Dresden Capital City Of The Free State Of Saxony Germany | NATURE OF THE WORLD NATURE OF THE WORLD Wednesday, December 26, 2012 Dresden Capital City Of The Free State Of Saxony Germany Posted by Yıldırım Kılıçhan on Wednesday, December 26, 2012 in Capital City Europe Germany Landscape State Of Saxony | Comments : 0 The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen [ˈfʁaɪʃtaːt ˈzaksən]; Upper Sorbian: Swobodny stat Sakska) is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic, and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and the sixth most populous of Germany's sixteen states, with a population of 4.3 million. Located in the middle of an erstwhile German-speaking part of Europe, the history of the state of Saxony spans more than a millennium.

It has been a medieval duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, a kingdom, and, from 1918 to 1952 and again from 1990, a republic. The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony, the area inhabited by Saxons. Old Saxony corresponds approximately to the modern German states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Westphalian part of North Rhine-Westphalia. Saxony has a long history as a duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire (the Electorate of Saxony), and eventually as a kingdom (the Kingdom of Saxony). In 1918, subsequent to Germany's defeat in World War I, its monarchy was overthrown and a republican form of government was established under the current name. The state was broken up into smaller units during communist rule (1949–1989), but was re-established on 3 October 1990 on the reunification of East and West Germany.

In prehistoric times, the territory of Saxony was the site of some of the largest of the ancient Central European monumental temples, dating from the 5th century BC. Notable archaeological sites have been discovered in Dresden and the villages of Eythra and Zwenkau near Leipzig. The Slavic and Germanic presence in the territory of today's Saxony is thought to have begun in the 1st century BC. Parts of Saxony were possibly under the control of the Germanic King Marobod during the Roman era. By the late Roman period, several tribes known as the Saxons emerged, from which the subsequent state(s) draw their name. For the origins of the Saxon tribes, see Saxons. The first mediæval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy", which emerged about the year 700, and grew to cover the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt.

The Saxons converted to Christianity during this period While the Saxons were facing pressure from Charlemagne's Franks, they were also facing a westward push by Slavs to the east. The territory of the Free State of Saxony was occupied by Slavs before being reconquered by Germans. A legacy of this period is the Sorb population in Saxony. Saxony | state, Germany | Britannica.com state, Germany Leipzig Saxony, German Sachsen, Land (state), eastern Germany . Poland lies to the east of Saxony, and the Czech Republic lies to the south. Saxony also borders the German states of Saxony-Anhalt to the northwest, Brandenburg to the north, Bavaria to the southwest, and Thuringia to the west. The capital is Dresden . Area 7,109 square miles (18,413 square km). Pop. (2011) 4,056,799. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Geography Present-day Saxony is composed largely of hill and mountain country, with only its northernmost portions and the area around Leipzig descending into the great North European Plain .

The chief mountain range is the Ore Mountains ( Erzgebirge ), which stretch for about 100 miles (160 km) along the state’s southern border and reach elevations of more than 4,000 feet (1,200 metres). In the west and southwest are subsidiary groups of this range, while the northeastern angle of the state features the mountains of Upper Lusatia (Lausitz). South of this group, and along both banks of the Elbe River , extends a picturesque region of hills and deep gorges known as the Saxon Switzerland, the site of a national park. The upper course of the Elbe River flows from southeast to northwest through the state. The Mulde , a tributary of the Elbe, is the second largest river in Saxony. More than half of Saxony’s land area is used for agriculture, and about one-fourth is forested. The region’s climate is generally temperate, though the mountain country has a harsher one. Tour the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in Saxon Switzerland National Park, eastern Germany.

Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Saxony is one of the most densely populated and populous states in eastern Germany, although since the mid-20th century its population has declined. Between 1960 and the turn of the 21st century, the number of inhabitants declined by one-fifth. More than nine-tenths of the population is ethnically German; there is a small indigenous ethnic minority, the Sorbs , and there is also a relatively small foreign population. Similar Topics Rhineland-Palatinate Northern Saxony occupies one of the most fertile parts of eastern Germany and is highly developed agriculturally, though fertility diminishes toward the Ore Mountains of the south. Wheat, barley, rape, sugar beets, fodder crops, peas, apples, butter, and cheese are the principal agricultural products, while cattle raising is important on the extensive pastures of the Ore Mountains. Forestry is also of some importance. Saxony long had important mineral production in the Ore Mountains, including the production of uranium, but the latter has ceased, and expensive clean-up projects were undertaken across the region to reduce the contamination of mining and waste sites, especially around Aue and Zwickau .

Currently lignite is the only major industrial resource still mined in significant quantities, and both production and employment in this once important sector were dramatically reduced after German unification. Lignite is mined both in northeastern Saxony in the Lusatia field near Hoyerswerda and around Leipzig in the Central German field. One clear advantage of the decreased mining and use of lignite in Saxony and the wider region has been a dramatic improvement in air quality. Although the Saxon economy, especially manufacturing, suffered severe cutbacks after unification, it remains one of the largest economies in eastern Germany and one of the few in which ‘‘new economy’’ sectors such as microelectronics have experienced considerable growth. Nevertheless, unemployment in the state has been significant since the mid-1990s. Major manufacturing sectors in Saxony include electronics, machinery, pharmaceuticals, auto and auto parts production, food processing, publishing, and textiles. The chief manufacturing industry was once textile production, focused on Chemnitz and Zwickau, as well as many smaller urban centres. While some production in this sector continues, employment has declined drastically. Dresden, the state’s largest city in terms of area, is the production site of many types of precision optical and electrical equipment.

There are also silicon-chip-production facilities in Dresden. Leipzig , the most populous city in the state, is a centre of printing and publishing, heavy engineering, and auto manufacturing. Automaking has also been important in Mosel, near Zwickau. Meissen is an important and historic centre for the production of porcelain and other ceramics, and some production of traditional wooden toys and Christmas decorations continues in towns in the Ore Mountains, most notably Seiffen. The cathedral and (left) Albrechts Castle overlooking Meissen, Germany. © Caio Garrubba/Madeline Grimoldi The manufacture of musical instruments in Markneukirchen, Saxony, Germany. Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz Britannica Stories Ringling Bros. Folds Its Tent The principal urban centres are Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz, Plauen, Zwickau, and Meissen, and each has important regional service sectors. In addition, Leipzig and Dresden have important airports. Leipzig in particular is an important national transport centre, owing to a key location in the national rail and highway networks. For centuries it has been home to important trade fairs.

Following unification many retailers took advantage of Leipzig’s centrality within the German transport network, its access to a large regional population, and a brief period of looser land-use controls to construct a number of large suburban shopping centres. Leipzig’s huge downtown rail station has also been renovated to serve as both a station and an attractive shopping plaza. Underground mall at the main railway station in Leipzig, Ger. © DB/Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of Germany World Tour Saxony has a moderately important tourist industry focused in particular on the scenic Ore Mountains, Leipzig, the scenic Elbe River valley and Saxon Switzerland, and Dresden. Though the city was bombed into ruins by an Anglo-American bombing raid in 1945, some of Dresden’s former architectural glory has been restored. Reconstruction of the Saxon royal palace, the Zwinger, and other sites began after the war; unification opened up more resources and has allowed relatively rapid reconstruction, for example, on the city’s famed Frauenkirche. Along with taking Elbe River cruises, sightseers to Dresden often visit nearby Pillnitz (palace and gardens) and Radebeul (museum focused on the popular author Karl May ).

The Dresden Elbe Valley, including the Pillnitz Palace and the centre of Dresden, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2004. There are a host of architectural and cultural attractions in other parts of Saxony, notably in Görlitz , Bautzen , Freiberg , and Meissen. Also designated a World Heritage site in 2004 was Muskauer Park, a European country park laid out in the early 19th century; located on the border between Germany and Poland, it is jointly maintained by both countries. The Zwinger, designed by Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, in Dresden, Ger. © Bundesbildstelle/Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of Germany Königstein Fortress, Saxony, Germany. Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The state of Saxony is governed by a Landtag (state parliament) and a minister-president, who is generally a leading member of the Landtag’s strongest party. The election of extreme right-wing politicians from the National Democratic Party (NDP) to the state parliament in 2004 generated controversy and concern among some within Saxony and Germany as a whole. Leipzig is a university town, as is Zwickau.

There are technical universities in Dresden, Chemnitz, and Freiberg. Saxony’s primary cultural centres are Dresden and Leipzig. Dresden has important concentrations of historic buildings, museums, and musical groups, as well as major art collections and the renowned Semper Opera House. Leipzig is the site of one of Germany’s major national libraries (the Deutsche Bücherei), a nationally acclaimed orchestra (Gewandhaus Orchestra), and sections of the national Academy of Sciences . The Leipzig site of the German National Library. © Bundesbildstelle/Press and Information Office of the Federal Government of Germany History The state of Saxony was re-created in the process of the reunification of East Germany with West Germany in 1990 from the former East German Bezirke (districts) of Dresden, Chemnitz (formerly Karl-Marx-Stadt), and Leipzig, along with a small part of Cottbus district. The East German districts had themselves been created in 1952 from historic Saxony , an important region in German history for nearly 2,000 years, particularly so since the 15th century.

Saxony and its capital, Dresden, prospered from the 16th to the 18th century before their relative importance within Germany waned with the rise of Brandenburg-Prussia and Berlin . The people of Leipzig are justly proud of the key role that the massive but peaceful demonstrations in the city in late 1989 played in toppling East Germany’s communist dictatorship and ultimately opening up the opportunity for German unification. Saxony | Article about Saxony by The Free Dictionary Saxony | Article about Saxony by The Free Dictionary Related to Saxony: Lower Saxony , Saxons , Saxony Anhalt Saxony (săk`sənē), Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of Germany, with its pre–World War II borders reinstated as of Oct., 1990.

It lies in E Germany, bordered on the west by the German states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Bavaria; on the south by the Czech Republic; on the east by Poland; and on the north by the German state of Brandenburg. The industrialized region is heavily polluted, due in large part to the mining of brown coal and uranium. History The geographic concept of Saxony has undergone great shifts and has acquired many meanings in the past 15 centuries. The land of the Saxons Saxons, Germanic people, first mentioned in the 2d cent. by Ptolemy as inhabiting the southern part of the Cimbric Peninsula (S Jutland). Holding the area at the mouth of the Elbe River and some of the nearby islands, they gradually extended their territory southward across the ..... Click the link for more information. , Saxony was in Frankish times roughly the area in NW Germany between the Elbe and Ems rivers; it also included part of S Jutland. (This area corresponds in part to the state of Lower Saxony Lower Saxony, Ger. Niedersachsen , state (1994 pop.

7,480,000), 18,295 sq mi (47,384 sq km), NW Germany. Hanover is the capital. The state was formed in 1946 by the merger of the former Prussian province of Hanover with the former states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, and ..... Click the link for more information. , created after World War II.) The Duchy of Saxony After Charlemagne's conquest (772–804) of the Saxons, their land was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and late in the 9th cent. the first duchy of Saxony. Including the four divisions of Westphalia, Angria, Eastphalia, and Holstein, it occupied nearly all the territory between the Elbe and Saale rivers on the east and the Rhine on the west; it bordered on Franconia and Thuringia in the south. Duke Henry I (Henry the Fowler) of Saxony was elected German king in 919, and his son, Emperor Otto I, bestowed (961) Saxony on Hermann Billung (d.

973), a Saxon nobleman, whose descendants held the duchy until the extinction of the male line in 1106. Lothair of Supplinburg (see Lothair II Lothair II, also called Lothair III, 1075–1137, Holy Roman emperor (1133–37) and German king (1125–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. ..... Click the link for more information. ) bestowed it on his Guelphic son-in-law, Henry the Proud Henry the Proud, c.1108–1139, duke of Bavaria (1126–38) and of Saxony (1137–38). A member of the Guelph family, he inherited the duchy of Bavaria and enormous private wealth. ..... Click the link for more information. , who was already duke of Bavaria.

In 1142 the duchy passed to Henry the Lion Henry the Lion, 1129–95, duke of Saxony (1142–80) and of Bavaria (1156–80); son of Henry the Proud. His father died (1139) while engaged in a war to regain his duchies, and it was not until 1142 that Henry the Lion became duke of Saxony. ..... Click the link for more information. , son of Henry the Proud. The struggle between Henry the Lion and Emperor Frederick I ended with Henry's loss of all his fiefs in 1180. The stem duchy was broken up into numerous fiefs. The Guelphic heirs of Henry the Lion retained only their allodial lands, the duchy of Brunswick Brunswick , Ger. Braunschweig , former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German plain and in the northern foothills of the Harz Mts. ..... Click the link for more information. .

The ducal title of Saxony went to Bernard of Anhalt, a younger son of Albert the Bear Albert the Bear, c.1100–1170, first margrave of Brandenburg (1150–70). He was a loyal vassal of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II, who, as duke of Saxony, helped him take (1123) Lower Lusatia and the eastern march of Saxony. Albert lost these lands in 1131. ..... Click the link for more information. of Brandenburg and founder of the Ascanian line of Saxon dukes. Besides Anhalt, Bernard received Lauenburg and the country around Wittenberg, on the Elbe. These widely separate territories continued after 1260 under separate branches of the Ascanians as Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. Electoral Saxony The Golden Bull of 1356 raised the duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of elector, with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. Electoral Saxony, as his territory was called, was a relatively small area along the middle Elbe.

To the S of Electoral Saxony extended the margraviate of Meissen, ruled by the increasingly powerful house of Wettin Wettin , German dynasty, which ruled in Saxony, Thuringia, Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria. It takes its name from a castle on the Saale near Halle. The family gained prominence in the 10th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. . The margraves of Meissen acquired (13th–14th cent.) the larger parts of Thuringia Thuringia , Ger. Thüringen, state (1994 pop. 2,533,000), 6,273 sq mi (16,251 sq km), central Germany. It is bordered on the south by Bavaria, on the east by Saxony, on the north by Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, and on the west by Hesse. ..... Click the link for more information. and of Lower Lusatia Lusatia , Ger. Lausitz, Pol. Łużyce, region of E Germany and SW Poland.

It extends N from the Lusatian Mts., at the Czech border, and W from the Oder River. ..... Click the link for more information. and the intervening territories, and in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike added Electoral Saxony; he became (1425) Elector Frederick I Frederick I or Frederick the Warlike, 1370–1428, elector of Saxony (1423–28). As margrave of Meissen he was involved in disputes with his brothers and his uncles over the division of his father's territory. ..... Click the link for more information. . Thus, Saxony shifted to E central and E Germany from NW Germany. In 1485 the Wettin lands were partitioned between two sons of Elector Frederick II; the division came to be permanent. Ernest, founder of the Ernestine branch of Wettin, received Electoral Saxony with Wittenberg and most of the Thuringian lands. Albert, founder of the Albertine branch, received ducal rank and the Meissen territories, including Dresden and Leipzig.

Duke Maurice Maurice, 1521–53, duke (1541–47) and elector (1547–53) of Saxony. A member of the Albertine branch of the ruling house of Saxony, he became duke of Albertine Saxony during the Protestant Reformation. ..... Click the link for more information. of Saxony, a grandson of Albert and a Protestant, received the electoral title in the 16th cent.; it remained in the Albertine branch until the dissolution (1806) of the Holy Roman Empire. Saxon Kings of Poland The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election (1697) of Augustus II Augustus II, 1670–1733, king of Poland (1697–1733) and, as Frederick Augustus I, elector of Saxony (1694–1733).

He commanded the imperial army against the Turks (1695–96), but had no success and was replaced by Prince Eugene of Savoy as soon as he ..... Click the link for more information. (who was Frederick Augustus I as elector of Saxony) as king of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony, whose prestige was thereby diminished. In the War of the Austrian Succession Austrian Succession, War of the, 1740–48, general European war. Causes of the War The war broke out when, on the strength of the pragmatic sanction of 1713, the Austrian archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, as ruler ..... Click the link for more information. , Saxony adhered to what had become its traditional wavering policy, changing sides in the middle of the conflict. The death (1763) of Augustus III ended the union with Poland. The period of Saxon rule in Poland marked a time of economic and social decay but of cultural and artistic flowering.

Augustus II and Augustus III were lavish patrons of art and learning and greatly beautified their capital, Dresden Dresden , city (1994 pop. 479,300), capital of Saxony, E central Germany, on the Elbe River. It is an industrial and cultural center, a rail junction, and a large inland port. ..... Click the link for more information. . The universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig had long been leading intellectual centers, and 18th-century Leipzig led in the rise of German literature as well as in music, which reached its first peak in J. S. Bach. The Kingdom and Province of Saxony Saxony sided with Prussia against France early in the French Revolutionary Wars, but changed sides in 1806. For this act its elector was raised to royal rank, becoming King Frederick Augustus I Frederick Augustus I, 1750–1827, king (1806–27) and elector (1763–1806) of Saxony, grand duke of Warsaw (1807–14).

He sided with the allies in the French Revolutionary Wars and joined Prussia in the campaign of 1806 against the French emperor Napoleon I. ..... Click the link for more information. . His failure to change sides again before Napoleon's fall cost him (1815) nearly half his kingdom at the Congress of Vienna. The kingdom of Saxony lost Lower Lusatia, part of Upper Lusatia, and all its northern territory including Wittenberg and Merseburg to Prussia. Its principal remaining cities were Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Plauen. The larger part of the territories ceded in 1815 were incorporated with several other Prussian districts into the Prussian province of Saxony, with Magdeburg its capital. (This was united after 1945 with Anhalt to form the state of Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt , Ger. Sachsen-Anhalt, state (1994 pop. 2,965,000), 7,892 sq mi (20,445 sq km), E Germany. Magdeburg is the capital.

It is bordered on the east by Brandenburg, on the west by Lower Saxony, and in the south by Thuringia and Saxony. ..... Click the link for more information. .) The kingdom sided (1866) with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks War, June 15–Aug. 23, 1866, between Prussia, allied with Italy, and Austria, seconded by Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and several smaller German states. ..... Click the link for more information. and was defeated. It was forced to pay a large indemnity and to join the North German Confederation. From 1871 until the abdication (1918) of Frederick Augustus III, it was a member state of the German Empire. The State of Saxony The kingdom of Saxony became the state of Saxony after 1918 and joined the Weimar Republic. Dresden became its capital. In the 19th and early 20th cent. Saxony became one of the most industrialized German states, with a noted textile industry.

Chemnitz became its main industrial center and Leipzig its chief commercial hub. After World War II the state of Saxony was reconstituted (1947) under Soviet occupation; it lost a small district E of the Lusatian Neisse, but gained a part of Silesia W of the Neisse. The postwar state became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony was divided into the East German districts of Handeburg Halle, Leipzig, and Cottbus; the districts produced about a third of East Germany's gross domestic product. In 1990, prior to German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state. Saxony (German Sachsen), a historical region in the German Democratic Republic. The nucleus of Saxony was the Margra-vate of Meissen, which was formed from lands taken by the German feudal lords in the tenth century from the Wends, a group of the Polabian Slavs. In 1089, Meissen passed to the feudal House of Wettin.

The Wettins laid claim to Thuringia in 1247 and assumed control of it in 1264. In 1423 they obtained Saxe-Wittenberg, which was part of the former Duchy of Saxony, and the title of elector. The name “Saxony” gradually came to be applied to the Wettin possessions; at first the name “Upper Saxony” was used—in contrast to Lower Saxony, which was located in northern Germany. Saxony became one of the major territorial principalities of Germany. In 1485 it was divided between two brothers, Ernest and Albert, of the House of Wettin. Ernest received Saxe-Wittenberg, most of Thuringia, and the title of elector; his capital was Wittenberg. Albert was given Meissen, Leipzig, northern Thuringia, and the title of duke; Dresden was his capital. In the late 15th and 16th centuries, Saxony, with its mining, printing, and other industries, was one of the chief areas of development of capitalist industry in Germany.

It was important with respect to cultural development as well: universities were founded in Leipzig in 1409 and in Wittenberg in 1502. Saxony was a stronghold of the Reformation, whose beginning can be traced to the theses put forth by M. Luther in Wittenberg in 1517. The Peasant War of 1524–26 was fought partly in Saxony, which was the chief location of T. Münzer’s revolutionary activity. For defeating the Protestant princes in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–48, Duke Maurice of Saxony received in 1547 from Emperor Charles V most of the Electorate of Saxony together with the title of elector; almost all the Saxon lands were thereby united. During the Thirty Years’ War of 1618–48, Saxony was subjected to terrible devastation. Its elector changed allies several times. Under the terms of the Peace of Prague of 1635, he received Upper and Lower Lusatia. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, Saxony was economically one of the most highly developed regions of Germany.

It had mining and textile industry and was an important producer of porcelain. Europe’s first porcelain factory was established in Meissen in 1710. The Leipzig fairs were of importance for all of Germany. Even in Saxony, however, the development of capitalist relations was held back by the continued feudal dependence of the peasants and by the increase in taxes that came with the establishment of princely absolutism in the second half of the 17th century. In 1697, Elector Frederick Augustus I was elected king of Poland; the union with Poland lasted until 1763. Saxony took part in most of the European wars of the 18th century. It was invaded by Sweden during the Northern War of 1700–21 and was occupied by Prussia during the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63. Saxony was restored to its elector by the Treaty of Hubertus-burg of 1763. In the late 18th century, Saxony took part in the wars against revolutionary France. Allied with Prussia, it fought against Napoleon I in 1806.

After it was defeated at Jena on Oct. 14, 1806, Saxony went over to Napoleon’s side. Saxony became a kingdom in 1806 and was admitted to the Confederation of the Rhine. By a decision of the Congress of Vienna of 1814–15, about half the territory of the Kingdom of Saxony, including Wittenberg, was ceded to Prussia. The ceded lands were combined with other territories to form the Prussian Province of Saxony; the province’s capital was Magdeburg. Disturbances broke out in Dresden, Leipzig, and other cities in 1830 under the influence of the July Revolution of 1830 in France. A moderately liberal constitution was promulgated in 1831; it established a bicameral diet with representation along the lines of social estates. Saxony was one of the centers of the Revolution of 1848–9 in Germany, as is evidenced by the Dresden Rebellion of 1849 in defense of the imperial constitution. In 1866, Saxony took Austria’s side in the war between Austria and Prussia.

It joined the North German Confederation in 1867 and became part of the German Empire in 1871. Saxony was a leading German industrial region and became a base of the German workers’ movement in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Workers’ Vereine (associations) came into being in Leipzig, Dresden, and other industrial centers. Saxony was one of the principal strongholds of German social democracy. It was largely here that A. Bebel and W. Liebknecht carried out their work. Universal suffrage for men was introduced in Saxony in 1909. The November Revolution of 1918 brought about the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in Saxony. Under the Weimar Constitution Saxony became a Land (state) in the German Republic. In an atmosphere of revolutionary enthusiasm, a workers’ government was formed in October 1923 in Saxony. A coalition of left Social Democrats and Communists, the government was removed by troops of the central government. A large antifascist underground organization, headed by the Communist G.

Schumann, operated in Saxony under the fascist dictatorship; the organization was especially active during World War II. After the defeat of fascist Germany in 1945, Saxony was included in the Soviet zone of occupation. In 1949 it became part of the German Democratic Republic. Saxony was divided into the districts of Dresden, Leipzig, and Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1952. REFERENCES Saxony: History History Saxony History The geographic concept of Saxony has undergone great shifts and has acquired many meanings in the past 15 centuries. The land of the Saxons , Saxony was in Frankish times roughly the area in NW Germany between the Elbe and Ems rivers; it also included part of S Jutland. (This area corresponds in part to the state of Lower Saxony , created after World War II.) The Duchy of Saxony After Charlemagne's conquest (772–804) of the Saxons, their land was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and late in the 9th cent. the first duchy of Saxony.

Including the four divisions of Westphalia, Angria, Eastphalia, and Holstein, it occupied nearly all the territory between the Elbe and Saale rivers on the east and the Rhine on the west; it bordered on Franconia and Thuringia in the south. Duke Henry I (Henry the Fowler) of Saxony was elected German king in 919, and his son, Emperor Otto I, bestowed (961) Saxony on Hermann Billung (d. 973), a Saxon nobleman, whose descendants held the duchy until the extinction of the male line in 1106. Lothair of Supplinburg (see Lothair II ) bestowed it on his Guelphic son-in-law, Henry the Proud , who was already duke of Bavaria. In 1142 the duchy passed to Henry the Lion , son of Henry the Proud. The struggle between Henry the Lion and Emperor Frederick I ended with Henry's loss of all his fiefs in 1180. The stem duchy was broken up into numerous fiefs.

The Guelphic heirs of Henry the Lion retained only their allodial lands, the duchy of Brunswick . The ducal title of Saxony went to Bernard of Anhalt, a younger son of Albert the Bear of Brandenburg and founder of the Ascanian line of Saxon dukes. Besides Anhalt, Bernard received Lauenburg and the country around Wittenberg, on the Elbe. These widely separate territories continued after 1260 under separate branches of the Ascanians as Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. Electoral Saxony The Golden Bull of 1356 raised the duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of elector, with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. Electoral Saxony, as his territory was called, was a relatively small area along the middle Elbe. To the S of Electoral Saxony extended the margraviate of Meissen, ruled by the increasingly powerful house of Wettin .

The margraves of Meissen acquired (13th–14th cent.) the larger parts of Thuringia and of Lower Lusatia and the intervening territories, and in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike added Electoral Saxony; he became (1425) Elector Frederick I . Thus, Saxony shifted to E central and E Germany from NW Germany. In 1485 the Wettin lands were partitioned between two sons of Elector Frederick II; the division came to be permanent. Ernest, founder of the Ernestine branch of Wettin, received Electoral Saxony with Wittenberg and most of the Thuringian lands. Albert, founder of the Albertine branch, received ducal rank and the Meissen territories, including Dresden and Leipzig. Duke Maurice of Saxony, a grandson of Albert and a Protestant, received the electoral title in the 16th cent.; it remained in the Albertine branch until the dissolution (1806) of the Holy Roman Empire.

Saxon Kings of Poland The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election (1697) of Augustus II (who was Frederick Augustus I as elector of Saxony) as king of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony, whose prestige was thereby diminished. In the War of the Austrian Succession , Saxony adhered to what had become its traditional wavering policy, changing sides in the middle of the conflict. The death (1763) of Augustus III ended the union with Poland. The period of Saxon rule in Poland marked a time of economic and social decay but of cultural and artistic flowering. Augustus II and Augustus III were lavish patrons of art and learning and greatly beautified their capital, Dresden . The universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig had long been leading intellectual centers, and 18th-century Leipzig led in the rise of German literature as well as in music, which reached its first peak in J. S. Bach.

The Kingdom and Province of Saxony Saxony sided with Prussia against France early in the French Revolutionary Wars, but changed sides in 1806. For this act its elector was raised to royal rank, becoming King Frederick Augustus I . His failure to change sides again before Napoleon's fall cost him (1815) nearly half his kingdom at the Congress of Vienna. The kingdom of Saxony lost Lower Lusatia, part of Upper Lusatia, and all its northern territory including Wittenberg and Merseburg to Prussia. Its principal remaining cities were Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Plauen. The larger part of the territories ceded in 1815 were incorporated with several other Prussian districts into the Prussian province of Saxony, with Magdeburg its capital. (This was united after 1945 with Anhalt to form the state of Saxony-Anhalt .) The kingdom sided (1866) with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War and was defeated. It was forced to pay a large indemnity and to join the North German Confederation.

From 1871 until the abdication (1918) of Frederick Augustus III, it was a member state of the German Empire. The State of Saxony The kingdom of Saxony became the state of Saxony after 1918 and joined the Weimar Republic. Dresden became its capital. In the 19th and early 20th cent. Saxony became one of the most industrialized German states, with a noted textile industry. Chemnitz became its main industrial center and Leipzig its chief commercial hub. After World War II the state of Saxony was reconstituted (1947) under Soviet occupation; it lost a small district E of the Lusatian Neisse, but gained a part of Silesia W of the Neisse. The postwar state became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony was divided into the East German districts of Handeburg Halle, Leipzig, and Cottbus; the districts produced about a third of East Germany's gross domestic product.

In 1990, prior to German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state. Sections in this article: Sachsen State, Germany | Article about Sachsen State, Germany by The Free Dictionary Sachsen State, Germany | Article about Sachsen State, Germany by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Dictionary , Thesaurus , Medical , Wikipedia . Saxony (săk`sənē), Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of Germany, with its pre–World War II borders reinstated as of Oct., 1990. It lies in E Germany, bordered on the west by the German states of Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, and Bavaria; on the south by the Czech Republic; on the east by Poland; and on the north by the German state of Brandenburg. The industrialized region is heavily polluted, due in large part to the mining of brown coal and uranium.

History The geographic concept of Saxony has undergone great shifts and has acquired many meanings in the past 15 centuries. The land of the Saxons Saxons, Germanic people, first mentioned in the 2d cent. by Ptolemy as inhabiting the southern part of the Cimbric Peninsula (S Jutland). Holding the area at the mouth of the Elbe River and some of the nearby islands, they gradually extended their territory southward across the ..... Click the link for more information. , Saxony was in Frankish times roughly the area in NW Germany between the Elbe and Ems rivers; it also included part of S Jutland. (This area corresponds in part to the state of Lower Saxony Lower Saxony, Ger. Niedersachsen , state (1994 pop. 7,480,000), 18,295 sq mi (47,384 sq km), NW Germany. Hanover is the capital. The state was formed in 1946 by the merger of the former Prussian province of Hanover with the former states of Brunswick, Oldenburg, and ..... Click the link for more information.

, created after World War II.) The Duchy of Saxony After Charlemagne's conquest (772–804) of the Saxons, their land was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and late in the 9th cent. the first duchy of Saxony. Including the four divisions of Westphalia, Angria, Eastphalia, and Holstein, it occupied nearly all the territory between the Elbe and Saale rivers on the east and the Rhine on the west; it bordered on Franconia and Thuringia in the south. Duke Henry I (Henry the Fowler) of Saxony was elected German king in 919, and his son, Emperor Otto I, bestowed (961) Saxony on Hermann Billung (d. 973), a Saxon nobleman, whose descendants held the duchy until the extinction of the male line in 1106.

Lothair of Supplinburg (see Lothair II Lothair II, also called Lothair III, 1075–1137, Holy Roman emperor (1133–37) and German king (1125–37); successor of Holy Roman Emperor Henry V. ..... Click the link for more information. ) bestowed it on his Guelphic son-in-law, Henry the Proud Henry the Proud, c.1108–1139, duke of Bavaria (1126–38) and of Saxony (1137–38). A member of the Guelph family, he inherited the duchy of Bavaria and enormous private wealth. ..... Click the link for more information. , who was already duke of Bavaria. In 1142 the duchy passed to Henry the Lion Henry the Lion, 1129–95, duke of Saxony (1142–80) and of Bavaria (1156–80); son of Henry the Proud.

His father died (1139) while engaged in a war to regain his duchies, and it was not until 1142 that Henry the Lion became duke of Saxony. ..... Click the link for more information. , son of Henry the Proud. The struggle between Henry the Lion and Emperor Frederick I ended with Henry's loss of all his fiefs in 1180. The stem duchy was broken up into numerous fiefs. The Guelphic heirs of Henry the Lion retained only their allodial lands, the duchy of Brunswick Brunswick , Ger. Braunschweig , former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German plain and in the northern foothills of the Harz Mts. ..... Click the link for more information. . The ducal title of Saxony went to Bernard of Anhalt, a younger son of Albert the Bear Albert the Bear, c.1100–1170, first margrave of Brandenburg (1150–70).

He was a loyal vassal of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II, who, as duke of Saxony, helped him take (1123) Lower Lusatia and the eastern march of Saxony. Albert lost these lands in 1131. ..... Click the link for more information. of Brandenburg and founder of the Ascanian line of Saxon dukes. Besides Anhalt, Bernard received Lauenburg and the country around Wittenberg, on the Elbe. These widely separate territories continued after 1260 under separate branches of the Ascanians as Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. Electoral Saxony The Golden Bull of 1356 raised the duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of elector, with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. Electoral Saxony, as his territory was called, was a relatively small area along the middle Elbe. To the S of Electoral Saxony extended the margraviate of Meissen, ruled by the increasingly powerful house of Wettin Wettin , German dynasty, which ruled in Saxony, Thuringia, Poland, Great Britain, Belgium, and Bulgaria.

It takes its name from a castle on the Saale near Halle. The family gained prominence in the 10th cent. ..... Click the link for more information. . The margraves of Meissen acquired (13th–14th cent.) the larger parts of Thuringia Thuringia , Ger. Thüringen, state (1994 pop. 2,533,000), 6,273 sq mi (16,251 sq km), central Germany. It is bordered on the south by Bavaria, on the east by Saxony, on the north by Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, and on the west by Hesse. ..... Click the link for more information. and of Lower Lusatia Lusatia , Ger. Lausitz, Pol. Łużyce, region of E Germany and SW Poland. It extends N from the Lusatian Mts., at the Czech border, and W from the Oder River. ..... Click the link for more information.

and the intervening territories, and in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike added Electoral Saxony; he became (1425) Elector Frederick I Frederick I or Frederick the Warlike, 1370–1428, elector of Saxony (1423–28). As margrave of Meissen he was involved in disputes with his brothers and his uncles over the division of his father's territory. ..... Click the link for more information. . Thus, Saxony shifted to E central and E Germany from NW Germany. In 1485 the Wettin lands were partitioned between two sons of Elector Frederick II; the division came to be permanent. Ernest, founder of the Ernestine branch of Wettin, received Electoral Saxony with Wittenberg and most of the Thuringian lands. Albert, founder of the Albertine branch, received ducal rank and the Meissen territories, including Dresden and Leipzig. Duke Maurice Maurice, 1521–53, duke (1541–47) and elector (1547–53) of Saxony.

A member of the Albertine branch of the ruling house of Saxony, he became duke of Albertine Saxony during the Protestant Reformation. ..... Click the link for more information. of Saxony, a grandson of Albert and a Protestant, received the electoral title in the 16th cent.; it remained in the Albertine branch until the dissolution (1806) of the Holy Roman Empire. Saxon Kings of Poland The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election (1697) of Augustus II Augustus II, 1670–1733, king of Poland (1697–1733) and, as Frederick Augustus I, elector of Saxony (1694–1733). He commanded the imperial army against the Turks (1695–96), but had no success and was replaced by Prince Eugene of Savoy as soon as he ..... Click the link for more information.

(who was Frederick Augustus I as elector of Saxony) as king of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony, whose prestige was thereby diminished. In the War of the Austrian Succession Austrian Succession, War of the, 1740–48, general European war. Causes of the War The war broke out when, on the strength of the pragmatic sanction of 1713, the Austrian archduchess Maria Theresa succeeded her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, as ruler ..... Click the link for more information. , Saxony adhered to what had become its traditional wavering policy, changing sides in the middle of the conflict. The death (1763) of Augustus III ended the union with Poland. The period of Saxon rule in Poland marked a time of economic and social decay but of cultural and artistic flowering. Augustus II and Augustus III were lavish patrons of art and learning and greatly beautified their capital, Dresden Dresden , city (1994 pop. 479,300), capital of Saxony, E central Germany, on the Elbe River.

It is an industrial and cultural center, a rail junction, and a large inland port. ..... Click the link for more information. . The universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig had long been leading intellectual centers, and 18th-century Leipzig led in the rise of German literature as well as in music, which reached its first peak in J. S. Bach. The Kingdom and Province of Saxony Saxony sided with Prussia against France early in the French Revolutionary Wars, but changed sides in 1806. For this act its elector was raised to royal rank, becoming King Frederick Augustus I Frederick Augustus I, 1750–1827, king (1806–27) and elector (1763–1806) of Saxony, grand duke of Warsaw (1807–14). He sided with the allies in the French Revolutionary Wars and joined Prussia in the campaign of 1806 against the French emperor Napoleon I. ..... Click the link for more information. . His failure to change sides again before Napoleon's fall cost him (1815) nearly half his kingdom at the Congress of Vienna.

The kingdom of Saxony lost Lower Lusatia, part of Upper Lusatia, and all its northern territory including Wittenberg and Merseburg to Prussia. Its principal remaining cities were Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Plauen. The larger part of the territories ceded in 1815 were incorporated with several other Prussian districts into the Prussian province of Saxony, with Magdeburg its capital. (This was united after 1945 with Anhalt to form the state of Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt , Ger. Sachsen-Anhalt, state (1994 pop. 2,965,000), 7,892 sq mi (20,445 sq km), E Germany. Magdeburg is the capital. It is bordered on the east by Brandenburg, on the west by Lower Saxony, and in the south by Thuringia and Saxony. ..... Click the link for more information. .) The kingdom sided (1866) with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks War, June 15–Aug.

23, 1866, between Prussia, allied with Italy, and Austria, seconded by Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and several smaller German states. ..... Click the link for more information. and was defeated. It was forced to pay a large indemnity and to join the North German Confederation. From 1871 until the abdication (1918) of Frederick Augustus III, it was a member state of the German Empire. The State of Saxony The kingdom of Saxony became the state of Saxony after 1918 and joined the Weimar Republic. Dresden became its capital. In the 19th and early 20th cent. Saxony became one of the most industrialized German states, with a noted textile industry. Chemnitz became its main industrial center and Leipzig its chief commercial hub. After World War II the state of Saxony was reconstituted (1947) under Soviet occupation; it lost a small district E of the Lusatian Neisse, but gained a part of Silesia W of the Neisse.

The postwar state became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony was divided into the East German districts of Handeburg Halle, Leipzig, and Cottbus; the districts produced about a third of East Germany's gross domestic product. In 1990, prior to German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state. Saxony (German Sachsen), a historical region in the German Democratic Republic. The nucleus of Saxony was the Margra-vate of Meissen, which was formed from lands taken by the German feudal lords in the tenth century from the Wends, a group of the Polabian Slavs. In 1089, Meissen passed to the feudal House of Wettin. The Wettins laid claim to Thuringia in 1247 and assumed control of it in 1264. In 1423 they obtained Saxe-Wittenberg, which was part of the former Duchy of Saxony, and the title of elector.

The name “Saxony” gradually came to be applied to the Wettin possessions; at first the name “Upper Saxony” was used—in contrast to Lower Saxony, which was located in northern Germany. Saxony became one of the major territorial principalities of Germany. In 1485 it was divided between two brothers, Ernest and Albert, of the House of Wettin. Ernest received Saxe-Wittenberg, most of Thuringia, and the title of elector; his capital was Wittenberg. Albert was given Meissen, Leipzig, northern Thuringia, and the title of duke; Dresden was his capital. In the late 15th and 16th centuries, Saxony, with its mining, printing, and other industries, was one of the chief areas of development of capitalist industry in Germany. It was important with respect to cultural development as well: universities were founded in Leipzig in 1409 and in Wittenberg in 1502. Saxony was a stronghold of the Reformation, whose beginning can be traced to the theses put forth by M. Luther in Wittenberg in 1517.

The Peasant War of 1524–26 was fought partly in Saxony, which was the chief location of T. Münzer’s revolutionary activity. For defeating the Protestant princes in the Schmalkaldic War of 1546–48, Duke Maurice of Saxony received in 1547 from Emperor Charles V most of the Electorate of Saxony together with the title of elector; almost all the Saxon lands were thereby united. During the Thirty Years’ War of 1618–48, Saxony was subjected to terrible devastation. Its elector changed allies several times. Under the terms of the Peace of Prague of 1635, he received Upper and Lower Lusatia. In the late 17th and 18th centuries, Saxony was economically one of the most highly developed regions of Germany. It had mining and textile industry and was an important producer of porcelain. Europe’s first porcelain factory was established in Meissen in 1710. The Leipzig fairs were of importance for all of Germany.

Even in Saxony, however, the development of capitalist relations was held back by the continued feudal dependence of the peasants and by the increase in taxes that came with the establishment of princely absolutism in the second half of the 17th century. In 1697, Elector Frederick Augustus I was elected king of Poland; the union with Poland lasted until 1763. Saxony took part in most of the European wars of the 18th century. It was invaded by Sweden during the Northern War of 1700–21 and was occupied by Prussia during the Seven Years’ War of 1756–63. Saxony was restored to its elector by the Treaty of Hubertus-burg of 1763. In the late 18th century, Saxony took part in the wars against revolutionary France. Allied with Prussia, it fought against Napoleon I in 1806. After it was defeated at Jena on Oct. 14, 1806, Saxony went over to Napoleon’s side. Saxony became a kingdom in 1806 and was admitted to the Confederation of the Rhine.

By a decision of the Congress of Vienna of 1814–15, about half the territory of the Kingdom of Saxony, including Wittenberg, was ceded to Prussia. The ceded lands were combined with other territories to form the Prussian Province of Saxony; the province’s capital was Magdeburg. Disturbances broke out in Dresden, Leipzig, and other cities in 1830 under the influence of the July Revolution of 1830 in France. A moderately liberal constitution was promulgated in 1831; it established a bicameral diet with representation along the lines of social estates. Saxony was one of the centers of the Revolution of 1848–9 in Germany, as is evidenced by the Dresden Rebellion of 1849 in defense of the imperial constitution. In 1866, Saxony took Austria’s side in the war between Austria and Prussia. It joined the North German Confederation in 1867 and became part of the German Empire in 1871.

Saxony was a leading German industrial region and became a base of the German workers’ movement in the 1860’s and 1870’s. Workers’ Vereine (associations) came into being in Leipzig, Dresden, and other industrial centers. Saxony was one of the principal strongholds of German social democracy. It was largely here that A. Bebel and W. Liebknecht carried out their work. Universal suffrage for men was introduced in Saxony in 1909. The November Revolution of 1918 brought about the overthrow of the monarchy and the establishment of a republic in Saxony. Under the Weimar Constitution Saxony became a Land (state) in the German Republic. In an atmosphere of revolutionary enthusiasm, a workers’ government was formed in October 1923 in Saxony. A coalition of left Social Democrats and Communists, the government was removed by troops of the central government. A large antifascist underground organization, headed by the Communist G. Schumann, operated in Saxony under the fascist dictatorship; the organization was especially active during World War II.

After the defeat of fascist Germany in 1945, Saxony was included in the Soviet zone of occupation. In 1949 it became part of the German Democratic Republic. Saxony was divided into the districts of Dresden, Leipzig, and Karl-Marx-Stadt in 1952. REFERENCES Saxony Guide | Germany Travel | Rough Guides Europe » Germany » Saxony After several decades in a rut, Saxony (Sachsen), the one-time state of the Saxons, is back in the groove. Under the GDR, the three largest cities of the regime outside the capital – Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz – found their ambitions stifled, or, worse, were simply allowed to moulder. Government masterminds even attempted to re-create Mother Russia in Chemnitz. Nowadays, as its Baroque city reappears, Dresden is restored as a cultural marvel, while Leipzig is once again vibrant, in trade as much as in one of the most dynamic modern arts scenes in Europe. Of all the East German states outside Berlin, Saxony has benefited most from reunification.

With its economy secure, Saxony likes to promote itself as the “state of the arts”: the Land where Johann Sebastian Bach spent nearly half his life; which nurtured Robert Schumann; and whose distinctive landscapes in Saxon Switzerland inspired some of the finest work from Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich. It is also the state that pioneered porcelain outside Asia and created some of the most ebullient Baroque architecture in Europe, both the products of eighteenth-century strongman Augustus the Strong, a Saxon Sun King under whose rule the state blossomed into an artistic powerhouse. His legacy is evident wherever you go. Erudite stuff. However, the state capital Dresden is evidence that Saxony doesn’t only live in its past. Since reunification it has set about re-creating the Baroque city that was shattered by the bombing raids of World War II, but it also fizzes with life in a bar and club scene that’s as good a reason to visit as some of the biggest art blockbusters in Germany. Leipzig is similarly sized but entirely different in character: a dynamic mercantile city that has rediscovered its rhythm after off-beat decades.

The Land’s communist legacy is most evident in erstwhile “Karl-Marx-Stadt” Chemnitz , worth visiting for its art and a nearby castle. Of the small towns, the most appealing is cobbled charmer Meissen , closely followed by Görlitz , hard against the Polish border, and Bautzen , capital of the indigenous Sorbs. Yet Saxony also provides more visceral pleasures: pottering for crafts in small towns of the Erzgebirge and the fantastical cliffs of Saxon Switzerland , by far the most scenic corner of the state and a paradise for walkers and rock-huggers alike. Saxony Germanic Genealogy Society - Saxony Saxony The Newcomers to Saxon genealogy need to identify whether they want the Kingdom of Saxony or the Province of Saxony Lower Saxony , Niedersachen or Saxony-Anhalt . The history of what became the Kingdom of Saxony [Königreich Sachsen] in the German Empire of 1871 is complex. Over centuries, large areas broke into smaller states, boundaries changed position, and regions changed names. Each of the identifiable areas will be dealt with separately.

This complex history has led to three states in today's Germany that include Saxony [Sachsen] in their name: Lower Saxony [Niedersachsen], Saxony-Anhalt [Sachsen­Anhalt], and Saxony [Sachsen], similar in area and location to the Kingdom of Saxony. Refer to The Germanic Genealogy Journal Spring 2002 for a excellent "how to do Research in Saxony". GGJ Topic Index WHAT ARE THE SAXONS? The Saxons are the people that populated the different areas of Saxony. This is a small insight to them. Saxons were a confederation of Old Germanic tribes. Their modern-day descendants in German states are considered ethnic Germans (the state of Sachsen is not inhabited by ethnic Saxons; the state of Sachsen-Anhalt is though, in its northern and western parts); those in the eastern Netherlands are considered to be ethnic Dutch. Saxons participated in the Germanic settlement of Britain during and after the 5th century.

Since the 18th century, many continental Saxons have settled other parts of the world, especially in North America, Australia, South Africa, South of Brazil and in areas of the former Soviet Union, where some communities still maintain parts of their cultural and linguistic heritage, often under the umbrella categories "German", and "Dutch". The pre-Christian settlement of the Saxon people originally covered an area a little more to the northwest, with parts of the southern Jutland Peninsula, Old Saxony and small sections of the eastern Low Countries (Belgium and the Netherlands). During the 5th century AD, the Saxons were part of the people invading the Romano-British province of Britannia. One of the other tribes was the Germanic Angles, whose name, taken together with that of the Saxons led to the formation of the modern term, Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Saxony (Konigreich Sachsen) History The Newcomers to Saxon genealogy need to identify whether they want the Kingdom of Saxony or the Province of Saxony to the north. The Kingdom of Saxony includes the cities of Dresden, Meissen, Chemnitz and Leipzig.

The Kingdom of Saxony (German: Königreich Sachsen), lasting between 1806 and 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. From 1871 it was part of the German Empire It became a Free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War I and the abdication of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Its capital was the city of Dresden, and its modern successor state is the Free State of Saxony. The Napoleonic Era and the German Confederation In 1806, French Emperor Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire and decreed the Electorate of Saxony a kingdom in itself. Elector Frederick Augustus III became King Frederick Augustus I. Frederick Augustus remained loyal to Napoleon during the wars that swept Europe in the following years; he was taken prisoner and his territories declared forfeit by the allies in 1813, who intended the annexation of Saxony by Prussia.

Following the defeat of Saxony's ally, Prussia, at the Battle of Jena in 1806, Saxony joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and remained within the Confederation until its dissolution in 1813. Following the battle, in which Saxony - virtually alone of the German states - had fought alongside the French, King Frederick Augustus I was deserted by his troops, taken prisoner by the Prussians and considered to have forfeited his throne by the allies, who put Saxony under Russian occupation and administration. This was probably more due to the Prussian desire to annex Saxony than to any crime on Frederick Augustus's part, and the fate of Saxony would prove to be one of the main issues at the Congress of Vienna. Ultimately, the opposition of Austria, France, and the United Kingdom to this plan resulted in the restoration of Frederick Augustus to his throne at the Congress of Vienna. At this time in 1815, Saxony was forced to cede the northern part of the kingdom to Prussia.

The Austro-Prussian War and the German Empire The Kingdom of Saxony in 1895 - During the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, Saxony sided with Austria, and the Saxon army was generally seen as the only ally to bring substantial aid to the Austrian cause, having abandoned the defense of Saxony itself to join up with the Austrian army in Bohemia. This effectiveness probably allowed Saxony to escape the fate of other north German states which allied with Austria (notably the Kingdom of Hanover), which were annexed by Prussia after the war. The Austrians insisted that Saxony must be spared, and the Prussians acquiesced. Saxony nevertheless joined the Prussian-led North German Confederation the next year. Prussia's victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, let the members of the Confederation were organized by Otto von Bismarck into the German Empire, with Wilhelm I as its Emperor.

The End of the Kingdom of Saxony Wilhelm I's grandson, Kaiser Wilhelm II, abdicated in 1918 as a result of Germany's defeat in the First World War King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony followed him into abdication and the Kingdom of Saxony became the free State of Saxony within the newly-formed Weimar Republic. For more insight to the history and genealogy of the Kingdom of Saxony refer to Germanic Genealogy 3rd Edition p.408 Lower Saxony (German Niedersachsen) lies in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the country's sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). In rural areas Low Saxon is still spoken, but declining. Lower Saxony borders on (from north and clockwise) the North Sea, the states of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, and the kingdom of the Netherlands. The state of Bremen forms two enclaves within Lower Saxony.

The state's principal cities include Hanover, Braunschweig , Osnabrück, Oldenburg, Meppen and Göttingen. The area is named for the Saxons, who moved there from what is today the neighboring state of Schleswig-Holstein towards the middle of the 1st millennium AD. Originally the region was simply called Saxony, but as the center of gravity of the Duchy of Saxony gradually moved up the Elbe, towards the present day states of Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, the region was given the name Lower Saxony, which it bore as an Imperial Kreise Estate from the late 15th Century The northwestern portion of Lower Saxony is a part of Frisia; it is called Ostfriesland (Eastern Frisia) and lies on the coast of the North Sea. It includes seven islands, known as the East Frisian Islands. In the southwest of Lower Saxony is the Emsland, a sparsely populated area, once a inaccessible swamp. The northern half of Lower Saxony is absolutely flat, but there are two mountain chains in the south: the Weserbergland ("Weser Hilly Region") and the Harz.

The middle of the state houses the largest cities and the economic centers: Hanover, Hildesheim, Wolfsburg, Salzgitter and Braunschweig (Brunswick). The region in the northeast is called Lüneburger Heide. To the north the Elbe River separates Lower Saxony from Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg. The lands on the southern banks are called Altes Land (literally "Old Land"), and they are characterized by thousands of fruit-trees.

Question: Which city is the capital of the German State of Saxony?
Answer: DRESDEN