Saxe-Altenburg

Territory

Saxe-Altenburg had an area of 1,323 km2 (510 sq. mi.) and a population of 207,000 in 1905. Its capital was Altenburg.

The duchy consisted of two separate areas: the Ostkreis, containing the cities of Altenburg, Schmölln, Gößnitz, Lucka und Meuselwitz (including the exclave of Mumsdorf), Roschütz, Hilbersdorf, Neukirchen by Waldenburg and Rußdorf by Chemnitz; and the Westkreis, which contained the cities of Eisenberg, Kahla, Orlamünde und Roda (including the exclave of Ammelstädt). The Ostkreis roughly corresponds to the modern Altenburger Land district of Thuringia, plus the area around Ronneburg in Greiz. The Westkreis is now mostly in Saale-Holzland district, with small portions in neighbouring districts. The duchy contained the Pleiße and Saale rivers.

History

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. Following the partition of Leipzig in 1485, Altenburg fell to Ernst, Elector of Saxony, the progenitor of the Ernestine Wettins. After the Capitulation of Wittenberg in 1547, the area around Altenburg went to the Albertine Electorate of Saxony, but it was transferred to the Ernestine in the in 1554, and then to the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar following the in 1572.

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 became part of the new State of Thuringia when it formed in 1920.

Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg

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)

Secondary residences of the Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg

Eisenberg - Schloss.jpg|Christiansburg Castle at Eisenberg Schloss Fröhliche Wiederkunft 04.jpg|Wolfersdorf Castle September 2016 ohne WZ (15 von 30).jpg|The Old Hunting Lodge at Hummelshain Schloss Hummelshain Gouache.jpg|The New Hunting Lodge at Hummelshain

Notes

References

References

1. Thüringisches Staatsarchiv Altenburg (Hrsg.): Rautenkranz und rote Rose: Die Hoheitszeichen des Herzogtums und des Freistaates Sachsen Altenburg. Sax-Verlag, Altenburg, 2010.
2. {{CathEncy