| Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg | ||||||
| State of the Holy Roman Empire, State of the German Confederation, State of the North German Confederation, State of the German Empire, State of the Weimar Republic | ||||||
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| Anthem Heil unserm Herzog, heil (Hail to our Duke, hail!) | ||||||
 Saxe-Altenburg within the German Empire
 Ernestine duchies after 1825, showing Saxe-Altenburg in orange | ||||||
| Capital | Altenburg | |||||
| Government | Principality | |||||
| Duke of Saxe-Altenburg | ||||||
| - | 1603–13 | Christian II, Elector of Saxony (regent for Johann Philipp) | ||||
| - | 1669–72 | Johann Georg II, Elector of Saxony (regent for Friedrich Wilhelm III) | ||||
| - | 1826–34 | Friedrich | ||||
| - | 1908–18 | Ernst II | ||||
| History | ||||||
| - | Saxe-Weimar partitioned | 7 July 1602 | ||||
| - | Personal union with Saxe-Gotha* |
1672–1825 | ||||
| - | Ernestine duchies rearranged, duchy restored |
12 November 1826 | ||||
| - | German Revolution | November 1918 | ||||
| - | Merger of Thuringia‡ | 1920 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | 1905 | 1,323 km² (511 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 1905 est. | 207,000 | ||||
| Density | 156.5 /km² (405.2 /sq mi) | |||||
| * See Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg † As Free State of Saxe-Altenburg ‡ In 1920, the ex-Imperial states of Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and the two principalities of Reuß all merged to form the Free State of Thuringia. | ||||||
The Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (German: Sachsen-Altenburg) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia.[1] It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometers and a population of 207,000 (1905) of whom about one fifth resided in the capital, Altenburg. The territory of the duchy consisted of two non-contiguous territories separated by land belonging to the Principality of Reuss. Its economy was based on agriculture, forestry, and small industry. The state had a constitutional monarchical form of government with a parliament composed of thirty members chosen by male taxpayers over 25 years of age.
History[]
Castle of Altenburg.
The duchy had its origins in the medieval Burgraviate of Altenburg in the Imperial Pleissnerland (Terra Plisensis), a possession of the Wettin Margraves of Meissen since 1243. Upon a partition treaty of 1485, Altenburg fell to Ernst, Elector of Saxony, the progenitor of the Ernestine Wettins.[2] After the Division of Erfurt in 1572 among Duke Johann Wilhelm of Saxony and his nephews, Altenburg fell to his Duchy of Saxe-Weimar.
When Johann Wilhelm's son and successor Friedrich Wilhelm I died in 1602, the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar passed to his younger brother Johann II. In 1603 Frederick William's eldest son Johann Philipp received the newly created Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg as compensation. It was an Imperial State in its own right, with a vote in the Reichstag, for much of the 17th century until the extinction of its ruling line in 1672 when it was inherited by Ernest I the Pious, the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, who had married the heiress.
Saxe-Altenburg thereafter remained part of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg until the extinction of that house in 1825, when Gotha and Altenburg were divided up, with Gotha going to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Altenburg to the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, who in exchange gave up Hildburghausen to the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. This family ruled the duchy until the end of the monarchies in the course of the German Revolution of 1918–19. The succeeding Free State of Saxe-Altenburg was incorporated into the new state of Thuringia in 1920.
Saxe-Altenburg had an area of 1,323 km² and a population of 207,000 (1905). Its capital was Altenburg.
The Saxe-Altenburg line became extinct following the death of Prince George Moritz in 1991. The leadership of the house passed to Michael, head of the genealogically more senior house of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg[]
Saxe-Altenburg in the 19th century
Elder line[]
- Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1603–1639)
- Friedrich Wilhelm II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1639–1669)
- Friedrich Wilhelm III, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1669–1672)
Line extinct, inherited by Saxe-Gotha, thereupon Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Junior line[]
- Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1826–1834) (Previously Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen)
- Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1834–1848)
- Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1848–1853)
- Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1853–1908)
- Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1908–1918)
Heads of the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg, post monarchy[]
- Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1918–1955)
- Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg (1955–1991)
In 1991 the Saxe-Altenburg line became extinct. Its representation was merged with the one of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.
Two branches descend from duke Ernest the Pious, the father of the progenitor of the Saxe-Altenburg branch: Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; according to old Wettin family law, they would have divided the actual territories between them (as happened to Gotha and Altenburg in 1826).
See also[]
Notes[]
- ^ "The Ernestine Line's Saxon Duchies" (Web). Historical Atlas. Tacitus Historical Atlas. http://www.tacitus.nu/historical-atlas/regents/germany/saxony2.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
- ^
"Saxe-Altenburg". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.
References[]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Saxe-Altenburg". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
External links[]
- Media related to Saxe-Altenburg at Wikimedia Commons
- Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg
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