Saxe-Weissenfels (german: Sachsen-Weißenfels) was a

duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a medieval country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

from 1656/7 until 1746 with its residence at

Weißenfels Weißenfels (; often written in English as Weissenfels) is the largest town of the Burgenlandkreis district, in southern Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany. It is situated on the river Saale, approximately south of Halle. History Perhaps the fir ...

. Ruled by a cadet branch of the Albertine

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 ...

, the duchy passed to the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charle ...

upon the extinction of the line. Schloss Neu-Augustusburg Ostseite

John George I of Wettin, Saxon

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

from 1611 to 1656, had disposed in his testament that while his eldest son John George II would succeed him as elector, his younger brothers should be vested with

secundogeniture A secundogeniture (from la, secundus "following, second," and "born") was a dependent territory given to a younger son of a princely house and his descendants, creating a cadet branch. This was a special form of inheritance in which the second a ...

duchies as an

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; french: apanage ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a sovereign, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture. It was common in much o ...

. Therefore, upon his death the Duchies of Saxe-Zeitz, Saxe-Merseburg and Saxe-Weissenfels arose, the latter was granted to the second eldest son

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, who already served as the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

administrator of the

Archbishopric of Magdeburg The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese (969–1552) and Prince-Archbishopric (1180–1680) of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River. Planned since 955 and established in 968, the R ...

since 1638, then residing at

Halle Halle may refer to: Places Germany * Halle (Saale), also called Halle an der Saale, a city in Saxony-Anhalt ** Halle (region), a former administrative region in Saxony-Anhalt ** Bezirk Halle, a former administrative division of East Germany ** Hal ...

. From about 1660 he had the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

Neu-Augustusburg residence built at Weissenfels. Beside Weissenfels the duchy comprised the '' ämter'' of Freyburg, Sachsenburg (present-day

Oldisleben Oldisleben is a village and a former municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town An der Schmücke. History Within the German Empire (1871–1918), Oldisleben was part of t ...

), Sangerhausen,

Eckartsberga Eckartsberga () is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated west of Naumburg. It is part of the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") An der Finne. Since 2009 it has included the former municipali ...

, Weißensee and

Langensalza Bad Langensalza (; until 1956: Langensalza) is a spa town of 17,500 inhabitants in the Unstrut-Hainich district, Thuringia, central Germany. Geography Location Bad Langensalza is located in the Thuringian Basin, the fertile lowlands alo ...

. Duke Augustus enlarged its territory by several lordships originally held by the Magdeburg archbishops and adjudicated to Saxony by the 1635 Peace of Prague, including the immediate lordship of Querfurt as well as the exclaves of Jüterbog, Dahme and Burg. By Querfurt, the ducal Saxe-Weissenfels line gained the status of an

Imperial State An Imperial State or Imperial Estate ( la, Status Imperii; german: Reichsstand, plural: ') was a part of the Holy Roman Empire with representation and the right to vote in the Imperial Diet ('). Rulers of these Estates were able to exercise si ...

(at times called ''Saxe-Querfurt'') and member of the

Upper Saxon Circle The Upper Saxon Circle (german: Obersächsischer Reichskreis) was an Imperial Circle of the Holy Roman Empire, created in 1512. The circle was dominated by the electorate of Saxony (the circle's director) and the electorate of Brandenburg. It f ...

, though without a vote in the '' Reichstag''. In 1659 Augustus also acquired the County of Barby, which upon his death in 1680 was granted to his younger son Heinrich. He built the new baroque castle at Barby from 1687. Augustus eldest son and successor Duke Johann Adolf I sold Burg to

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 squ ...

in 1687.

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's father

Georg Händel Georg Händel (; Halle, Archbishopric of Magdeburg, 24 September 1622 – Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg, 11 February 1697) was a barber-surgeon and the father of Georg Frideric Handel. Parents and early life Händel's father, Valentin Hände ...

from 1657 on served as a physician to Duke Augustus of Saxe-Weissenfels, the composer himself was born in the former ducal residence of Halle. According to legend it was Duke Johan Adolf I admiring George Frederic's performance on the church organ of Neu-Augustusburg Castle, who promoted his musical career. In 1713

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

dedicated his cantata ''

Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 ''Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd'' (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire), 208.1, BWV 208, also known as the ''Hunting Cantata'', is a secular cantata composed by Johann Sebastian Bach for the 31st birthday of Duke Chri ...

'' to Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels in celebration of the duke's 31st birthday, it was first performed at the ducal Neuenburg Castle at Freyburg. File:Freyburg-schloss.jpg, Neuenburg Castle at Freyburg File:Querfurt castle.jpg, Querfurt Castle File:Schloss Barby Haupteingang.JPG, Barby Castle

Dukes of Saxe-Weissenfels

(1656–80), son of Elector John George I of Saxony, also administrator of

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

since 1638, Count of Barby from 1659 ''Line extinct, fell back to the electoral House of Wettin.'' {{coord missing, Saxony Electorate of Saxony House of Wettin 1656 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1746 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Former states and territories of Saxony-Anhalt