Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg

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
1602–1672 1826–1920
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Heil unserm Herzog, heil (Hail to our Duke, hail!)
Location of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg within the German Empire   250px 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
Population
•	1905 est.	207,000
Density
Preceded by Succeeded by Saxe-Weimar Thuringia
* 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. 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

File:Schloss Altenburg 02.JPG

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. 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

File:Map-saxony1900.png

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

• Ernestine duchies

References

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External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg