Adam, Count of Schwarzenberg

Adam Graf von Schwarzenberg
Count of Schwarzenberg
Adam, Graf von Schwarzenberg, as a knight of the Order of Saint John: portrait from the private collection of Dr. Alexander Rothkop
Son	Johann Adolf, Prince of Schwarzenberg
Wife	Margaretha Freiin Hartard von Pallant
Detail Titles and styles Governor of Brandenburg
Father	Adolf, Count of Schwarzenberg
Mother	Margaretha Freiin Wolff von Metternich
Born	26 August 1583 Gimborn, County of Mark
Died	14 March 1641(1641-03-14) (aged 57)

Adam Graf von Schwar(t)zenberg (26 August 1583 – 14 March 1641) was a German official who advised George William, Elector of Brandenburg, during the Thirty Years' War and served as the Master of the Johanniterorden, the Bailiwick of Brandenburg of the Order of Saint John (1625−41).

Schwarzenberg was born in Gimborn in the County of Mark. He was the son of Adolf, Count of Schwarzenberg, and a member of the House of Schwarzenberg from Franconian Seinsheim. The family was first documented in 1172 and elevated to the status of Reichsgraf in 1599. His mother was Margaretha Freiin Wolff von Metternich.

In 1600 Schwarzenberg inherited the title and lordship of his father, who died fighting the Ottoman Empire. In 1609, he supported Elector John Sigismund's claims to Jülich and Cleves.

Schwarzenberg married Margaretha Freiin Hartard von Pallant in 1613, but his wife died two years later while giving birth to his second son, Johann Adolf. Rather than remarrying, Schwarzenberg entered the Johanniterorden, becoming its Herrenmeister ("Lord of the Knights", or Grand Master) in 1625. He retained that office until his death, sixteen years later.

In the following years, Schwarzenberg became a member of Brandenburg's Privy Council, where he quickly acquired a position of prominence, especially regarding Brandenburg-Prussia's Rhenish territories. He also used his stature in the Bergisches Land to secure the elevation of his Gimborn homeland to the reichsunmittelbar Lordship of Gimborn-Neustadt. Schwarzenberg reached the height of his power during the reign of Elector George William. Although the Margraviate of Brandenburg was predominantly Lutheran and its prince was Calvinist, the Roman Catholic Schwarzenburg advocated the imperial interests of Austria's Catholic Habsburg Monarchy.