Roman-German Rulers (Auerbach's Lamentation)

The Roman-German Emperor (German: Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser) was the monarch ruling over the Central European empire from the Middle Ages onward.

History of the Title
Surviving the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the title of Roman Emperor carried with it the role as protector of the Catholic Church.

The Karolingian Empire
The empire's origin can be traced back to the Merovingian Kingdom, a Frankish realm situated near the Lower Countries and eastern France. The first Roman-German Emperor was the Frank Charles the Great, ruler of the Karolingian kingdom; he was crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III in the year 800.

After the splintering of Charles' Frankish Empire due to Carolingian inheritance laws, the imperial crown passed through many powerless hands, until Otto the Great's coronation as Roman Emperor in 962 by Pope John XII established another powerful state in Central Europe, the Holy Roman Empire.

The Holy Roman Empire
During the centuries, the powers of the Holy Roman Emperors, but also their dependance upon the papacy for coronation, decreased over the centuries, especially during the Interregnum (German: Die kaiserlose, die schreckliche Zeit) of the middle ages.

The Greater German Empire
During the May Revolution of 1852, the last vestiges of the Holy Roman Empire were done away with in the Revolutionary Wars. The Greater German Empire was the first of the Roman-German realms with a written constitution and a strong democratic element, although emperor Johann was able to strengthen the monarchical element to make the new empire less appaling to the future member states.

Karolingian (Frankish) Dynasty

 * Charles I the Great, 800-814
 * Louis I the Pious, 814-840
 * Lothair I, 840-855
 * Louis II the Younger, 855-875
 * Charles II the Bald, 875-877
 * Charles III the Fat, 881–888

House of Guideschi

 * Guy, 891–894
 * Lambert, 892–898

Karolingian (Frankish) Dynasty

 * Arnulf of Carnithia, 896–899
 * Louis III the Blind, 901–905

Unruoching dynasty

 * Berengar, 915–924

Ottonian (Saxon) Dynasty

 * Otto I the Great, 962–973
 * Otto II, 973–983
 * Otto III, 996–1002
 * Henry II the Saint, 1014–1024 [1]

Salian (Frankish) Dynasty

 * Conrad II, 1027–1039 [1]
 * Henry III, 1046–1056
 * Henry IV, 1084–1105
 * Henry V, 1111–1125

Supplinburger dynasty

 * Lothair III, 1133–1137 [1]

House of Hohenstaufen

 * Frederick I Barbarossa, 1155–1190
 * Henry VI, 1191–1197

House of Welf

 * Otto IV of Brunswick, 1209–1215

House of Hohenstaufen

 * Frederick II, 1211–1250

House of Luxembourg

 * Henry VII, 1312–1313

House of Wittelsbach

 * Louis IV the Bavarian, 1328–1347

House of Luxembourg

 * Charles IV, 1355–1378
 * Sigismund, 1433–1437

House of Habsburg

 * Frederick III, 1452–1493
 * Maximilian I, 1508–1519
 * Charles V, 1530–1556
 * Ferdinand I, 1558-1564
 * Maximilian II, 1564–1576
 * Rudolf II, 1576–1612 [1]
 * Matthias, 1612–1619
 * Ferdinand II, 1619–1637
 * Ferdinand III, 1637–1657
 * Leopold I, 1658–1705
 * Joseph I, 1705–1711
 * Charles VI, 1711–1740

House of Wittelsbach

 * Charles VII Albert, 1742–1745

House of Habsburg-Lorraine

 * Francis I, 1745–1765
 * Joseph II, 1765–1790
 * Leopold II, 1790–1792
 * Francis II, 1792–1835
 * Ferdinand IV, 1835-1837
 * Francis III, 1837-1853

House of Meran

 * John, 1853-1860
 * Francis IV, 1860-1891

[1]