Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg (Wettin)

[Marengo]

Arms of the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg

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[Marengo]

From wikipedia:

Saxe-Altenburg (German: Sachsen-Altenburg) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty. Altenburg was its own state, with a vote in the diet, for much of the 17th century until the extinction of its ruling line in 1672, when it was inherited by the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, who married the heiress. It remained part of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg until the extinction of that house in 1825 , when Gotha and Altenburg were split 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 in the duchy until the end of the monarchies in 1918. Saxe-Altenburg was incorporated into the new state of Thuringia in 1920.
Saxe-Altenburg had an area of 1,323 km² and a population of 207,000 (1905). Its capital was Altenburg.
The Saxe-Altenburg line became extinct following the death of Prince George Moritz in 1991.

Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg

• 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)

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

• Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (1918-1955)
• Georg Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Altenburg (1955-1991)

In 1991 the Saxe-Altenburg line became extinct.
Two branches descend from duke Ernest the Pious, the father of the progenitor of this Saxe-Altenburg branch: Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; according to old Wettin family law, they would have divided the actual territories between them (as happened to Gotha and Altenburg in 1826).

[Emeralds and Opals]

Hiya Marengo,

Great work. Which genealogical sites and heraldic sites would you suggest for researching german, danish, swedish, austrian, hungarian,belgian, dutch,czech, italian and luxemburg noble and royal families?

Cheers and Thank you,
Emeralds and Opals

[Warren]

Here are some links to the Ducal House of Saxe-Altenburg..

an excellent site, unfortunately most of it is in German. However, there are many links which lead to pictures and it includes all of the German reigning Houses:

Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg - DeutscheMonarchie.de

The Wikipedia entry on Saxe-Altenburg: Saxe-Altenburg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The attachment is a Wiki map of the Saxon Duchies. The legend 'Grossherzogtum Sachsen' refers to the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Image not subject to copyright under the GNU free documentation licence
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[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Emeralds and Opals

Hiya Marengo,

Great work. Which genealogical sites and heraldic sites would you suggest for researching german, danish, swedish, austrian, hungarian,belgian, dutch,czech, italian and luxemburg noble and royal families?

Cheers and Thank you,
Emeralds and Opals

For the genalogies you can go to An Online Gotha
for News also research for many royl and noble Families Royals Portal
There you have to register to see the Genealogical News. it's a Forum like this one but more for Genalogical Issues.

[fearghas]

Looking at the map I have to wonder how the duchies functioned as countries as they were very disjointed.

[Warren]

On the Saxon Duchies map Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach seems to consist of 15 or 16 separate areas of land, and there were probably many more. Have a look at any detailed map of Germany pre-1918 and especially pre-1815 and the patchwork of territories which made up the various States is something to behold. Over the centuries the powerful families accumulated land through marriage and by other means and these family possessions became the sovereign states. Many of them were mediatised or incorporated into the surrounding larger states after 1815 but the patchwork nature of some was still very noticeable, and the Saxon Duchies were rearranged several times.

Here is a map of western Germany in 1789 which gives a good indication of how pieces of territory which formed the sovereign Principalities, Landgravates, Electorates etc were scattered all over the place. I have seen a more detailed map of Germany in the 1700s and the spread of fragments of territories was astounding. You'd wonder how they could possibly have administered them, let along protected them from ambitious or predatory neighbours. There must have been very accurate record keeping of land transfers and ownership and the map-makers would have been constantly making updates as slivers of land changed hands, thus altering the distribution of a State's territories.

map source: Wikipedia. Reproduced under the GNU free-use provisions.
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[canadagirl]

Does anyone have more information, especially photos, of Princess Elisabeth of Saxe-Altenburg (b. 1903), daughter of Furst Ernst II and Furstin Adelaide (nee Princess of Schaumburg-Lippe)?