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German queens


German queen is the informal title used when referring to the wife of the ruler of the Kingdom of Germany. The official titles of the wives of German kings were Queen of the Germans and later Queen of the Romans.

There has never been a German queen regnant, as women were prohibited from ruling Germany. However Empress Maria Theresa (1745-1780) is often considered to be a ruler in her own right, as she was Queen regnant of Bohemia and Hungary, and despite her husband being elected as Holy Roman Empire, it was she who ruled the Empire and continued to do so even after the death of her husband before ruling jointly with her son Emperor Joseph II.

With the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Carolingian Empire was divided. Lothair, the King of the middle Kingdom of Lotharingia or Burgundy, obtained the title of Emperor; Louis obtained Eastern Francia, the area which would become Germany. The wives of that realm's Kings are thus German Queens (or more precisely, East Francian Queens – 'Germany' is historically deemed to have developed with the election of Henry the Fowler), but not always Empresses.

With the elevation of Otto I of Germany in 962 to the Imperial title, the title 'Roman King/Emperor' became inaliably associated with the Kingdom of Germany - although a King of Germany might not bear the Imperial title, it would eventually become impossible to conceive of a Holy Roman Emperor not being King of Germany (a viewpoint reinforced with the equation of King of the Romans with King of Germany from the 12th century). Thus, the following women, though not all Holy Roman Empresses, were all Queens of Germany, and - from the inception of the Hohenstaufen dynasty - all Queens of the Romans.

In addition to the above, the following women were the wives of men who made claim to the Kingship of Germany, but who are not recognised as official Kings:


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