His father, Günther XL, had united all of the Schwarzburg possessions. After he died in 1552, the county inherited by his four surviving sons,
Günther XLI,
John Günther I,
William I and Albrecht VII, who divided their country in 1572. After the deaths of childless Günther XLI in 1583 and Wilhelm I in 1597, his possessions were divided between the still living brothers Johann Günther and Albrecht VII. This partition became the beginning of two lines of the
house of Schwarzburg,
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and
Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, both of which existed until the post-
World War I major governmental changes of 1918. Albrecht, studied at several German universities and in
Padua. From 1557 he resided at the court of the Prince of
Orange-Nassau. He served from 1563 under his brother Günther XLI in the army of King of
Denmark and from 1573 lived in
Rudolstadt. ==Family and children==