Royal House of Saxony (Wettin)

[Jo of Palatine]

Yes, that surely was Xenia Prinzessin von Sachsen. I have no problem with morganatic marriages, as I believe in a democracy there is no such thing as a morganatic marriage. Thus Iris von Sachsen is in my mind a full member fo the ex-Royal family. But IMHO her illegitimate daughter from an unknown father should not try to make money out of the use of a former title which would never be hers if Saxony was still a monarchy. It has something to do with style, I think. IMHO Xenia should call herself Xenia Sachsen and that's that.

[A Friend]

The Princess and the Frog :)

Hi,

I have found a (German-language) article according to which XENIA von Sachsen uses her popularity to remind us of the fact that frogs and other amphibians are very endangered today:

http://www.lizzy-online.de/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=12364&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

I * LOVE * amphibians and reptiles very much, and I think it is not only birds and mammals (such as polar bears, seals, whales, etc.), but also amphibians, reptiles, fish, insects, spiders, molluscs, in short, all the other animals with no feathers or fur that need and deserve protection.

But it seems that to most prominent "enviromentalists," such animals do not bring enough publictiy. Therefore, I am happy that XENIA is speaking for the "forgotten" animals, and I hope others will follow her example.

Many greetings, :)

A Friend

[Alison20]

I am very ignorant about the Royal House of Saxony, although I believe the last King was Friedrich August III. Presumably the current Head of the Royal House is his grandson, Maria Emanuel, Markgraf of Meissen, who I believe is married to Pss Anastasia of Anhalt-Dessau. Do they have no children? Where does Alexander come in? If he is a nephew, then presumably he is the son of the Markgraf's brother. Is that the Albert that is mentioned? If so, who is he married to, and why name him as heir rather than Albert himself?

Just to add to this flurry of questions - where do Dedo and Timo fit in? Are they also brothers of the Markgraf?

Many thanks, if someone can put me right on this.

[Marengo]

Markgraf Maria Emmanuel and his wife have no children indeed, neither has his brother Albert. Prince Alexander of Saxony-Gessaphe is the son of the Markgrafs sister, princess Maria Anna of Saxony and Roberto de Afif (I believe he was of Christian Lebanese nobility or royalty, related to an emir).

Anyway, since the other male dynasts of the house of Saxony all married morganatically they forfeited their rights and Maria Emmanuel decided to name his nephew Alexander as his heir. Prince Alexander is married to Princess Gisela of Bavaria and the couple have 3 sons and 1 daughter.

The decision of the markgrave is not generally exepted btw, his brother Prince Albert said that he did not consider it binding and that he would prefer Prince Rüdiger of Saxony as the heir. Since Rüdiger was a son of Prince Timo and a commoner wife, this would require a retroactive "de-morganatization of Rüdiger.

Prince Timo and Prince Dedo were sons of Prince Ernst Heinrich of Saxony and Princess Sophie of Luxembourg, they were cousins Maria-Emmanuel (their fathers were brothers).

Another issue is if the marriage of Princess Maria Anna to Roberto Gessaphe was or was not an equal one. Some consider it a morganatic marriage too.

I believe most other German royals support (or do not oppose) the Markgrave in this matter btw.

--

Perhaps some German members know more about the matter and will be able to explain it more clearly though.

[Stefan]

First the designed heir of Maria Emanuel was another nephews Johannes of saxe-Coburg and Gotha (the son of his siter Mathilde), but he died in an accident in 1987.

[Next Star]

Alexander is heir to the headship I see nothing wrong with that he is a member of this family his parents marriage was seen as equal and he was chose by his uncle.Plus he has sons most family lines must continue through males.

[Marengo]

From Marlene Eilers wonderful blog 'Royal Musings':

Nils Prinz von Sachsen marries


A lawyer, Dresden-born Jedida Taborek married Nils Prinz von Sachsen on Sunday at Moritzburg. Nils is the youngest of three sons of Rüdiger Prinz von Sachsen and his first wife, Astrid.

Read the entire article here.

[Harold]

Hello. I am curious about the Wettin's and the post-DDR. Did they receive any of their land or properties back? After the war were they able to preserve any of their financial investments?

[Warren]

Hi Harold, in 1998 Point de Vue reported that in exchange for the objet d'art on display in the museums of Dresden, the Saxony government returned Schloss Moritzburg to the Margrave of Meissen, but I can't find confirmation.

However, I found this today...

The Meissen Blog - MEISSEN MASTERPIECES
dated 14 November 2006

"London – A collection of four 18th century Meissen porcelain masterpieces are to be offered for sale in London on 18 December 2006 in the British and Continental Ceramics sale. This outstanding Meissen collection includes two white porcelain models of a lion and lioness (estimate: £3,000,000-5,000,000) and a white model of a fox and hen (estimate: £200,000-300,000) commissioned for the Japanese Palace in Dresden together with a white element vase in the form of a ewer (£10,000-15,000).

The works of art have been recently restituted to the heirs of the Royal House of Saxony, the Wettin family. Commenting on the Meissen masterpieces, a spokesperson for the Royal House of Saxony said: “The Wettin family has worked closely, and over many years with the authorities to achieve a successful outcome of the restitution of many works of art among which are these four Meissen porcelain objects, commissioned by our forebear Augustus the Strong. This has only been possible since the unification of Germany in 1989 and has been an emotional journey for us all. Our four Meissen models have been housed in the Zwinger in Dresden, which has the largest collection of Meissen porcelain. While we are not in a position to retain these works of art in our family, we are however pleased that further examples of the same models remain in the Zwinger and on view to the general public.”

The Soviet occupation of East Germany after the Second World War resulted in the Royal House of Saxony fleeing their property and becoming refugees within West Germany. Absolutely everything was left behind. Their personal possessions collected through the generations were either looted, confiscated by the Soviet occupying forces or later recovered from various castles by the East German State and housed in various museums. Following the unification of Germany in 1989, the heirs of the Royal House of Saxony and the State of Saxony reached a comprehensive settlement over the restitution of Wettin property in 1999. Since then, the heirs of the Royal House of Saxony have devoted considerable energy and time to locating their family heirlooms. In every case, when pieces were restituted, the Royal House of Saxony has negotiated a settlement with the State of Saxony which allowed the State to retain for their museums a considerable amount of exquisite works of art of both historical and art historical importance."

and this:

Striking gold | Spectator, The | Find Articles at BNET
dated 1 January 2000

"What was the last great object sold at the end of the millennium? A l7th-century silver-gilt marriage cup in the form of a near life-size Moor's head, crowned with a plumed headdress set with rock crystal. This unusually sculptural piece of virtuoso goldsmiths' work was an appealingly international object too, having been made in Augsburg by Christoph Jamnitzer and probably commissioned to commemorate an important Florentine dynastic marriage in 1615. The only problem with this magnificent Schatzkammer trophy was that it looked as though it had spent the last 50 years buried in a forest in a gradually decomposing wooden crate. As indeed it had. Part of the spectacular collections accumulated by the Electors and Kings of Saxony and hastily hidden in the grounds of Schloss Moritzburg as the Red Army advanced on Dresden in 1945, the cup belonged to a comparatively tiny cache unearthed only three years ago after an amateur treasure-hunter, literally, struck gold.

After two years of restitution negotiations between the State of Saxony and the now Canadian-based Royal House of Wettin, the property, along with some 16,000 other family items, was divided between the two parties."

This article dated '02.04.07'
Adel verpflichtet - wozu eigentlich? - Ausf. Hintergrund | MDR.DE
Sächsischen Königshauses Wettin

may say a lot more, but it's in German.

[Harold]

Warren -

Many thanks. So they have Moritzburg. I'm glad that they are no longer in the cold. I assume the comment about being "Canadian-based" is now outdated, although I thought the Wettins ended up in Switzerland not Canada?

Thanks again!

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Harold

Warren -

Many thanks. So they have Moritzburg. I'm glad that they are no longer in the cold. I assume the comment about being "Canadian-based" is now outdated, although I thought the Wettins ended up in Switzerland not Canada?

Thanks again!

I'm afraid but this is not correct. Moritzburg Castle belongs to the state owned Castles and Gardens of Saxony and is open to the public.

Barockschloss Moritzburg

It could be that the Family can use it but i don't know about this.

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Stefan

It could be that the Family can use it but i don't know about this.

Or, similar to the settlements over the various objet d'art, there was a "cash for castles" agreement.

[Stefan]

Here is a small picture of Prince Alexander and Princeess Gisela of Saxe-Gessaphe with their younger sons Clemens and Maurico and daughter Maria Teresita

[iceflower]

Hair Stylist Boris Entrup and Marie Luise Princess of Saxony
attend the 'OK Style Award 2009' at the british embassy on
May 14, 2009 in Berlin, Germany

------> Pic

[principessa]

Prince of Saxony wants its own exhibition:

Google Übersetzer

[Benjamin]

Prince Alexander of Saxony has become the Honorary Consul of Spain in Dresden.

Official website: Honorarkonsulat des Konigreichs Spanien - Konsulat/Consulado

[MAfan]

What's happening? yesterday Archduchess Gabriela of Austria as Ambassador of Georgia in Berlin, today Prince Alexander as Honorary Consul of Spain in Dresden...

Btw, is it known the reason of this appointment? And which are his links with Spain?
I know something about him, but nothing that links him to Spain...

[Benjamin]

I don't know what's going on either! This appointment of Prince Alexander seems to have taken place in late 2008/early 2009. The fact that he has experience in the governmental and business sectors as well as his fluency in Spanish (being born and having lived in Mexico) certainly work in his favor.

[MAfan]

Another interesting thing is that in the (official) website of the Consulate he is referred as Prinz Alexander von Sachsen, Herzog zu Sachsen; as far as I know his legal name is Alexander Prinz von Sachsen, while Prinz Alexander von Sachsen implies somehow an aknowledgement of his titles, or however is not his legal name. Maybe it's meaningless, but in my opinion it's curious...