delayed execution had made Gregorius IX excommunicate him at an earlier point. Secured peace with the pope in 1230, but renewed discord, and a new excommunication was added after Frederick II:s victory at Cortenuova in 1237. A great number of pacts was launched against him, causing much complication, until his death in 1250

H enry 1220-1235 Joint Regent Son of Frederick II. Was in prison after 1235, as a result of opposition against the father.

H enry Raspe 1246-1247, Viscount of Thuringia A counter king, appointed by Frederick II:s renegade princes.Wilhelm 1247-1256, Count of Thuringia A counter king, contemporary to Fredrik II, appointed on the same basis as Henry Raspe.

C onrad IV 1250-1254 interregnum 1254-1273

R udolph I -Hapsburg- 1273-1291 Performed conquests against Ottokar II of Bohemia, and deprived him of his state properties, which later on was made over to Rudolphs sons. Took care of building the foundations for the future influence of the Habsburg dynasty.

A dolf -Nassau- 1292-1298 Seized the crown by giving great concessions to the electors. In the following conflict, when he tried to expand his power, they allied with the later Albrecht I, and had Adolf murdered.

A lbrecht I -Hapsburg- 1298-1308 Son of Rudolph I. Fought for the crown with Adolf of Nassau, and succeded in this intention when Adolf was killed.

H enry VII -Luxembourg- 1308-1313, emperor 1312-1313 Progenitor of the house of Luxembourg. Henry gave away Bohemia to his son Johan in 1310. Got into a conflict with King Robert of Naples.

L ouis IV (the Bavarian) -Wittelsbach- 1314-1347, emperor1328-1347

F rederick III (the beautiful) -Hapsburg- 1314-1326 Son of Albrecht I. Was arranged by the Austrians, as a counter king against Louis IV, which was supported by the Luxembourgs. Was captured by Louis in 1322, and was not released until 3 years later, after promising that he would relinquish the crown. Following intervention from his brothers and renewed hostilities, it was finally agreed that Germany was to be administrated by Frederick, while Louis kept Italy.

C harles IV -Luxembourg- 1346-1378, emperor 1355-1378 Son of Johan of Luxembourg. Was suggested and made king by 5 electors, among other things, who wanted him as a counterweight to Louis. Charles was a powerful regent, with partly humanistic ideals. He strengthened the feudal system, and worked towards a good, German economy and culture.

G ünther -Schwarzburg- 1349 A counter king of Charles IV, pointed out by the Wittelsbachian party. However, he renounced all claims to the crown in exchange for 20000 marks.

W enzel IV -Luxembourg- 1378-1400 Son of Charles IV. Various unsettled matters between him, the nobility, and his friends, led to his imprisonment in 1394, and his dethronement in 1400.

R uprecht of Pfalz -Wittelsbach- 1400-1410

S igmund -Luxembourg- 1410-1437

J obst -Luxembourg- 1410-1411, counter king

A lbrech II 1438-1439 Fredrik III (IV, as king) 1440-1493, emperor 1452-1493 The ecclestiastical power of the pope was strengthened in a concordate, in the year of 1448. Frederick II arranged a marriage between his son Maximilian and Maria of Burgundy, an event that triggered a conflict with France that wasn´t settled until the Treaty of Senlis came about in 1493. As a consequent of dubious political turns, Wienna and Hungary was relinqushed to Matthias Corvinus.

M aximilian I 1493-1519, emperor 1508-1519 Son of Fredrik IV. He gained, through the marriage between himself and Maria of Burgundy, which was arranged by his father, influence in her inherited area, in advance. Wienna was taken back in the year of1490, upon which the Tyrol was assigned to, later on, as well. Sided against the French Karl III, after his attack against Italy, and gained in cooperation with the Netherlands certain grounds in northern France. Regarding domestic politics, Maximilian strived to empower the constitution and the tax system of the kingdom. He revealed likewise interest for literary and artistic projects.

C harles V 1519-1556, emperor 1558-1564

F erdinand I 1556-1564, emperor 1558-1564

M aximilian II 1564-1576 Son of Ferdinand I. In 1548, he married his cousin, Maria of Spain. An attempt of his, to take over the Polish royal crown, was quenched by Stefan IV, his opponent. In 1568, he secured a truce with the Osmans, after an unsuccessful war. Maximilian awarded the protestants the right to their religious beliefs, perhaps partly as a result of protestant tendencies, that he had when he was young. Maximilian II died in Regensburg, in 1576.

R udolph II 1576-1612 Son of Maximilian II. Rudolph II had a strictly religious view on the state of things, which in combination with a decreasingly sound mind, complicated ruling activities. He isolated himself, and great anxiety broke out in various parts of the country. He was finally compelled to resign the royal crown to his brother, Matthias, and passed way, shortly after that. Nevertheless did he during his time have the time to manifest his interest for science, among other things as a patron to Kepler and Tycho Brahe.

M atthias 1612-1619 Took a mediating stance in those conflicts that chracterized the kingdom during this time. The difficulties were significant.

F erdinand II 1619-1637 A cousin of Matthias, who had a strictly catholic world view. Spent much time fighting all visible expressions of protestantism, which was in line with the way, among other things, that opened the thirty year war. Was waged war upon by Gustav Adolf, who became the object of great, although, temporary success. Ferdinand III 1637-1657 Son of Ferdinand III. The setbacks in the wars against Swedish-French forces compelled him to secure peace in 1648, the so called Westphalian peace.

L eopold I 1658-1705 Complications during his time allowed him to strengthen the position in Austria, against the French and the Turks. His main interests concerned religion and the power of the house of Hapsburg, however.

J osef I 1705-1711 Son of Leopold and his third spouse, Eleonora of Pfalz. Quenched a rebellion in Hungary. Much of his royal deed was occupied by the events during the war of the Spanish sucession, otherwise. Hereby linked events took place mainly in Southern Germany, West Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Spanish Netherlands, and a peaceful solution was not achieved until after the death of Josef I, then in connection with the peace conference of Rastatt (Baden), 3 years later. Since Josef I did not have any sons, at the time of his death, the kingly office was inherited by the brother.

C harles VI 1711-1740 Son of Leopold and his third spouse, Eleonora of Pfalz.

i nterregnum 1740-1742

C harles VII 1742-1745

F ranz I 1745-1765

J osef II 1765-1790 Son of Franz I and Maria Teresia and a friend of the ideals of the Age of Enlightment. After the death of his mother, he tried to implement a great number of reforms, of which several were of a humanistic, centralistic and anti-ecclestiastical kind. Many of the reforms met fierce resistance, was withdrawn, and did not really gain success until the 1900th century. Fought the Turks, without success, in alliance with Russia. Hired Mozart as imperial chamber composer in 1788.

L eopold II 1790-1792 Son of Franz I and Maria Teresia. Initiated his time of ruling by reducing the disturbances caused by his brother Josef´s reforms. Finished the war against the Turks in 1791. At first he remained expectant towards France after the revolution, but after the peace treaty with the Turks, he joined an alliance, which was directed towards the revolutionairies. Franz II 1792-1806

W ilhelm I 1871-1888 Received a military upbringing, which, together with strict conservatism, manifested itself in his political achivements. As Preussian ruler, he was at war with Napoleon between 1813 and 1815. The revolution in 1848 was very much directed toward himself, which is why he, before his return, and later on, after the claiming of the throne, was compelled to stay in London as an exile In the role of a king, he performed a number of reforms concerning the army. Cooperated with Bismarck, when he worked as Minister President.Bismarck is considered, in a historic sense, to be the mainly responsible for the German Empire.

F redrik III 1888

W ilhelm II 1888-1918

F riedrich Ebert 1919-1925 Son of a tailor and Germany´s first President. In 1900 he became a delegate of the Municipal Council in Bremen, in 1905 he became a minister in the board of the Social Democrats, and in 1916 he became the chairman in their parliamentary group. Joined a shared Presidency with Haase in 1918, after aquiring the State Chancellor Office. In 1919, he was elected temporary president, a seat that was extended. He was accused of treason after participating in the management of a strike in 1918, and he was also sentenced at court for his acting.Walter Simons 1925, deputy president

P aul von Hindenburg 1925-1934 Chief of the 8th army in East Prussia during world war one, and gained victories at Tannenberg and the Mazurian lakes, that gained attention. Beat the Russians in Mazuria on the 15th of february in 1915. He was appointed general colonel and chief commander of the entire German force on the eastern front. Several military breakthroughs followed; at Gorlice-Tarn-W, in may, and after Hindenburg had been appointed chief of the general staff, against the French. An unsuccessful great offensive in 1918, however, caused Hindenburg to demand negotiations regarding a truce. After making the truce at Versaille, and securing peace at a high price, Hindenburg was not elected as the president of the German kingdom until 1925.

A dolf Hitler 1934-1945 Austrian and son of a customs officer. At the outbreak of world war one, he announced himself as a volunteer, and later, he served as corporal, and gained a medal of courage. When the war was over, he began his political career, and became leader of the national socialist party in 1921. Hitler was imprisoned during nine months for his participating in the unsuccessful, so called, beer hall coup, and formulated the political program of national socialism in Mein Kampf, during this time.

D uring the depression in the 1930, his party became the biggest in Germany, upon which Hindenburg gave him the task to form a government. After the fire in the Reichstag building and a successful election, Hitler was due for takeover as a dictator. Confrontation with Germany´s enemies since world war one now led to yet another war, world war two, during which Hitler personally took responsibility over the military strategy of Germany. Great, initial military successes was after a few years followed by setbacks, and Hitler comitted suicide when Sovjet troops broke into Berlin.

K arl Dönitz 1945

T heodor Heuss 1949-1959 After world war two he founded the German Liberal Democratic Party. Contributed as chairman in this matter, when BRDs constitution was prepared. In 1949 he was elected president.

H einrich Lübke 1959-1969 Son of a shoemaker. He studied , among other things, agriculture, national economy, and administrative law, with interruptions for world war one. He became a delegate in the federal state parliament in1931, but was suspended at the time of the national socialist takeover, with inquiry for suspected corruption. Worked with architecture and weapon systems during world war two. In 1947 he became a minister through the CDU, in which he joined after the war, and in 1959 he became President of the BRD. The idea behind his politics is to work for a broad cooperation and solidarity between countries. Towards the end of his presedency, Lübkes health was seriously weakened, and he died in 1972.

G ustav Heinemann 1969-1974 Gustav W. Heinemanns father was a director at a health insurance company. Gustav was born in 1899 and participated in world war one as a soldier, but not at the front, for reasons of health. In 1918 he begun studies in economy, law and history. He married Hilda Ordemann in 1926, and had 4 children with her, later on. He took an interest in christianity and became a member of the Christian Democratic Party, eventually. In 1966 he became a minister of a broad coalition. He gained a reputation of being being imbribable and righteous. He worked for normalization in the eastward connections.

W alter Scheel 1974-1979

K arl Carstens 1979-1984

R ichard von Weizsäcker 1984-1994 Weizsäcker received a university education in Oxford, Grenoble and Göttingen, with alignment towards law and history. In 1984 he was elected president of Germany, and was re-elected five years later. He worked under chairmanship in the commission of safety and future of the German military. Later he participated on demand from Romano Prodi as one of three key persons in the preparation of routines in the expansion of the European Union.

R oman Herzog 1994- He came from Bavaria to the university of Munich, where he made a career in the scientific areas of law and politics. In 1965 he became a professor with alignment towards these areas. He mobilized a commitment within the protestant church, as well, and became a member of the synod in 1972. In 1978 he was appointed education minister, in addition to responsibility of culture- and sport issues. In 1980 he was elected chairman of the protestant team of the CDU. After further successes, he became President in 1994.

   Kåre Andersson