Johann Georg, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (13 July 1677, in Halle – 16 March 1712, in Weissenfels), was a duke of

Saxe-Weissenfels Saxe-Weissenfels (german: Sachsen-Weißenfels) was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at Weißenfels. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine House of Wettin, the duchy passed to the Electorate of Saxony u ...

-Querfurt and a member of the

House of Wettin The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of German kings, prince-electors, dukes, and counts 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 ori ...

. He was the third child and first surviving son of

Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (2 November 1649, in Halle – 24 May 1697, in Weissenfels), was a duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and member of the House of Wettin. He was the first son of Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, and h ...

, by his first wife,

Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg (14 January 1656 in Altenburg – 22 January 1686 in Weißenfels) was a member of the House of Wettin. She was a Duchess of Saxe-Altenburg by birth and by marriage a Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt. Life ...

Government of the Duchy

Johann Georg succeeded his father in the duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels upon his death on 24 May 1697. Because he was still a minor, the Elector Frederick August I of Saxony briefly assumed a regency. Like his both predecessors, Johann Georg was interested in developing a

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class ...

, but he was also a great patron of the arts and sciences. Under his rule Weissenfels became the leading economical and cultural center in central Germany along with

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

. To maintain order during civic celebrations, Johann George created the establishment of Citizen Companies (''Bürgerkompanien''), in whose service male inhabitants were conscripted. In imitation of the decorations bestowed by the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

(of which his grandfather was a head) Johann Georg created on 24 June 1704 a medal extolling knightly virtues "De la noble passion" with the motto "J’aime l’honneur, qui vient par la vertu" (en: "I love the honor that comes from virtue"). The statutes of the order, which the duke wrote both in German and in French, required an irreproachable life and noble birth for admittance. During the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...

, Weissenfels was occupied by Swedish troops from 1706 to 1707. Because he died without surviving male issue, Johann Georg was succeeded by his brother Christian.

Marriage and Issue

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

on 7 January 1698, Johann Georg married

Fredericka Elisabeth of Saxe-Eisenach Fredericka Elisabeth of Saxe-Eisenach (5 May 1669 – 12 November 1730), was a German noblewoman member of the House of Wettin and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Weissenfels. Born in Altenkirchen, she was the seventh of eight children born from the ...

. They had seven children: #Fredericka (b. Weissenfels, 4 August 1701 – d. Weissenfels, 28 February 1706). #Johann Georg, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Weissenfels (b. Weissenfels, 20 October 1702 – d. Weissenfels, 5 March 1703). #Johannette Wilhelmine (b. Weissenfels, 31 May 1704 – d. Weissenfels, 9 July 1704). #Johannette Amalie (b. Weissenfels, 8 September 1705 – d. Weissenfels, 7 February 1706). #Stillborn son (1706). # Johanna Magdalene (b. Weissenfels, 17 March 1708 – d.

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, 25 January 1760), married on 5 January 1730 to

Ferdinand Kettler Ferdinand Kettler (November 1, 1655 - May 4, 1737) was the Duke of Courland and Semigallia from 1730 to 1737. He was married to Johanna Magdalene of Saxe-Weissenfels in 1730. Early life Ferdinand Kettler was the son of Jacob Kettler and Louise ...

, Duke of Courland and Semigallia. #Fredericka Amalie (b. Weissenfels, 1 March 1712 – d. Weissenfels, 31 January 1714). {{DEFAULTSORT:John George, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels 1677 births 1712 deaths People from Halle (Saale) Dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels Albertine branch