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(Grand) Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach(1809–1903) (Groß-)Herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach Grand Duchy of Saxony(1903–1918) Großherzogtum Sachsen Free State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach(1918–1920) Freistaat Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1809–1920 | |||||||||||
.svg) .svg) Top: Flag (1813–1897) Bottom: Flag (1897–1920) | |||||||||||
| Anthem: Weimars Volkslied [de] | |||||||||||
.svg) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach within theGerman Empire | |||||||||||
 Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, shown within theErnestine duchies | |||||||||||
| Status | State of theConfederation of the Rhine (1809–1813) State of theGerman Confederation (1815–1866) Federal State of theNorth German Confederation (1867–1871) Federal State of theGerman Empire (1871–1918) Federal State of theWeimar Republic (1918–1920) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Weimar | ||||||||||
| Common languages | German Thuringian dialect | ||||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy (1809–1816) Constitutional monarchy (1816–1918) Republic (1918–1920) | ||||||||||
| Grand Duke | |||||||||||
• 1809–1828 | Karl August (first) | ||||||||||
• 1901–1918 | William Ernest (last) | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||
| 1741 | |||||||||||
• Merger of Eisenach and Weimar | September 20, 1809 | ||||||||||
• Raised togrand duchy | 1815 | ||||||||||
| 1918 | |||||||||||
• JoinedThuringia | 1920 | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| 1800[1] | 2,052 km2 (792 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1800[1] | 109,000 | ||||||||||
| Currency | Saxon thaler (to 1857) SaxonVereinsthaler (1857–1873) German gold mark (1873–1918) | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||||
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (German:Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a German state, created as aduchy in 1809 by the merger of theErnestine duchies ofSaxe-Weimar andSaxe-Eisenach, which had been inpersonal union since 1741. It was raised to agrand duchy in 1815 by resolution of theCongress of Vienna. In 1903, it officially changed its name to theGrand Duchy of Saxony (German:Großherzogtum Sachsen), but this name was rarely used. The grand duchy came to an end in theGerman Revolution of 1918–19 with the other monarchies of theGerman Empire. It was succeeded by theFree State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, which was merged into the newState of Thuringia two years later.
The full grand ducal style wasGrand Duke ofSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach,Landgrave inThuringia,Margrave ofMeissen,Princely Count ofHenneberg,Lord ofBlankenhayn,Neustadt andTautenburg.
The Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach branch has been the mostgenealogically senior extant branch of theHouse of Wettin since 1672.
The Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach consisted of three greater areas, each of which formed aKreis administratively, plus severalexclaves. Neighboring countries werePrussia,Saxony,Bavaria,Hesse-Kassel (until 1866, when it was incorporated in the PrussianProvince of Hesse-Nassau), and all the other Thuringian states (Saxe-Altenburg,Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,Saxe-Meiningen,Reuss Elder Line,Reuss Junior Line,Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt andSchwarzburg-Sondershausen).
The northern part of theWeimar district was flat and part of theThuringian Basin; the southern and eastern parts were situated on the Ilm-Saale Plateau and in theSaale valley. The northern part ofEisenach district was hilly (Hörselberge andHainich hills); the central part with the town of Eisenach was in theHörsel valley; further south were the mountains of theThuringian Forest, followed by theWerra valley, theKupenrhön mountains and finally, in the far south, the main chain of theRhön mountains. The districtNeustadt was located in hills with altitudes between 200 and 400 meters.
The main rivers in the country were:
The highest elevation in the grand duchy were theKickelhahn (861 m above sea level (NN)) near Ilmenau, theEllenbogen (814 m above sea level (NN)) in the Rhön and theEttersberg (477 m above sea level (NN)) near Weimar.
In 1895, the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was administratively divided into three districts (Kreise):
| District | Area in square kilometers | Residents | Cities | exclaves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District Weimar | 1752.59 | 191,975 | Weimar,Apolda,Jena,Ilmenau,Allstedt,Rastenberg,Buttstädt,Buttelstedt,Neumark,Dornburg,Bürgel, Lobeda,Bad Sulza,Magdala,Bad Berka,Blankenhain,Remda,Kranichfeld and Tannroda | Ilmenau, Bösleben, Klein Kröbitz,Allstedt andOldisleben |
| District Eisenach | 1214.03 | 95,226 | Eisenach,Creuzburg,Berka/Werra,Ruhla,Vacha,Stadtlengsfeld,Geisa,Ostheim vor der Rhön andKaltennordheim | Seebach,Ostheim vor der Rhön andZillbach |
| District Neustadt | 628.71 | 52,016 | Neustadt an der Orla,Triptis,Auma,Weida, Thuringia andBerga/Elster | Rußdorf,Teichwolframsdorf and Förthen |
Furthermore, the districts of Weimar and Eisenach were each subdivided into twoBezirke. In the case of Weimar, these were: Weimar and Apolda, in the case of Eisenach they were the Eisenach and Dermbach. In all, there were 31 cities and 594 municipalities in the Grand Duchy. The Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach granted "city" status to three localities in the state, namelyBerka/Werra (Eisenach district, 1847),Ruhla (Eisenach district, 1886, administered jointly with the Duke of Saxe-Gotha) andMünchenbernsdorf (Neustadt district, 1904).
In 1840, there were 13 cities with over 2,000 inhabitants. In the 70 years to 1910, the Grand Duchy industrialized heavily and the population of the largest cities grew, while the medium-sized cities remained constant or even lost population. The population ofStadtlengsfeld shrank dramatically after theJewish emancipation, when most of the city's Jewish citizens migrated to larger cities.
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In 1910, several other towns had grown past the 2,000 inhabitants mark:Ruhla (Weimar part: 3917 v. 1533: +156%),Blankenhain (3405 v. 1689: +102%),Bad Sulza, (3052 v. 1422: +115%),Auma (2978 v. 1701, +75%),Triptis (2948 v. 1480: +99%),Tiefenort (2539 v. 1237: +105%),Bad Berka (2379 v. 1228: +94%), Oberweimar (2095 v. 621: +237%),Oldisleben (2064 v. 1332: +55) andMihla (2008 v. 1294: +55%).
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The duchies ofSaxe-Weimar andSaxe-Eisenach had been ruled inpersonal union by the same branch of theHouse of Wettin since 1741, after the Eisenach line had died out upon the death of DukeWilhelm Heinrich. The first Duke of the personal union wasErnest Augustus I, who built theBelvedere Palace inWeimar. His sonErnest Augustus II reigned for only three years, and died at the age of 20. At the age of 18, he married the Brunswick PrincessAnna Amalia, one year his junior and a niece of KingFrederick the Great ofPrussia. A year later she gave birth to her son,Charles Augustus and after another year, when she was already a widow, to her sonConstantine.
As Dowager Duchess Anna Amalia actively took up theregency, with the approval of the EmpressMaria Theresa and the support of her ethical Minister Baron von Fritsch. As educator for her sons, she employed the poetChristoph Martin Wieland, who was a professor at theUniversity of Erfurt.
At 18 years of age, Charles Augustus married PrincessLouise of Hesse-Darmstadt. He employed the poetJohann Wolfgang von Goethe, with whom he soon became friends. Goethe, in turn, invited the authorsJohann Gottfried Herder andFriedrich Schiller to Weimar, thus laying the foundation for theWeimar Classicism circle, which was supported in the background by Anna Amalia. Later regents would see it as main task to guard this heritage.
In 1804 Duke Charles Augustus' eldest son and heirCharles Frederick marriedMaria Pavlovna Romanova, sister of EmperorAlexander I of Russia, a conjugal union which decisively promoted the rise of the Ernestine Saxe-Weimar dynasty. It also gave the duchy some protection during the turmoil of theNapoleonic Wars. Though at first an ally ofPrussia in the NapoleonicWar of the Fourth Coalition, Duke Charles Augustus escaped his deposition by joining theConfederation of the Rhine on 15 December 1806.
After the official merger in 1809, the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach consisted of the separate districts around the capital Weimar in the north andEisenach in the west. Thanks to their Russian connection, the duchy gained substantially from theCongress of Vienna in 1815. In the east, it gained most of theNeustädter Kreis [de] (Neustadt district; 629 km2, 243 sq mi) from theKingdom of Saxony. It also received most of thePrincipality of Erfurt, which had been an exclave ofMainz before the war and a directly administered French fief under occupation. It further gained smaller possessions, such asBlankenhain andKranichfeld. In theRhön area, theEisenacher Oberland [de] was created from adjacent former parts ofHesse-Kassel and territories held by the secularizedPrincely Abbey of Fulda. Finally, the country was raised to agrand duchy – as the only branch of theErnestine line of theHouse of Wettin, which had several reigning dukes but only one grand duke. TheAlbertine line simultaneously attained the rank of kings of Saxony.
The cosmopolitan Grand Duke Charles Augustus gave his grand duchy the first liberal constitution in Germany, on 5 May 1816. Students of theUniversity of Jena organized themselves as Germany's first fraternity, theUrburschenschaft and celebratedWartburg Festival at theWartburg in October 1817. Many liberal-minded people participated and the speakers, most of them students, must be regarded as having been among the earliest democrats in Germany.
Maria Pavlovna, who was grand duchess from 1828, featuring composers likeFranz Liszt andPeter Cornelius. Her art-loving sonCharles Alexander (1818–1901), who was grand duke from 1853, also supported the arts, and music in particular. He was married toSophie, who supported his plans, and he rebuilt the decayingWartburg the romantichistoricism style of the day and had it painted byMoritz von Schwind. He also supported, albeit half-heartedly, the founding of theSchool of Applied Arts in Weimar, which merged to form theBauhaus in 1919.
A member of theGerman Confederation from 1815, the grand duchy was not seriously affected by theGerman revolutions of 1848 and remained neutral during the growing friction betweenAustria and Prussia over the following two decades. After theAustro-Prussian War the grand duchy became a member of theNorth German Confederation and in 1871 joined the newGerman Empire as a constituent state.
In 1901 Charles Alexander was succeeded by his grandsonWilliam Ernest, who was married toCaroline Reuss of Greiz and later toFeodora of Saxe-Meiningen. In 1903, the grand duchy officially changed its name toGrand Duchy of Saxony. However, many people continued to call it Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, to avoid confusion with the neighbouringKingdom of Saxony.
William Ernest abdicated the throne on 9 November 1918, thereby ending the monarchy in the state. It continued as theFree State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, until 1920, when it merged with most of its neighbours to formThuringia, with Weimar as the state capital.
In the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, as in all theThuringian states, theLutheran faith was the most prevalent. Specifically, in 1895, the reported religious affiliations of the 339,217 were:
In the district of Eisenach, the distribution was slightly different. Of the 95,226 inhabitants were:
The Catholic and Jewish minorities in the district Eisenach lived mainly in the Rhön. The area around the town ofGeisa was predominantly Catholic and belonged to theDiocese of Fulda.
Under the Constitution of 5 May 1816 (revised 15 October 1850), Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a constitutional monarchy, hereditary in the male line. Under the Electoral Act of 1852, theLandtag had 31 members, of whom 21 were elected in general elections. One member was elected by the landed formerImperial Knights, four were elected by other wealthy landowners, and five by voters who had an annual income exceeding 1000Thaler from other sources. The latter group of voters were popularly called "thousand thaler men". The Electoral Act of 17 April 1896 enlarged the parliament to 33 members. The grand duchy had one vote in theImperial Bundesrat and three members in theReichstag.
In 1909, general suffrage was introduced, under the auspices of Alfred Appelius, the later Speaker of the Landtag. The large landowners and the "thousand thaler men" retained their extra votes, and five new special members were added to the parliament, representing theUniversity of Jena, the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Trade, the Chamber of Agriculture and the Chamber of Labour.[2]
The highest court in the land was the Court of Appeals in Jena, which dealt with appeals from all Thuringian states. There were Regional Courts in Weimar and Eisenach.
The grand duchy had one infantry regiment, which after 1871 was part of theImperial German Army's 11th Army Corps.
In 1895, 37.9% of the workforce were employed in theagriculture andforestry industries, 38.9% worked in themanufacturing sector, and 16.4% were employed in theservice sector.
Until 1900, agriculture was the most important branch in the economy of the grand duchy. A total of 56% of the duchy's territory was used for agriculture, mainly in the districts Weimar and Neustadt and the exclavesAllstedt andOldisleben in theGoldene Aue area.
The harvest of 1895 consisted of:
| Crop | Area (km2) | Yield (metric tons) |
|---|---|---|
| Wheat | 216 | 27,100 |
| Rye | 295 | 33,300 |
| Barley | 276 | 41,900 |
| Oats | 334 | 39,600 |
| Potatoes | 225 | 232,200 |
| Hay | 574 | 192,717 |
| Fodder | 92 | 152,400 |
Fruit was mainly grown in theSaale valley, aroundJena andBürgel. There was someviticulture north of Jena, betweenDornburg andCamburg.
Stock breeding was also widespread. In 1892, there were 19,121 horses in the grand duchy, 119,720 cattle, 113,208 sheep, 122,974 pigs, 46,405 goats and 16,999 beehives.
Game was only found near Eisenach, inEichenzell and in the Ilmenau exclave, where the grand duke's largest hunting ground was located on the banks of theGabelbach. About 50% of the forests were state-owned (450 km2 [170 sq mi]). The dominant tree species werebeech (in the Weimar district),pine (especially in the Neustadt district) andspruce (in the Eisenach district and around Ilmenau). The grand duchy's State Forestry Office was based in Eisenach.
A versatile array of manufacturing industries developed in the grand duchy. For example, in Bürgel andIlmenau, there were porcelain factories (in all, there were 39 such factories in the country).
In Ilmenau andJena, glass was made (in particular, in theSchott factories). The glass industry was specialized in industrial glass (for example measuring devices such as thermometers in the area around Ilmenau) and optical products, around Jena. In 1846,Carl Zeiss found a precision engineering and optical company that quickly developed into a world leader. In 1917, the company had10000 employees. In 1889,Ernst Abbe founded theCarl-Zeiss-Stiftung, which became the sole share holder of the companiesCarl Zeiss AG andSchott AG.
The textile industry was also important. It was concentrated inApolda (mostly hosiery knitting mills) andNeustadt an der Orla. Other major textile plants could be found in Wenigenjena,Eisenach,Weida,Remda andBlankenhain. In 1895, the textile industry employed approximately7000 people.
Ruhla was a center of the metalworking industry. The country's first car plant was built in 1895 in Eisenach. Chemical industries, such as a paint factory, could also be found in Eisenach. Furthermore, there were a paper mill in Oberweimar and a toy factory in Ilmenau. Wicker-work was manufactured in theKuppenrhön area and pipes were made inGeisa. In 1895, there were 257 breweries in the grand duchy; the largest of these were in Apolda and Ilmenau.
Ilmenau and Ruhla were important mining centers in theThuringian Forest. Around 1900, potash industry began to develop in theWerra valley, around Vacha andBerka/Werra. There were salt works inCreuzburg andBad Sulza.
The major transport centers were Weimar and Eisenach. Many banks opened branch offices here. In 1895, there were 23 branch offices of savings banks in the grand duchy, and they were managing deposits totalling approximately 40 millionReichsmark.
The grand duchy was part of theThuringian Toll Union, except for the exclaves Ostheim, Oldisleben, and Allstedt.
There was one state university in the grand duchy, theUniversity of Jena, which was funded by Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach together with the otherThuringian states. There were several art and music schools in Weimar, and in Ilmenau, there was theTechnische Universität Ilmenau, a privately owned university providing technical and scientific education.Gymnasiums existed in Weimar, Eisenach and Jena;Realschules were found in Weimar, Apolda, Jena, Eisenach, Neustadt and Ilmenau. In 1895, there were 462 primary schools, and any child would receive at least four years of primary education. Large libraries of200000 volumes each were maintained in Weimar and Jena. In 1869, a State Museum was founded in Weimar.
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