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79-666: The Lippe-Weissenfeld branch split from the non-ruling comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld in 1734. (However, in 1905, the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch inherited the throne of Lippe, with Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe reigning until the German revolution of 1918). Another junior branch of the House of Lippe was the Schaumburg-Lippe , which from 1647 ruled the county, and from 1807, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe until 1918. Lippe-Weissenfeld

158-421: A cadet (junior) branch of the family that became Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld. The brothers count Ferdinand (1772–1846) and count Christian (1777–1859) founded two branches of the line of Lippe-Weissenfeld. On 24 February 1916 the members of the elder branch, namely the family of Count Clemens zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1860-1920) and his legitimate male line descendants, were granted the title of Prince/Princess with

237-796: A coalition of Austria, France and Russia against Prussia. Frederick II of Prussia chose to attack preemptively and invaded Saxony in August 1756, precipitating the Third Silesian War (part of the Seven Years' War ). The Prussians quickly defeated Saxony and incorporated the Saxon army into the Prussian Army . At the end of the Seven Years' War, Saxony recovered its independence in the 1763 Treaty of Hubertusburg . In 1806, French Emperor Napoleon abolished

316-614: A constitution for the Kingdom of Saxony that served as the basis for its government until 1918. During the 1848–49 constitutionalist revolutions in Germany , Saxony became a hotbed of revolutionaries, with anarchists such as Mikhail Bakunin and democrats including Richard Wagner and Gottfried Semper taking part in the May Uprising in Dresden in 1849. (Scenes of Richard Wagner's participation in

395-605: A federalistic and pro-Austrian policy throughout the early 1860s until the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War . During that war, Prussian troops overran Saxony without resistance and then invaded Austrian Bohemia . After the war, Saxony was forced to pay an indemnity and to join the North German Confederation in 1867. Under the terms of the North German Confederation, Prussia took over control of

474-642: A long history as a duchy , an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire (the Electorate of Saxony ), and finally as a kingdom (the Kingdom of Saxony ). In 1918, after 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

553-658: A minority of 3.8%. About 0.9% of the Saxons belonged to an Evangelical free church ( Evangelische Freikirche , i.e. various Protestants outside the EKD), 0.3% to Orthodox churches and 1% to other religious communities, while 72.6% did not belong to any public-law religious society. The Moravian Church (see above) still maintains its religious centre in Herrnhut and it is there where 'The Daily Watchwords ' (Losungen) are selected each year which are in use in many churches worldwide. In particular in

632-567: A possession of Castle Alt-Wartenburg , where his son Prince Egmont of Lippe-Weissenfeld spent his youth and where his sisters, princesses Karola, Sophia and Theodora were born. The castle was heavily damaged in 1945 during WWII . Lippe-Biesterfeld The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital and later princely cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank). The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended

711-422: A small manor house at Oberkassel, Bonn , where the couple moved in 1770, and which was to become the home to the Lippe-Biesterfeld family for the following 209 years. Beethoven is said to have been the piano teacher of the couple's children. The Head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld family was given the style Illustrious Highness ( German : Erlaucht ) at Detmold on 27 August and 1 October 1844. When, in 1895,

790-435: A year later in 1896 his family continued to occupy the castle until 1909 when they resold it to Adolf Freiherr von Peckenzell , whose family owned the castle until 1868, when they had to sell it to a banker, Heinrich Klinkosch (1830-1889), uncle of Princess Johanna of Liechtenstein . Egmont's younger son, Prince Alfred zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1881-1960), by virtue of marriage to Countess Anna von Goëss (1895-1972) came into

869-523: Is a significant Buddhist community, which mainly caters to the population of Vietnamese origin, with one Buddhist temple built in 2008 and another one currently under construction. The Sikh faith also maintains a presence in Saxony's three largest cities with three (though small) Gurdwara . The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the state was 124.6 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.7% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power

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948-544: Is exercised through the Domowina . Former Minister President Stanislaw Tillich is of Sorbian ancestry and has been the first leader of a German state from a national minority. As of 2011, 72.6% of people are not affiliated with any religion. The Protestant Church in Germany represents the largest Christian denomination in the state, adhered to by 21.4% of the population. Members of the Roman Catholic Church formed

1027-435: Is located just across the border of Saxony-Anhalt . Leipzig shares, for instance, an S-train system (known as S-Bahn Mitteldeutschland ) and an airport with Halle. Saxony is a parliamentary democracy. A Minister President heads the government of Saxony. Michael Kretschmer has been Minister President since 13 December 2017. Gisela Reetz Ines Fröhlich Gesine Märtens Conrad Clemens Authorized representative of

1106-511: Is the lowest with 1.49. Dresden's fertility rate of 1.58 is the highest of all German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. Saxony is home to the Sorbs . There are currently between 45,000 and 60,000 Sorbs living in Saxony (Upper Lusatia region). Today's Sorb minority is the remainder of the Slavic population that settled throughout Saxony in the early Middle Ages and over time slowly assimilated into

1185-593: Is the modern ethnic group of Sorbs in Saxony. Eastern and western parts of present Saxony were ruled by Bohemia at various times between 1075 and 1635 (with some intermissions), and Schirgiswalde (Upper Sorbian: Šěrachów ; Czech : Šerachov ) remained a Bohemian exclave until 1809. Eastern parts were also ruled by Poland between 1002 and 1032, by the Duchy of Jawor , the southwesternmost duchy of fragmented Piast -ruled Poland, from 1319 to 1346, and by Hungary from 1469 to 1490, and Pechern (Upper Sorbian: Pěchč )

1264-402: Is the name of a cadet branch of the formerly ruling House of Lippe . The branch split from the branch Lippe-Biesterfeld when Ferdinand Johann Ludwig, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1709-1787), received Weissenfeld manor house in the forest near Schieder-Schwalenberg as his seat in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called paragiums (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) within

1343-687: Is thought to have begun in the first 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. The territory of modern day Saxony and partly of Thuringia since the late 6th century became populated by Polabian Slavs (most prominently tribe of Sorbs ), being conquered by Francia which organized Sorbian March . A legacy of this period

1422-647: The Landesdirektion Sachsen  [ de ] . Saxony is a densely populated state if compared with more rural German states such as Bavaria or Lower Saxony . However, the population has declined over time. The population of Saxony began declining in the 1950s due to emigration, a process which accelerated after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. After bottoming out in 2013, the population has stabilized due to increased immigration and higher fertility rates. The cities of Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, and

1501-463: The Bundestag . Saxony is divided into 10 districts:   1. Bautzen (BZ)   2. Erzgebirgskreis (ERZ)   3. Görlitz (GR)   4. Leipzig (L)   5. Meissen (MEI) (Meissen)   6. Mittelsachsen (FG)   7. Nordsachsen (TDO)   8. Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge (PIR)   9. Vogtlandkreis (V) 10. Zwickau (Z) In addition, three cities have

1580-527: The Cottbus Bezirk . The Free State of Saxony was reconstituted with slightly altered borders in 1990, following German reunification . Besides the formerly Silesian area of Saxony, which was mostly included in the territory of the new Saxony, the free state gained further areas north of Leipzig that had belonged to Saxony-Anhalt until 1952. The highest mountain in Saxony is the Fichtelberg (1,215 m) in

1659-564: The Duchy of Magdeburg , the Altmark and some smaller territories to become the Prussian Province of Saxony , a predecessor of the modern state of Saxony-Anhalt . Lower Lusatia and part of the former Saxe-Wittenberg territory became part of the Province of Brandenburg and the northeastern part of Upper Lusatia became part of the Province of Silesia . The rump Kingdom of Saxony had roughly

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1738-509: The Free State of Saxony , is a landlocked state of Germany , bordering the states of Brandenburg , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia , and Bavaria , as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic . Its capital is Dresden , and its largest city is Leipzig . Saxony is the tenth largest of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of 18,413 square kilometres (7,109 sq mi), and

1817-838: The Guelph dynasty, descendants of Wulfhild Billung, eldest daughter of the last Billung duke, and the daughter of Lothar of Supplinburg. In 1180 large portions west of the Weser were ceded to the Bishops of Cologne , while some central parts between the Weser and the Elbe remained with the Guelphs, becoming later the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg . The remaining eastern lands, together with the title of Duke of Saxony, passed to an Ascanian dynasty (descended from Eilika Billung , Wulfhild's younger sister) and were divided in 1260 into

1896-456: The Holy Roman Empire and established the Electorate of Saxony as a kingdom in exchange for military support. The Elector Frederick Augustus III accordingly became King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony . Frederick Augustus remained loyal to Napoleon during the wars that swept Europe in the following years; he was taken prisoner and his territories were declared forfeit by the allies in 1813, after

1975-617: The Holy Roman Empire by the 10th century, when the dukes of Saxony were also kings (or emperors) of the Holy Roman Empire, comprising the Ottonian , or Saxon, dynasty. The Margravate of Meissen was founded in 985 as a frontier march , that soon extended to the Kwisa (Queis) river to the east and as far as the Ore Mountains. In the process of Ostsiedlung , settlement of German farmers in

2054-553: The Kingdom of the Netherlands for Prince Bernhard and his descendants. The Lippe-Biesterfeld title hereby became also a Dutch one. On 7 January 1937, Bernhard married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands (who later was the Queen regnant of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980). From this marriage, four daughters were born who all hold the title Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld : Since

2133-578: The Oder-Neisse line was annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union, and, unlike in the aftermath of World War I , the annexing powers were allowed to expel the inhabitants. During the following three years, Poland and Czechoslovakia expelled German-speaking people from their territories, and some of these expellees came to Saxony. Only a small area of Saxony lying east of the Neisse River and centred around

2212-611: The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED). The new minister-president Rudolf Friedrichs (SED), had been a member of the SPD until April 1946. He met his Bavarian counterparts in the U.S. zone of occupation in October 1946 and May 1947, but died suddenly in mysterious circumstances the following month. He was succeeded by Max Seydewitz , a loyal follower of Joseph Stalin . The German Democratic Republic (East Germany), including Saxony,

2291-586: The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (SVAG) merged this territory into Saxony. This former Silesian territory broadly corresponded with the Upper Lusatian territory annexed by Prussia in 1815. On 20 October 1946, SVAG organised elections for the Saxon state parliament ( Landtag ), but many people were arbitrarily excluded from candidacy and suffrage, and the Soviet Union openly supported

2370-685: The Soviet occupation zone in 1945. After the German reunification of 1990, Prince Georg of Lippe-Weissenfeld, a younger son of Christian, 4th Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld, re-purchased the estate and castle of Proschwitz and established the renowned wine estate Prinz zur Lippe , Saxony's largest private winery. Besides the wine production, he opens the castle for concerts, balls, banquets, conferences and weddings. In 1895 Count Egmont zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1841-1896) bought Castle Pfaffstätt in Austria. After his death

2449-583: The Western Ore Mountains . There are numerous rivers in Saxony. The Elbe is the most dominant one. The Neisse defines the border between Saxony and Poland. Other rivers include the Mulde and the White Elster . The largest cities and towns in Saxony according to the 31 July 2022 estimate are listed below. Leipzig forms a conurbation with Halle , known as Ballungsraum Leipzig/Halle . The latter city

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2528-480: The prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands , it also became a title of the Dutch Royal House , created in 1937. The branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld was founded by count Jobst Herman (1625–1678), youngest son of count Simon VII of Lippe-Detmold. He received Biesterfeld with parts of the former county of Schwalenberg , as a paragium . From the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch the line of Lippe-Weissenfeld

2607-469: The sixth most populous , with more than 4 million inhabitants. The term Saxony has been in use for more than a millennium. It was used for the medieval Duchy of Saxony , the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire , the Kingdom of Saxony , and twice for a republic. The first Free State of Saxony was established in 1918 as a constituent state of the Weimar Republic . After World War II , it

2686-590: The 18th century, the branch continued to live at the rather modest Weissenfeld manor house and also owned the Weissenfelder Hof (Weissenfeld court) in Lemgo , which both no longer exist. Towards the end of the 18th century, the family inherited considerable estates in the Electorate of Saxony , and moved there. Friedrich Ludwig, 2nd Count of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1737-1791), whose seat now was castle Saßleben in Calau , received

2765-500: The 19th century. In 1876 it was absorbed into Prussia as the Duchy of Lauenburg district of the Province of Schleswig-Holstein ). Saxe-Wittenberg, mostly in modern Saxony-Anhalt , became subject to the margravate of Meissen , ruled by the Wettin dynasty in 1423. This established a new and powerful state, occupying large portions of the present Free State of Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Bavaria (Coburg and its environs). Although

2844-502: The County of Lippe, the later Principality of Lippe which existed until 1918. The County of Schwalenberg was inherited by the Counts of Lippe in 1365, and the estates of Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were parts of it. Simon VII, Count of Lippe begat a younger son, Count Jobst Hermann (1625-1678) who founded the line of Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld , and whose grandson, Count Ferdinand founded

2923-706: The Free State of Saxony under a new constitution enacted on 1 November 1920. In October 1923, when the Communist Party of Germany entered the Social Democratic -led government in Dresden with hidden revolutionary intentions , the Reich government under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann used a Reichsexekution to send troops into Saxony to remove the Communists from the government. The state retained its name and borders during

3002-476: The German speaking society. Many geographic names in Saxony are of Sorbic origin (including the three largest cities Chemnitz , Dresden and Leipzig ). The Sorbic language and culture are protected by special laws and cities and villages in eastern Saxony that are inhabited by a significant number of Sorbian inhabitants have bilingual street signs and administrative offices provide service in both, German and Sorbian. The Sorbs enjoy cultural self-administration which

3081-445: The May 1849 uprising in Dresden are depicted in the 1983 movie Wagner starring Richard Burton as Richard Wagner.) The May uprising in Dresden forced King Frederick Augustus II of Saxony to concede further reforms to the Saxon government. In 1854 Frederick Augustus II's brother, King John of Saxony , succeeded to the throne. A scholar, King John translated Dante . King John followed

3160-596: The Nazi era as a Gau ( Gau Saxony ), but lost its quasi-autonomous status and its parliamentary democracy. During World War II , under the secret Nazi programme Aktion T4 , an estimated 15,000 people suffering from mental and physical disabilities, as well as a number of concentration camp inmates, were murdered at Sonnenstein killing centre near Pirna . Numerous subcamps of the Buchenwald , Flossenburg and Gross-Rosen concentration camps were operated in Saxony. As

3239-458: The Saxon coat of arms, in many towns of Thuringia, the coat of arms can still be found in historical buildings. The remaining Saxon state became still more powerful, receiving Upper and Lower Lusatia in the Peace of Prague (1635) . It also became known in the 18th century for its cultural achievements, although it was politically weaker than Prussia and Austria , states which oppressed Saxony from

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3318-718: The Saxon electoral line of the Ascanians became extinct, the Ascanian Eric V of Saxe-Lauenburg tried to reunite the Saxon duchies. However, Sigismund , King of the Romans , had already granted Margrave Frederick IV the Warlike of Meissen ( House of Wettin ) an expectancy of the Saxon electorate in order to remunerate his military support. On 1 August 1425 Sigismund enfeoffed the Wettinian Frederick as Prince-Elector of Saxony, despite

3397-463: The Saxon postal system, railroads, military and foreign affairs. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Saxon troops fought together with Prussian and other German troops against France. In 1871, Saxony joined the newly formed German Empire . After King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony abdicated on 13 November 1918, Saxony, remaining a constituent state of Germany ( Weimar Republic ), became

3476-616: The centre of this state was far to the southeast of the former Saxony, it came to be referred to as Upper Saxony and then simply Saxony , while the former Saxon territories in the north were now known as Lower Saxony (the modern term Niedersachsen deriving from this). In 1485, Saxony was split in the Treaty of Leipzig . A collateral line of the Wettin princes received what later became Thuringia and founded several small states there (see Ernestine duchies ). Since these princes were allowed to use

3555-505: The close political and cultural relationship persisted well into the 19th century, with Saxony being the place of preparations for the Polish Kościuszko Uprising against the partitioning powers, and one of the chief destinations for Polish refugees from partitioned Poland, including the artistic and political elite, such as composer Frédéric Chopin , war hero Józef Bem and writer Adam Mickiewicz . In 1756, Saxony joined

3634-543: The defeat of Napoleon. Prussia intended the annexation of Saxony but 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 although he was forced to cede the northern part of the kingdom to Prussia, which led to the loss of nearly 60% of the Saxon territory, and 40% of its population. Most of these lands were merged with

3713-403: The free state Saxony to the federal government of Germany In the 2024 European Parliament election , AfD received the highest percentage of votes in Saxony, winning 31.8% of the ballots. The other states where AfD has become the strongest party are Thuringia , Saxony-Anhalt , Mecklenburg-Vorpommern , and Brandenburg . These four states were part of East Germany like Saxony. Compared to

3792-428: The larger cities, there are numerous smaller religious communities. The international Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a presence in the Freiberg Germany Temple which was the first of its kind in Germany, opened in 1985 even before its counterpart in Western Germany. It now also serves as a religious center for the church members in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia , and Hungary . In Leipzig, there

3871-458: The last election, AfD increased their votes in Saxony which was 25.3% in the 2019 European Parliament election . CDU/CSU received 21.8% of the votes in Saxony and became the second strongest party in the 2024 EP election. BSW was in the third place by receiving 12.6% of the votes. The Left lost a significant proportion of their votes compared to the 2019 election. Their votes regressed from 11.7% to 4.9%. Saxony has 16 constituencies for

3950-503: The latter's younger half-brother Christian (1777–1859) founded the younger line and received the estate of Teichnitz near Bautzen from the counts von Hohenthal , the family of his mother as well as of his wife. Later some smaller estates such as Lubachau, Gersdorf and Döberkitz were added. His grandson Clemens, 1st Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld (1860–1920), acquired Schloss Proschwitz near Meissen by marriage to Baroness Friederike von Carlowitz in 1910. All properties were expropriated in

4029-404: The lordship of Baruth (including the estates of Rackel and Buchwalde) from his wife's family, the counts von Gersdorff , in 1797, and later also acquired the smaller estates of Dauban and Sornitz. ( Baruth bei Bautzen must be distinguished from Baruth/Mark , a lordship of the counts and later princes of Solms-Baruth ). His elder son Ferdinand (1773-1846) inherited the Baruth lordship, while

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4108-442: The mentally ill Prince Alexander ascended the throne of the Principality of Lippe , Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was appointed to act as regent of Lippe, according to a then secretly kept decree of the predecessor Prince Woldemar . Alexander was the last male of the Lippe-Detmold line; the next senior lines of the House of Lippe were the Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld, followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld , and then by

4187-427: The modern German states of Bremen , Hamburg , Lower Saxony , North Rhine-Westphalia , Schleswig-Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt . Saxons converted to Christianity during this period, with Charlemagne outlawing pagan practices. This geographical region is unrelated to present-day Saxony but the name moved southwards due to certain historical events (see below). The territory of the Free State of Saxony became part of

4266-412: The modern German states of Lower Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and the Westphalian portion of North Rhine-Westphalia . Historically the region of Saxony has sometimes been referred to as Upper Saxony or Obersachsen in German to distinguish it from Lower Saxony. The state is also home to a minority of Sorbs , a West Slavic ethnic group native to the area, numbering an estimated 80,000 people. Saxony has

4345-421: The most junior line the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe . Shortly after becoming a member state of the German Empire in 1871, Prince Woldemar of the Lippe-Detmold line died on 20 July 1895. The next ruler was his brother, Alexander, Prince of Lippe , but the power needed to be exercised by a regent throughout his reign on account of his mental illness. This right for regency resulted in an inheritance dispute between

4424-452: The name with the old Saxon stem duchy for historical and dynastic reasons rather than any significant ethnic, linguistic or cultural connection. In the 18th and 19th centuries Saxe-Lauenburg was colloquially called the Duchy of Lauenburg , which was held in a personal union by the Electorate of Hanover from the 18th century to the Napoleonic wars, and in a personal union with Denmark (along with neighbouring Holstein and Schleswig ) for much

4503-451: The neighboring principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line. Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld , hitherto living at Oberkassel, became regent of the principality from 1897 until his death in 1904. The dispute was only resolved by the Imperial Court in Leipzig in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty. Ernest's son Prince Leopold IV (1871–1949)

4582-492: The north and south, respectively. Between 1697 and 1763, two successive Electors of Saxony were also elected Kings of Poland in personal union . Many landmarks in Saxony date from this period and contain remnants of the former close Polish-Saxon relation, such as the coat of arms of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on the facades and in the interiors of palaces, churches, edifices, etc. (e.g. Zwinger , Dresden Cathedral , Moritzburg Castle ), and on numerous mileposts, and

4661-506: The prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004). On 8 February 1909, the title Countess of Biesterfeld (not related to the previous title Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld) was created for Armgard von Cramm (1883–1971) and her descendants. Armgard was the wife of Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934) , the brother of Prince Leopold IV . On 24 February 1916, Armgard and her two sons Bernhard (1911–2004) and Aschwin (1914–1988) were created Prince(ss) of Lippe-Biesterfeld with

4740-427: The prince-consort, Prince Ernst August of Lippe (1917–1990), sold the house at Oberkassel in 1979, after he had acquired Syburg castle at Bergen, Middle Franconia , in 1970. The current head of the House of Lippe is Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 24 May 1959), a grandson of Leopold IV, and present owner of Detmold Castle. He is also a first cousin once removed of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1911–2004),

4819-414: The princely line of Lippe-Detmold on 24 May 1762. Frederick Charles Augustus preferred to live in a hunting lodge in the Sachsenwald forest, near Hamburg, named after him, Friedrichsruh , the current home of the Princes of Bismarck . Frederick William (1737-1803), the eldest surviving son of count Frederick Charles Augustus, married Elisabeth Johanna, Edle von Meinertzhagen (1752-1811) who inherited

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4898-424: The protests of Eric V. Thus the Saxon territories remained permanently separated. The Electorate of Saxony was then merged with the much larger Wettinian Margraviate of Meissen ; however, it used the higher-ranking title Electorate of Saxony and even the Ascanian coat-of-arms for the entire monarchy. Thus Saxony came to include Dresden and Meissen . Hence, the territory of the modern Free State of Saxony shares

4977-406: The reunification of East and West Germany . In prehistoric times, the territory of present-day Saxony was the site of some of the largest of the ancient central European monumental temples , dating from the fifth century BC. Notable archaeological sites have been discovered in Dresden and the villages of Eythra and Zwenkau near Leipzig. The Germanic presence in the territory of today's Saxony

5056-455: The same extent as the present state, albeit slightly smaller. Meanwhile, in 1815, the Kingdom of Saxony joined the German Confederation . In the politics of the Confederation, Saxony was overshadowed by Prussia and Austria. King Anthony of Saxony came to the throne of Saxony in 1827. Shortly thereafter, liberal pressures in Saxony mounted and broke out in revolt during 1830—a year of revolution in Europe. The revolution in Saxony resulted in

5135-429: The sparsely populated area was promoted. Around this time, the Billungs , a Saxon noble family, received extensive lands in Saxony. The emperor eventually gave them the title of dukes of Saxony . After Duke Magnus died in 1106, causing the extinction of the male line of Billungs, oversight of the duchy was given to Lothar of Supplinburg , who also became emperor for a short time. In 1137, control of Saxony passed to

5214-422: The status of an urban district ( German : kreisfreie Städte ): Between 1990 and 2008, Saxony was divided into the three regions ( Regierungsbezirke ) of Chemnitz , Dresden , and Leipzig . After the 2008 Saxony district reform , these regions – with some alterations of their respective areas – were called Direktionsbezirke . In 2012, the authorities of these regions were merged into one central authority,

5293-418: The style Serene Highness . They returned to a more senior position in the line of succession to the Lippian throne , in which they previously had been the very last. The suffix Biesterfeld was revived to mark the foundation of a new cadet line. By royal decree of 6 January 1937, the titles Prince of the Netherlands , with the style Royal Highness , and Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld , were created in

5372-440: The style of Serene Highness . On 9 November 1918, all other legitimate cadet male/female members of the younger Lippe-Weissenfeld branch were also upgraded from the title of Count/Countess with the style Illustrious Highness and granted the title of Prince/Princess with the style of Serene Highness by Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe , who officially renounced the throne of Lippe three days later, on 12 November 1918. During

5451-404: The throne of the Principality of Lippe in 1905, after the extinction of the ruling main branch, when count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld became Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe . He continued to rule until the German Revolution of 1918 . In 1916, he created his younger brother, count Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , a prince. Through the latter's son, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911–2004),

5530-399: The title can only be inherited in the male line, the title will become extinct after the death of Prince Bernhard's daughters. By royal decree of 26 May 1998, the descendants of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born 1968), eldest son of Princess Margriet , all have the newly created surname van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven . Saxony Saxony , officially

5609-409: The town of Reichenau (Bogatynia) was annexed by Poland. Traditional close relations of Saxony with neighbouring German-speaking Egerland were thus completely destroyed, making the border of Saxony along the Ore Mountains a linguistic border. Part of the former Prussian province of Lower Silesia lay west of the Oder-Neisse line and therefore was separated from the bulk of its former province;

5688-464: The towns of Radebeul and Markkleeberg in their vicinity, have seen their populations increase since 2000. The following tables illustrate the foreign resident populations and the population of Saxony from 1816 to 2022: The average number of children per woman in Saxony was 1.60 in 2018, the fourth-highest rate of all German states. Within Saxony, the highest is the Bautzen district with 1.77, while Leipzig

5767-485: The two small states of Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg . The former state was also named Lower Saxony , the latter Upper Saxony , thence the later names of the two Imperial Circles Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg. Both claimed the Saxon electoral privilege for themselves, but the Golden Bull of 1356 accepted only Wittenberg's claim, with Lauenburg nevertheless continuing to maintain its claim. In 1422, when

5846-751: The war drew to its end, U.S. troops under General George Patton occupied the western part of Saxony in April 1945, while Soviet troops occupied the eastern part. That summer, the entire state was handed over to Soviet forces as agreed in the London Protocol of September 1944 . Britain, the US, and the USSR then negotiated Germany's future at the Potsdam Conference . Under the Potsdam Agreement , all German territory East of

5925-530: Was established in 1949 out of the Soviet zone of Occupied Germany , becoming a constitutionally socialist state , part of COMECON and the Warsaw Pact , under the leadership of the SED . In 1952 the government abolished the Free State of Saxony, and divided its territory into three Bezirke : Leipzig , Dresden , and Karl-Marx-Stadt (formerly and currently Chemnitz ). Areas around Hoyerswerda were also part of

6004-508: Was part of the Duchy of Żagań , one of the Lower Silesian duchies formed in the course of the medieval fragmentation of Poland, remaining under the Piast dynasty until 1472. The first medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages " Carolingian stem duchy ", which emerged around the start of the 8th century AD and grew to include the greater part of Northern Germany , what are now

6083-418: Was separated in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called paragiums (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) of the ruling House of Lippe . Jobst Herman built the manor of Biesterfeld around 1660. Frederick Charles Augustus, Count of Lippe , moved the comital brewery from Schwalenberg to Biesterfeld in 1740. However, both the lands of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Lippe-Weissenfeld were ceded and sold to

6162-492: Was the first and only count of Lippe-Biesterfeld to become ruling prince of Lippe, residing at Detmold Castle. Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934) , the younger brother of Leopold IV and father of prince consort Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , was born at Oberkassel and grew up there. Later he acquired castle Reckenwalde and an estate in East Brandenburg (today Wojnowo, Poland), where his son grew up. A first cousin of

6241-513: Was under Soviet occupation before it became part of communist East Germany and was abolished by the government in 1952. Following German reunification , the Free State of Saxony was reconstituted with enlarged borders in 1990 and became one of the five new states of the Federal Republic of Germany. The area of the modern state of Saxony should not be confused with Old Saxony , the area inhabited by Saxons . Old Saxony corresponds roughly to

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