Saxe-Meiningen

Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen
State of the Holy Roman Empire, State of the Confederation of the Rhine, State of the German Confederation, State of the North German Confederation, State of the German Empire
← 1680–1918 →
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem Vaterlandsgesang der Sachsen-Meininger
Saxe-Meiningen within the German Empire
Capital	Meiningen
Government	Principality
Duke
- 1675–1706	Bernhard I
- 1914–18	Bernhard III
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Partitioned from    Saxe-Gotha	1680
- Acquired    Saxe-Hildburghausen	1826
- Duchy abolished	1918
- Merged into Thuringia	1920
Area
- 1905	2,468 km2 (953 sq mi)
Population
- 1905 est.	269,000
Density	109 /km2  (282.3 /sq mi)

The Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen (German pronunciation: [ˈsæksˈmaɪnɪŋən]) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia.

Established in 1681,^[1] by partition of the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Gotha among the seven sons of deceased Duke Ernest the Pious, the Saxe-Meiningen line of the House of Wettin lasted, without much distinction, until the end of the German monarchies in 1918.

Contents 1 History 2 Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen 3 Heads of the Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen, post-monarchy 4 References 5 External links

History

Upon the 1680 partition, the former Franconian lands of the extinct House of Henneberg fell to Ernest's third son, Bernhard, who chose the town of Meiningen as his residence and thereby became the first Duke of Saxe-Meiningen. From 1682 Duke Bernhard I had the Schloss Elisabethenburg built and in 1690 established a court orchestra (Hofkapelle), whose later Kapellmeister was Johann Ludwig Bach.

In the reshuffle of Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg line upon the death of Duke Frederick IV in 1825, Duke Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen received the lands of the former Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen as well as the Saalfeld territory of the former Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld duchy. As Bernhard II had supported Austria in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, the prime minister of victorious Prussia, Otto von Bismarck enforced his resignation in favour of his son Georg II, after which Saxe-Meiningen was admitted to join the North German Confederation.

In the German Revolution after World War I Duke Bernhard III, brother-in-law of Emperor Wilhelm II, on 10 November 1918 was forced to abdicate. The succeeding Free State of Saxe-Meiningen was merged into the new state of Thuringia in 1920.

In 1905 the capital Meiningen had an area of 2,468 km² and a population of 269,000. The summer residence was at Altenstein Castle. Since 1868 the duchy comprised the Kreise (districts) of Hildburghausen, Sonneberg and Saalfeld as well as the northern exclaves of Camburg and Kranichfeld.

The present head of the Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen is Prince Frederick Konrad (born 1952). Since he has no heir, the representation of his house, after its extinction, will pass to the Head of the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen

• Bernhard I (1680–1706)
• Ernst Ludwig I (1706–24), son of Bernhard I
• Ernst Ludwig II (1724–29), son of Ernst Ludwig I
• Karl Frederick (1729–43), son of Ernst Ludwig I
• Frederick Wilhelm (1743–46), son of Bernhard I
• Anton Ulrich (1746–63), son of Bernhard I
• Karl Wilhelm (1763–82), son of Anton Ulrich
• Georg I (1782–1803), son of Anton Ulrich
• Bernhard II (1803–66), son of Georg I
• Georg II (1866–1914), son of Bernhard II
• Bernhard III (1914–18), son of Georg II

Dukedom abolished in 1918

Heads of the Ducal House of Saxe-Meiningen, post-monarchy

• Bernhard III (1918–1928)
• Prince Ernst (1928–1941)
• Prince Georg III (1941–1946)
• Prince Bernhard IV (1946–1984)
• Prince Konrad (1984–Present)

References

External links

• Saxe-Meiningen Family Genealogy
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Saxe-Meiningen". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire Electorates Brandenburg Saxony Ecclesiastical Cammin Secular Anhalt Bernburg Köthen Zerbst Barby Hatzfeld-Gleichen Pomerania Further Hither Querfurt Reuss Elder Junior Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Weimar Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Prelates Gernrode Quedlinburg Walkenried Counts / Lords Hohnstein Lohra / Klettenberg Mansfeld Schönburg (Saale) Stolberg Stolberg Wernigerode Rossla

Ernestine duchies after the Division of Erfurt (1572) Saxe-Weimar (1572–1806) Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1572–1596, 1633-1638) Saxe-Coburg (1596–1633, 1681–1699) Saxe-Eisenach (1596–1638, 1640–1644, 1672–1806) Saxe-Altenburg (1603–1672, 1826–1918) Saxe-Gotha (1640–1680) Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1681–1826) Saxe-Marksuhl (1662–1672) Saxe-Jena (1672–1690) Saxe-Eisenberg (1680–1707) Saxe-Hildburghausen (1680–1826) Saxe-Römhild (1680–1710) Saxe-Saalfeld (1680–1735) Saxe-Meiningen (1681–1918) Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1735–1826) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1806–1918) Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826–1918)

States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) Rank elevated by Napoleon Kingdoms Bavaria Saxony Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden Hesse States created Kingdoms Westphalia Grand Duchies Berg Frankfurt1 Würzburg Principalities Aschaffenburg2 Leyen Regensburg2 Pre-existing states Duchies Anhalt (Bernburg Dessau Köthen) Arenberg Mecklenburg Schwerin Strelitz Nassau Oldenburg Saxony Coburg-Saalfeld Gotha-Altenburg Hildburghausen Meiningen Weimar3 Eisenach3 Weimar-Eisenach4 Principalities Hohenzollern Hechingen Sigmaringen Isenburg-Birstein Liechtenstein Lippe-Detmold Reuss Ebersdorf Greiz Lobenstein Schleiz Salm5 Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck 1 from 1810 2 until 1810 3 until 1809 4 from 1809 5 until 1811

States of the German Confederation (1815–66) Empires Austria1 Kingdoms Prussia1 Bavaria Saxony Hanover Württemberg Electorates Hesse Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Luxembourg Mecklenburg Schwerin Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Bernburg2 Dessau2 Köthen3 Brunswick Holstein Limburg4 Nassau Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg5 Coburg-Saalfeld6 Coburg-Gotha5 Gotha-Altenburg6 Hildburghausen6 Meiningen Principalities Hesse-Homburg Hohenzollern Hechingen7 Sigmaringen7 Liechtenstein Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck and Pyrmont City-states Bremen Frankfurt Hamburg Lübeck Other territories outside of the confederacy Colonial possessions Personal unions of Habsburg Bukovina Croatia Galicia and Lodomeria Hungary Lombardy–Venetia Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar8 Slavonia9 Transylvania Personal union of Hanover Great Britain and Ireland10 Personal unions of Hohenzollern East Prussia11 Neuchâtel12 Grand Duchy of Posen13 Province of Posen14 Province of Prussia15 West Prussia11 Occupied: Schleswig16 1 w/o areas listed under other territories 2 Merged with Anhalt from 1863 3 until 1847 4 from 1839 5 from 1826 6 until 1826 7 until 1850 8 1849–60 9 as of 1849 10 until 1837 11 until 1829 12 until 1848/57 13 until 1848 14 as of 1848 15 as of 1829 16 as of 1864

States of the North German Confederation (1866–71) Kingdoms Prussia Saxony Grand Duchies Hesse Mecklenburg Schwerin Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Brunswick Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg Coburg and Gotha Meiningen Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Waldeck-Pyrmont City-states Bremen Hamburg Lübeck

States of the German Empire (1871–1918) Kingdoms Prussia Bavaria Saxony Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Brunswick Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Lauenburg (until 1876) Saxe-Meiningen Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Lippe Reuss Elder Line Reuss Junior Line Waldeck-Pyrmont City-states Bremen Hamburg Lübeck Other territories Elsaß-Lothringen Colonial possessions