House of Wettin

The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of

German

count

s,

duke

s, prince-electors and

king

s that once ruled territories in the present-day German states of

Saxony

,

Saxony-Anhalt

and Thuringia. The dynasty is one of the oldest in

Europe

, and its origins can be traced back to the town of Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt. The Wettins gradually rose to power within the Holy Roman Empire. Members of the family became the rulers of several medieval states, starting with the Saxon Eastern March in 1030. Other states they gained were

Meissen

in 1089, Thuringia in 1263, and

Saxony

in 1423. These areas cover large parts of Central Germany as a cultural area of Germany.

The family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 by the Treaty of Leipzig: the Ernestine and Albertine branches. The older Ernestine branch played a key role during the Protestant Reformation. Many ruling monarchs outside Germany were later tied to its cadet branch, the

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

. The Albertine branch, while less prominent, ruled most of

Saxony

and played a part in Polish history.

Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of

United Kingdom

,

Portugal

,

Bulgaria

, Poland,

Saxony

, and

Belgium

. Only the British and Belgian lines retain their thrones today.

Origins: Wettin of Saxony

The oldest member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain is Theodoric I of Wettin, also known as ''Dietrich'', ''Thiedericus'', and ''Thierry I of Liesgau'' (died c. 982). He was most probably based in the Liesgau (located at the western edge of the

Harz

). Around 1000, the family acquired

Wettin Castle

, which was originally built by the local Slavic tribes (see Sorbs), after which they named themselves. Wettin Castle is located in Wettin in the Hassegau (or Hosgau) on the Saale River. Around 1030, the Wettin family received the Eastern March as a fief.

The prominence of the Wettins in the Slavic Saxon Eastern March (or ''Ostmark'') caused

Emperor Henry IV

to invest them with the March of Meissen as a fief in 1089. The family advanced over the course of the Middle Ages: in 1263, they inherited the landgraviate of Thuringia (although without Hesse) and in 1423, they were invested with the Duchy of Saxony, centred at Wittenberg, thus becoming one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire.

Ernestine and Albertine Wettins

The family split into two ruling branches in 1485 when the sons of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony divided the territories hitherto ruled jointly. The elder son Ernest, who had succeeded his father as Prince-elector, received the territories assigned to the Elector (''Electorate of Saxony'') and Thuringia, while his younger brother

Albert

obtained the March of Meissen, which he ruled from

Dresden

. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony", his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony.

File:1441 Ernst.jpg, Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1441–1486)
File:Herzog-Albrecht-der-Beherzt.jpg,

Albert, Duke of Saxony

(1443–1500)

Ernestines

The older Ernestine branch remained predominant until 1547 and played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Frederick III (''Friedrich der Weise'') appointed

Martin Luther

(1512) and Philipp Melanchthon (1518) to the University of Wittenberg, which he had established in 1502.

The Ernestine predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War (1546/7), which pitted the Protestant Schmalkaldic League against the

Emperor Charles V

. Although itself Lutheran, the Albertine branch rallied to the Emperor's cause. Charles V had promised Moritz the rights to the electorship. After the Battle of Mühlberg, Johann Friedrich der Großmütige, had to cede territory (including Wittenberg) and the electorship to his cousin Moritz. Although imprisoned, Johann Friedrich was able to plan a new university. It was established by his three sons on 19 March 1548 as the ''Höhere Landesschule'' at

Jena

. On 15 August 1557, Emperor Ferdinand I awarded it the status of university.

The Ernestine line was thereafter restricted to Thuringia and its dynastic unity swiftly crumbled, dividing into a number of smaller states, the Ernestine duchies. Nevertheless, with Ernst der Fromme, Duke of Saxe-Gotha (1601–1675), the house gave rise to an important early-modern ruler who was ahead of his time in supporting the education of his people and in improving administration. In the 18th century, Karl August, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, established what was to become known as Weimar Classicism at his court in Weimar, notably by bringing

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

there.

It was only in the 19th century that one of the many Ernestine branches, the

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

, regained importance through marriages as the "stud of Europe", by ascending the thrones of Belgium (in 1831),

Portugal

(1853–1910), Bulgaria (1908–1946) and the

United Kingdom

(in 1901).

Residences of Ernestine branches

File:Schloss Altenburg 02.JPG,

Altenburg

Castle
File:Schloss Saalfeld.jpg, Saalfeld Castle
File:Schloss Weimar - Panorama.jpg,

Schloss Weimar

File:City palace - Stadtschloss - Eisenach - Thuringia - Germany.jpg, Eisenach Palace
File:Schloss01.jpg, Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
File:Schloss Hildburghausen.JPG, Hildburghausen Castle

Albertines

The junior Albertine branch maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony, preserving it as a significant power in the region, and used small appanage fiefs for its cadet branches, few of which survived for significant lengths of time. The Ernestine Wettins, on the other hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory, creating an intricate patchwork of small duchies and counties in Thuringia.

The Albertine Wettins ruled as Electors (1547–1806) and Kings of Saxony (1806–1918), and also played a role in Polish history – two Wettins were Kings of Poland (between 1697–1763) and a third ruled the Duchy of Warsaw (1807–1814) as a satellite of

Napoleon I

. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Albertine branch lost about 40% of its lands (the economically less-developed northern parts of the old Electorate of Saxony) to Prussia, restricting it to a territory coextensive with the modern

Saxony

(see Final Act of the Congress of Vienna Act IV: Treaty between Prussia and Saxony 18 May 1815).

Frederick Augustus III

lost his throne in the German Revolution of 1918.

The role of current head of the Albertine "House of Saxony" is claimed by his great-grandson Prince Rüdiger of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen (born 23 December 1953). However, the headship of Prince Rüdiger is contested by his second cousin, Alexander (born 1954), son of Roberto Afif (later by change of name Mr Gessaphe) and Princess Maria Anna of Saxony, a sister of the childless former head of the Albertines, Maria Emanuel, Margrave of Meissen (died 2012), who had adopted his nephew and granted him the name Prince of Saxony, contrary to the rules of male descent under the Salic Law. Both are however not recognized by the Nobility Archive in Marburg, nor by the Conference of the Formerly Ruling Houses in Germany – Prince Rüdiger because his father Timo was expelled from the House of Wettin, and Prince Alexander because he is not of agnatic noble descent (his father was Roberto Afif from Lebanon). Consequently, the Albertine branch of the House of Wettin is officially treated by the German nobility as extinct in its legal succession-line.

Albertine Electors and Kings of Saxony

Residences of the Albertine branch

File:DD-Schloss-gp.jpg,

Dresden Royal Palace

File:Meißen Burgberg mit Albrechtsburg und Dom.jpg,

Meissen

(near Dresden)
File:Moritzburg bei Dresden (tone-mapping).jpg,

Moritzburg Castle

(near Dresden)
File:Pillnitz-Wasseransicht.jpg, Pillnitz Palace (near Dresden)
File:Schloss Weesenstein (14-2).jpg, Weesenstein Castle (near Dresden)
File:Schloss Freudenstein Freiberg.jpg, Freudenstein Castle at Freiberg
File:Schloss Augustusburg Südseite.jpg, Augustusburg Hunting Lodge (near Chemnitz)
File:Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf, Sachsen, Deutschland.JPG, Hubertusburg Castle (near Leipzig)

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The senior (Ernestine) branch of the House of Wettin lost the electorship to the Albertine line in 1547, but retained its holdings in Thuringia, dividing the area into a number of smaller states. One of the resulting Ernestine houses, known as Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld until 1826 and as Saxe-Coburg and Gotha after that, went on to contribute List of Belgian monarchs, kings of Belgium (from 1831) and Bulgaria (1908–1946), as well as furnishing husbands to Queen regnant, queens regnant of

Portugal

(Ferdinand II of Portugal, Prince Ferdinand) and the

United Kingdom

(Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert). As such, the British and Portuguese thrones became possessions of persons who belonged to the House of Wettin.

From George I of Great Britain, King George I to Queen Victoria, the British Royal family was called the House of Hanover, being a junior branch of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg and thus part of the dynasty of the House of Welf, Guelphs. In the late 19th century, Queen Victoria charged the College of Heralds in England to determine the correct personal surname of her late husband, Albert, Prince Consort, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha—and, thus, the proper surname of the royal family upon the accession of her son. After extensive research, they concluded that it was Wettin, but this name was never used, either by the Queen or by her son (Edward VII, King Edward VII) or by her grandson (George V, King George V); they were simply Kings of the House of "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha".

Severe anti-German sentiment during World War I (1914-1918) led some influential members of the British public (especially radical Republicans such as H. G. Wells) to question the loyalty of the royal family. Advisors to King George V searched for an acceptable surname for the British royal family, but ''Wettin'' was rejected as "unsuitably comic"."Since the Saxe-Coburg family belonged to the House of Wettin in the District of Wipper, ''Wettin'' or ''Wipper'' might be more appropriate. Either one could have passed for an English name, but both were considered 'unsuitably comic.'" Anne Edwards, ''Matriarch: Queen Mary and the House of Windsor'' (2014)
p. 302
An Order in Council legally changed the name of the British royal family to House of Windsor, "Windsor" (originally suggested by Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, Lord Stamfordham) in 1917.

Residences of the family

File:Coburg-Veste4.jpg, Veste Coburg, ancestral seat of the House of Saxe-Coburg
File:Coburg-Ehrenburg1.jpg, Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg (summer residence)
File:Gotha Schloss 1900.jpg, Friedenstein Castle, Gotha (winter residence)
File:Reinhardsbrunn Schloss Winter.JPG, Reinhardsbrunn Castle, Gotha
File:CO Schloss Rosenau1.jpg, Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, Rosenau Castle, Coburg
Schloss Callenberg 2.jpg, Callenberg Castle

Branches and titles of the House of Wettin and its agnatic descent

Early Wettins

* Counts of Wettin Castle, Wettin
* Margraviate of Landsberg, Margraves of Landsberg
* Margraves of March of Meissen, Meissen
* Margraves of March of Lusatia, Lusatia
* Dukes of Saxony, Landgraviate of Thuringia, Landgraves of Thuringia
* Electors of Saxony and Prince-elector#High offices, Arch-Marshals of the Holy Roman Empire

File:Wartburg von Brücke.jpg, Wartburg near Eisenach (1250–1406: residence of the Wettins)

Ernestines

* Electors of Saxony and Prince-elector#High offices, Arch-Marshals of the Holy Roman Empire (1464–1547)

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-16879-0019, Wittenberg, Schloss, Schlosskirche.jpg, All Saints' Church, Wittenberg, Wittenberg Castle, residence of Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1490–96
File:SchlossHartenfels.JPG, Hartenfels Castle in Torgau, main residence of the Ernestine Electors since Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1533–40

Existing Ernestine branches

* Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
* Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen
* Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

)
* Kings of the Belgians (House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha#Belgian royal house, House ''van België'' or ''de Belgique'' or ''von Belgien'', "House of Belgium", previously known as House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
* Kings and Queen of the United Kingdom (House of Windsor, previously known as House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)
* Tsars of Bulgaria (House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, sometimes known as "Sakskoburggotski")

File:Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.svg, Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen.svg, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen
File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.svg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
File:Coat of Arms of the King of the Belgians.svg, Monarchy of Belgium, King of the Belgians
File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.svg, Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg

Extinct Ernestine branches

* Dukes of Saxe-Coburg
* Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
* Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg (first line of Altenburg)
* Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (second line of Altenburg)
* Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen, then Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg (third line of Altenburg)
* Dukes of Saxe-Weimar
* Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach
* Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach
* Dukes of Saxe-Jena
* Dukes of Saxe-Gotha
* Dukes of Saxe-Eisenberg
* Dukes of Saxe-Marksuhl
* Dukes of Saxe-Römhild
* Kings of Portugal and the Algarves (House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

Albertines

* Margraves of March of Meissen, Meissen
* Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1498–1510)
* Electors of Saxony and Prince-elector#High offices, Arch-Marshals of the Holy Roman Empire (1547–1806)
* Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania
*Duke of Courland and Semigallia (1758–1763)
* Kings of Saxony (1806–1918), currently ''Prince/Princess of Saxony'' and ''Duke/Duchess of Saxony'', with the head of the family also ''Margrave of Meissen''
* Duchy of Warsaw, Duke of Warsaw (1807–1815)

Extinct Albertine branches

* Dukes of Saxe-Zeitz
* Dukes of Saxe-Merseburg
* Dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels

File:Zeitz Schloss1.jpg, Schloss Moritzburg (Zeitz), Moritzburg Palace in Zeitz
File:Merseburger Schloss 2006.jpg, Merseburg Castle
File:Schloss Neu-Augustusburg Ostseite.JPG, Neu-Augustusburg Castle, Weißenfels, Weissenfels

Family tree of the House of Wettin

Coats of arms

File:Wappen Mark Landsberg.svg, Counts of Wettin Castle, Wettin, Margraviate of Landsberg, Margraves of Landsberg
File:Wappen Landkreis Meissen.svg, Margraves of March of Meissen, Meissen
File:Blason Thuringe-Misnie.svg, Margraves of March of Meissen, Meissen and Landgraviate of Thuringia, Landgraves of Thuringia
File:Blason Jean-Georges IV de Saxe.svg, Electors of Saxony, Elector of Saxony and Prince-elector#High offices, Arch-Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire
File:Coat of arms of Saxony.svg, Kingdom of Saxony, King of Saxony (standard arms)

For an extensive treatment of the coats of arms, see: Coat of arms of Saxony

or in French: :fr:Armorial de la maison de Wettin, Armorial de la maison de Wettin

See also

* Rulers of Saxony, a list containing many Wettins
* Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt, the city from which the Wettin dynasty originated

References

External links

House of Wettin – European Heraldry page



Website of Rüdiger, Margrave of Meissen


Website of Albert Prinz von Sachsen

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wettin, House of
House of Wettin,
Ernestine duchies, *
German noble families