The Almanach de Gotha was originally established in 1763 in Germany as a royal genealogical reference handbook listing the ruling families of Europe. It provided detailed genealogical information and was considered the authoritative source on European nobility and royalty until 1944. The original publication ended with the Soviet occupation of Gotha in 1944. In 1998, the rights to publish under the Almanach de Gotha name were acquired by a London company who began publishing a new edition, though it was criticized for lack of accuracy and poor editorial standards compared to the original German publication.

1. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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 famiies of countly rank.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Some dynastic house laws in existence today continue to exclude
members who marry a spouse from outside the Gotha Part One or Part
Two families. Dynasts loose all rights and refrain from the adoption of
ancestral titles. In some German families this can still mean forfeiture of
estates and property. However in a number of recent cases, marriages
have been contracted which clearly fall well beyond the scope of what
could be described as equal, but the head of the family at the time has
been able to rely on obscure sub-clauses of family law which allows
discretionary permission for such marriages to take place within the set
family house law concerned.

11. Listings are now in genealogical order and the issue of morganatic
marriages and the marriages themselves are now listed in the main body
of the family entry from which they derive. There are sensible reasons
for this. Previously when many more families were reigning new titles
were created and a listing under a new line, in Part Three, placed the new
generation according to rank. It was decided, however, after careful
deliberation, that the Gotha should now retain family entries intact
where they continue using the same name. However where an individual
has renounced his rights or becomes a non-dynast as a result, we have
marked this fact against the entry where it is the wish of the head of the
family that we do so. In this way dynastic breaches are still clearly
distinguished. Historically there has been a divergence of opinion on the
question of morganatic marriages. Whilst some families believed the
matter to be an issue of sacred proportions, others, such as Queen
Victoria regarded it as ridiculous.

12. Only on one occasion in Britain did the question arise, uniquely the
letters patent issued on the creation of the Dukedom of Windsor
provided for the rank and style of Royal Highness for the Duke alone and
not his wife or any subsequent issue. But that itself followed the earlier
constitutional ruling by Prime Minister Baldwin, on the advice of
lawyers, who were clear that the wife of a King was the Queen. Whereas
It is understandable why, previously a sustained and concerted effort has
been made by a caste to preserve and enhance its own status by means of
a highly complex an obscure set of rules. This did of course occasionally
lead to confusion.

13. The late Princess Alice of Albany, Countess of Athlone once recounted
that at formal receptions at the Imperial German Court in Berlin, that
Royal Highnesses were shepherded by the Court Chamberlains into a
room by themselves and were presented to the Kaiser and Kaiserin of
Germany before the other European Royals. Princess Alice recalled
that her cousin Princess Pauline of Wurttemberg, was so furious
at being separated from her beloved husband the Prince of Wied
that she never returned to the Imperial Court of Germany,
whereas Princess Alice by contrast, the daughter of one of Queen
Victoria's sons Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, but married to
HSH Prince Alexander of Teck who was the fourth child and
third son of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary,
Duchess of Teck, found the situation quite hilarious.

14. World War Two finally ended in 1945, the Soviets went on to occupy the
old Duchy of Gotha they immediately stormed the factory where the
presses were housed and within five short days, in a public display of
protest, destroyed, by burning, most of the Imperial and Royal
genealogical and heraldic archives, since the books contained detailed
references to many Royal Houses of Europe which included the
Romanov Dynasty former Imperial House of Russia, the attempt to
obliterate history was made against these milestones, the fate of the
entire archive still remains somewhat of a mystery, what was to the
Soviets a classic symbol of a degenerate bourgeois European society, was
in any case a substantial archive of Genealogy on European Royalty and
Nobility, over 100,000 maps and 80,000 books survived and the
remaining assets in Gotha were returned after reunification of Germany,
whereas the genuine 'Gotha' has not been re-published or re-issued since
1944 being the date of its last genuine edition as stated by the family of
Justus Perthes.

15. New London publication - 1998-2004
In 1989 the family of Justus Perthes re-established its right to the use of
the name Almanach de Gotha, the family then sold these rights to a new
company called Almanach de Gotha Limited which was formed in
London. Justus Perthes considers this a new work and not a
continuation of the series last published by the family in 1944 with the
181st and last genuine edition. The new publishers launched with their
1st edition on 16th of March 1998 at Claridge's Hotel in London, it was
written in English instead of French as the Editor felt that English was
now the language of diplomacy. A review in the Economist magazine
criticised the London based edition for its low editorial standards and
attacked Volume II for a purported lack of genealogical accuracy, the full
artical can be viewed below for reference.
Whereas it should be noted that the London based Almanach de Gotha
Limited has no connection to Justus Perthes other than the purchase of
rights to use the Almanach de Gotha name under licence and as such
their publication can not and should not be considered either a
continuation of the Old Gotha or in fact a Original copy of the legendary
Almanach de Gotha of the same name.
Gothic Horror
New London Almanach de Gotha - Volume II

16. Dated: Jan 24th 2002
FROM 1763 until the Russians stopped the presses when they swept into
eastern Germany towards the end of the second world war, the
Almanach de Gotha published elaborate lists and potted genealogies of
Europe's royal, semi-royal and leading ducal families. It was relaunched
in 1998-a cause for music-hall jollity, if not historical excitement. Once
again snobs and sneerers alike could work out where the Kotchoubeys de
Beauharnais, the Barbianos di Belgiojoso d'Este and the Batthyany
Strattmanns now live, whom they have married, what they do, and even-
reading between the blood lines-whether they still, ahem, count.
The sine qua non of any reference book, however frivolous, is accuracy.
Unfortunately, the latest instalment of the Almanach, which purports to
document those families that aren't quite royal but are still pretty grand,
is perhaps the most laughably sloppy product of its kind ever to have
been published. It used, in the old days, to be in French. Now it is in
English, albeit the English of someone apparently in desperate need of
both a dictionary and a spell-check function on his PC. The book's very
first page, addressing the Hamiltons of Abercorn, Ulster's only ducal
family, contains no fewer than six howlers, starting on the third line,
where a lymphad (a Viking ship common in west-coast Scottish coats of
arms) becomes a "hymphad".
Bloopers and typos abound: "moddel", "marshall", "sollicitor",
"baronett", "the Scotts Guards", "the Royal Human Society".
Translations are quirky: try "annulated" for annulled, or "secret
camerist" for chamberlain. Place-names are particularly wayward:
witness "Marocco", "Varsaw", "Turquey" and "Tchechoslovaquia". The
editor even manages to place the principality of Liechtenstein (misspelt,
of course, without its first "e") in Germany.
If the Almanach's genealogical accuracy is of a similar standard, the
matchmaking dowagers perusing its pages had better watch out. Their
eyebrows might in any event twitch if they were to read on the
Almanach's website that its editor, John Kennedy, was "a former
member of the [British] royal household" who is "separated from his
partner, Princess Lavinia of Yugoslavia". Eh? Mr Kennedy, formerly
Jovan Gvozdenovic, is a sometime Conservative candidate for parliament
who lobbied for Radovan Karadzic and once worked for Prince Michael
of Kent. Presumably he dated the lovely Lav, herself born out of wedlock
to a Karageorgevic. Gosh!
But if you go by the number of families still carrying royal-sounding
prefixes, it is the Germans, of course, who provide Europe, and the
Almanach, with its princely ballast, thanks mostly to the Holy Roman
Empire. Some 16 German families, excluding the Habsburgs and the
Liechtensteins, are deemed top-flight royalty by virtue of being more or
less sovereign at some relatively recent historical moment, and are
therefore included in the first volume. Among them is the family of

17. Reuss, all of whose males are, confusingly enough, called Heinrich, 35 of
whom were born in the last century.
The second part of volume one catalogues "mediatised princely
families": those which at some early point became subordinate to a
greater royal house. There are 47 such families, whose members all call
themselves princes and princesses. They have, it seems, survived quite
well. They still overwhelmingly marry within caste; many still live in the
ancestral schloss; they still have some cash; but few play much part in
public life or politics.
It is in the second and newest volume that one enters a realm of fully-
fledged absurdity. The choice of families is largely arbitrary. Only seven
of Britain's 24 non-royal dukedoms are chronicled, and those very
patchily; most of the others are merely mentioned in the contents pages,
while three of the grandest, Norfolk, Beaufort and Northumberland, are
ignored altogether. Of Europe's 274 non-royal but princely or ducal
families considered worthy of entry, about a hundred listed in the
contents pages are then bizarrely revealed to be extinct or documented
only in previous, pre-1944 editions. It is an almanac with a most random
kind of calendar.
How grand is a prince? In terms of commonness, Italian princeliness is
the most devalued. Some 84 Italian families pop into the book, about a
sixth of them Sicilian. (This represents a considerable drop from earlier,
more vainglorious times: in 1800 Sicily alone boasted more than 100
princely and ducal families.) The French come next, with about 40
families chosen, a quarter of which flaunt dukedoms of mostly martial
Bonapartist creation (Berthier, Davout, Junot, MacMahon, Murat and
Ney among them); roughly half of the rest are post-Revolutionary
creations. The Germans are still doing well, with another 29 third-
division princely families listed, to add to the 63 in the first volume. A
good many Russian and Polish families are given princely
documentation, though once again with some glaring omissions.
To put it kindly, there are princes and princes. At a guess, there are
probably more than 2,000 German ones-three times the number of
hereditary British peers. Britain's royal house has fewer than a score of
living princes and princesses. To the unwary Almanach-reader, they
would appear to be outshone by the family of Beguin Billecocq Durazzo,
who have a full score of members bearing a seemingly royal prefix. No
matter that their title was acquired in 1929 from Albania's King Zog
when grandpa was an insignificant French ambassador.
Old Almanach de Gotha Bookplates