Saxe-Weimar

Saxe-Weimar (German: Sachsen-Weimar) was a duchy in Thuringia, Germany. The chief town and capital was Weimar.

Duchy of Saxe-Weimar Herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar
1572–1809
Flag Coat of arms
Saxe-Weimar, shown within the other Ernestine duchies and      Saxe-Jena, joined to Saxe-Weimar in 1690
Status	State of the Holy Roman Empire, then State of the Confederation of the Rhine
Capital	Weimar
Government	Feudal monarchy
Historical era	Early modern period
• Division of Erfurt	1572
• Split off     Saxe-Altenburg	1602
• Split off      Eisenach and Gotha	1640
• Split off Saxe-Jena,     and Saxe-Eisenach	1672
• United with     Saxe-Eisenach	1741
• Merged to form     Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach	1809
Preceded by Succeeded by Electorate of Saxony Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Today part of	Germany

History

Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Gotha were the two original Ernestine Duchies. They both gradually shrank in size as land in Thuringia was divided among sons..

In 1741 Duke Ernest Augustus I of Saxe-Weimar inheritated the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach. Ernest Augustus II, who succeeded in 1748, died in 1758, and his young widow, Anna Amalia, became regent for her infant son, Charles Augustus. The regency of Anna Amalia and the reign of Charles Augustus were important in the history of Saxe-Weimar. Both intelligent patrons of literature and art, Anna Amalia and Charles Augustus attracted to their court the leading scholars in Germany, including Goethe, Schiller and Herder, and made Weimar an important cultural centre.

Charles Augustus joined Prussia in the Napoleonic Wars. After France won the Battle of Jena, Saxe Weimar was forced to join the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806. In 1809 Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been separate duchies with the same duke became one country as the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Dukes of Saxe-Weimar

• Johann Wilhelm (1554 – 73)
• Frederick Wilhelm I (1573 – 1602), son of Johann Wilhelm
• Johann (1602 – 05), son of Johann Wilhelm
• Johann Ernst I (1605 – 20), son of Johann
• Wilhelm (1620 – 62), son of Johann.
• Johann Ernst II (1662 – 83), son of Wilhelm
• Wilhelm Ernst (1683 – 1728), son of Johann Ernst II
• Johann Ernst III (1683 – 1707), son of Johann Ernst II
• Ernst August I (1707 – 48), son of Johann Ernst III
• Ernst August II (1748 – 58), son of Ernst August I
• Karl August (1758 – 1809), son of Ernst August II

Merged with Saxe-Eisenach to form Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Related pages

• Ernestine duchies

References

• This article includes text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please add to the article as needed.

• Saxe-Weimar Archived 2005-12-05 at the Wayback Machine, The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Columbia University Press (2001 – 2005), accessed December 22 2005

Other websites

• German genealogies
• Genealogy of Dukes of Saxe-Weimar (in French)