Günther von Schwarzburg

Born as the younger son of Henry VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Blankenburg (c. 1267–1324) and his wife, Christine von Gleichen (c. 1268).

He married Elisabeth von Honstein-Klettenberg (c. 1302–1380), daughter of Count Heinrich IV, on 9 September 1331.

Günther distinguished himself as a diplomat in the service of Emperor Louis IV on whose death in 1347 he was offered the throne after it had been refused by Edward III of England.

Günther, who had become seriously ill, renounced all claims to the throne for the sum of 20,000 marks of silver[1] on 26 May 1349 in the Treaty of Eltville, which also included amnesty for his followers.

Günther von Schwarzburg is also the subject of a Singspiel in three acts by Ignaz Holzbauer, first performed in 1777.