Saxony
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What is Saxony?
Saxony is a region with a rich history in Europe. It was initially the territory of the Germanic Saxon tribe, located in what is now Lower Saxony in Germany. Over time, the name "Saxony" was applied to different territories.
By the early 10th century, Saxony emerged as a hereditary duchy. Duke Henry of Saxony was elected German king in 919, founding the Saxon, or Ottonian, dynasty. In 1180, the duchy was broken up, with only two small territories retaining the name: Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. In 1423, the name Saxony was applied to all the Wettin possessions.
Napoleon conquered Saxony in 1806 and made it a kingdom. After World War I, Saxony became a free state under the Weimar Republic. The Saxony Land was re-created in 1990 when East and West Germany reunified. Today, the state of Saxony is bordered by Poland, the Czech Republic, and other German states. Its capital is Dresden.
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Where is Saxony located in Europe?
Saxony is a state in eastern Germany, bordering Poland to the east and the Czech Republic to the south. It also shares borders with the German states of Saxony-Anhalt to the northwest, Brandenburg to the north, Bavaria to the southwest, and Thuringia to the west. The state was re-established in 1990 during the reunification of East and West Germany, comprising the former East German districts of Dresden, Chemnitz, and Leipzig, along with a small portion of Cottbus district. The capital of Saxony is Dresden.
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What was the Duchy of Saxony?
The Duchy of Saxony emerged as a hereditary territory by the early 10th century under the Liudolfing dynasty. In 919, Duke Henry of Saxony was elected German king, founding the Saxon, or Ottonian, dynasty, which held the German crown until 1024. The Saxon ducal title was transferred in 961 to the Billung family, who held it until 1106. The duchy then passed to Henry III the Lion of the house of Welf in 1142. When Henry the Lion was outlawed in 1180, the duchy was broken up.
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How did Saxony become a kingdom?
In 1806, Napoleon conquered Saxony and made it a kingdom. Saxony then became one of Napoleon's most loyal allies. Following Napoleon's overthrow, the victorious powers reduced Saxony's territory at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815. Prussia acquired Wittenberg, Torgau, northern Thuringia, and most of Lusatia, which became the Prussian province of Saxony; the truncated kingdom of Saxony then became a member of the German Confederation.
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What role did Saxony play in European history?
Saxony has been a major territory in German history. The Saxon tribe expanded to Britain in the 5th century but was conquered by Charlemagne in the late 8th century, later becoming part of the East Frankish kingdom. By the 10th century, Saxony emerged as a hereditary duchy, with Duke Henry of Saxony elected German king in 919, founding the Saxon, or Ottonian, dynasty.
In 1423, the duchy and electorate of Saxony was bestowed on Frederick I, and the name Saxony was applied to all Wettin possessions. The Albertine line acquired the electorate in the 16th century, with electors Henry and Maurice adopting Lutheranism. Despite heading the organization of German Protestant princes during the Thirty Years’ War, Albertine Saxony was increasingly overshadowed by Brandenburg-Prussia. Napoleon conquered Saxony in 1806 and made it a kingdom, but its territory was reduced after his overthrow.
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How has Saxony changed from the past to modern times?
Saxony's history spans from its early habitation by the Saxon tribe to its modern-day existence as a German state. Initially, the name "Saxony" referred to a large region in northern Germany inhabited by the Germanic Saxon tribe.
Over time, Saxony's territory and political structure evolved. In the 10th century, it emerged as a hereditary duchy and later became part of the East Frankish kingdom. The duchy was broken up in 1180, and the name was retained by two small territories: Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. In 1423, the name Saxony was applied to all Wettin possessions, including areas in Lusatia and Thuringia.
Saxony experienced significant changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. It became a kingdom under Napoleon in 1806 but later faced territorial reductions after his overthrow. The kingdom joined the German Empire in 1871, and after World War I, the monarchy was abolished, leading to the establishment of a free state within the Weimar Republic. After being abolished as a formal territory in 1952, Saxony Land was re-created in 1990 during the reunification of East and West Germany.
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Saxony, any of several major territories in German history. It has been applied: (1) before 1180 ce, to an extensive far-north German region including Holstein but lying mainly west and southwest of the estuary and lower course of the Elbe River; (2) between 1180 and 1423, to two much smaller and widely separated areas, one on the right (east) bank of the lower Elbe southeast of Holstein, the other on the middle Elbe; and (3) between 1423 and 1952, to a large central German region with its principal axis even farther up the Elbe and including, in the widest sense, all the country from Thuringia to Lusatia, bordering Bohemia (now in the Czech Republic).
Before 1180 the name Saxony was applied to the territory conquered between about 200 and 700 ce by the Germanic Saxon tribe. This territory included Holstein and the area west of the lower Elbe River, in what is now the German Land (state) of Lower Saxony. From there the Saxons expanded westward by sea to Britain in the 5th century. In the late 8th century the Saxons were conquered and Christianized by the Frankish ruler Charlemagne. In 843 Saxony became part of the East Frankish, or German, kingdom.
By the early 10th century Saxony had emerged as a hereditary duchy under the Liudolfing dynasty, and in 919 Duke Henry of Saxony was elected German king. He founded the Saxon, or Ottonian, dynasty, which held the German crown until 1024. (See Saxon dynasty.) Under the Ottonians, the Germans advanced eastward into Slavic territory.
In 961 the Saxon ducal title was transferred to the Billung family, which held it until 1106. The duchy thereafter passed to Henry III the Lion of the house of Welf in 1142. When Henry the Lion was outlawed by the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa in 1180, the duchy was broken up, and only two small and widely separated territories retained the Saxon name: Saxe-Lauenburg, southeast of Holstein, and Saxe-Wittenberg, along the middle Elbe (now north of Leipzig). Both territories were united under the Ascanian family until 1260, when two separate Ascanian dynasties emerged. From the mid-13th century, the duke of Saxony was recognized as an imperial elector (a prince with the right to participate in choosing the Holy Roman emperor); a dispute over this right between the two branches was settled in favour of the Wittenberg branch in 1356. The Lauenburg line survived until 1689, after which its lands were absorbed by Hanover.
When the Wittenberg line became extinct in 1422, the duchy and electorate of Saxony was bestowed on Frederick I the Warlike, margrave of Meissen and a member of the house of Wettin, and the name Saxony was then applied to all the Wettin possessions, including Osterland (the area around Leipzig) and large portions of Lusatia and Thuringia. Following Frederick’s death (1428) the Wettins disputed the division of the inheritance; in 1485 Albert and Ernest, the sons of Frederick II (d. 1464), by the Treaty of Leipzig, arranged what came to be a permanent division between the Albertine (eastern) and Ernestine (western) Saxon lands. Albert’s lands comprised the margravate of Meissen (with Dresden as his capital) and northern Thuringia. (For information about the western lands, see Saxon duchies.)
In the 16th century the Albertine line acquired the electorate and won territory from the Ernestines in Thuringia and Wittenberg. The electors Henry (d. 1541) and Maurice (d. 1553) adopted Lutheranism. Augustus (reigned 1553–86) codified Albertine Saxony’s laws and made the capital, Leipzig, a centre of commerce and the arts. John George I (reigned 1611–56) headed the organization of German Protestant princes during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–48), but from this period Albertine Saxony was increasingly overshadowed by Brandenburg-Prussia as the leading state of Protestant Germany. In 1697 Elector Frederick Augustus I (reigned 1694–1733) became king of Poland (as Augustus II), initiating an economically draining bond between Saxony and the declining Polish kingdom that lasted until 1768.
Napoleon conquered Saxony in 1806 and made it a kingdom. It was thereafter one of his most loyal allies, and, after his overthrow, its territory was greatly reduced by the victorious powers at the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). Prussia acquired Wittenberg, Torgau, northern Thuringia, and most of Lusatia, which became the Prussian province of Saxony; the truncated kingdom of Saxony became a member of the German Confederation.
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As a result of uprisings in 1830, a constitution was granted in the kingdom in 1831. King Frederick Augustus II (reigned 1836–54) was deposed by a revolutionary uprising in 1848 but was restored to power by Prussian troops a week later. In 1871 the kingdom became part of the new German Empire. The Social Democrats became a potent political force in Saxony as industrialization increased in the following decades. Saxony’s monarchy was abolished after Germany’s defeat in World War I (1918), and Saxony adopted a republican constitution as a free state under the Weimar Republic (1919–33). The territory continued to exist as a Land (state) under Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich (1933–45) and the German Democratic Republic until 1952, when it was abolished as a formal territory. Saxony Land was re-created in 1990 in the process of the unification of East with West Germany.