The House of Wettin () is a dynasty of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

kings,

prince-electors 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 ...

, dukes, and

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York ...

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 Wettin is a small town belonging to the municipality of Wettin-Löbejün in the Saale District of Saxony-Anhalt (''Saxony- Ascania''), Germany. It is situated on the River Saale, just north of Halle. It is known for Wettin Castle (German: ''B ...

. 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 In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, titles ...

, the

House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (; german: Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) is a European royal house. It takes its name from its oldest domain, the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, its members later sat on the thrones of Belgium, Bu ...

. The

Albertine branch The Albertine branch is a German princely family of the House of Wettin. The name derives from the progenitor of the line, Albert III, Duke of Saxony. The Albertine branch ruled from 1485 to 1918 as dukes, electors and kings in Saxony. History o ...

, while less prominent, ruled most of Saxony and played a part in

Polish history The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tribes, Christianization and monarchy; through Poland's Golden Age, expansionism and becoming one of the largest European powers; to its collapse and partitions, two world wars, ...

Agnates Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of the United Kingdom, Portugal,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Maced ...

, Poland, Saxony, Mexico and Belgium. Only the Belgian line retains their throne today. All undisputably members, or those without morganatic marriages, are more than 70 years old.

Origins: Wettin of Saxony

The oldest member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain is

Theodoric I of Wettin Theodoric I (10th century; German: Dietrich, also known as Thierry) was a nobleman in the Duchy of Saxony, and the oldest traceable member of the House of Wettin. Biography Theodoric was born in the early 10th century to unknown parents. He mar ...

, also known as ''Dietrich'', ''Thiedericus'', and ''Thierry I of Liesgau'' (died c. 982). He was most probably based in the

Liesgau The Liesgau was a shire ('' Gau'') of the Duchy of Saxony in the early medieval period, roughly corresponding to the former Osterode district of Lower Saxony. It was situated on the south-west side of the Harz Mountains in what is now the German s ...

(located at the western edge of the Harz). Around 1000, the family acquired

Wettin Castle Wettin Castle is a former castle that stood near the town of Wettin on the Saale river in Germany, and which is the ancestral home of the House of Wettin, the dynasty that included several royal families, including that of the current ruling fa ...

, which was originally built by the local Slavic tribes (see

Sorbs Sorbs ( hsb, Serbja, dsb, Serby, german: Sorben; also known as Lusatians, Lusatian Serbs and Wends) are a indigenous West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting the parts of Lusatia located in the German states of Saxony and Brandenb ...

), after which they named themselves. Wettin Castle is located in Wettin in the

Hassegau The Hassegau was a medieval shire ('' Gau'') in the Eastphalia region of the Duchy of Saxony. It was located in the duchy's southeastern corner; confined by the Saale river to the east and its Unstrut and Wipper tributaries to the south and north ...

(or Hosgau) on the

Saale River The Saale (), also known as the Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) and Thuringian Saale (german: Thüringische Saale), is a river in Germany and a left-bank tributary of the Elbe. It is not to be confused with the smaller Franconian Saale, ...

. 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 The Margravate of Meissen (german: Markgrafschaft Meißen) was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' (Saxon ...

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 Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north ...

, 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 Frederick II, The Gentle (''Friedrich, der Sanftmütige''; Frederick the Gentle) (22 August 1412 – 7 September 1464) was Elector of Saxony (1428–1464) and was Landgrave of Thuringia (1440–1445). Biography Frederick was born in Leipzig ...

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 Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

obtained the

, which he ruled from Dresden. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony", his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony. File:Ernst Kurfürst von Sachsen, 1441-1486 (AT KHM GG4795).jpg, Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1441–1486) File:Albrecht der Beherzte, 1443-1500 (AT KHM GG4796).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 Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the Lut ...

(1518) to the

University of Wittenberg Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, which he had established in 1502. The Ernestine predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War (1546/7), which pitted the Protestant

Schmalkaldic League The Schmalkaldic League (; ; or ) was a military alliance of Lutheran princes within the Holy Roman Empire during the mid-16th century. Although created for religious motives soon after the start of the Reformation, its members later came to ...

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 The Battle of Mühlberg took place near Mühlberg in the Electorate of Saxony in 1547, during the Schmalkaldic War. The Catholic princes of the Holy Roman Empire led by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V decisively defeated the Lutheran Schmalka ...

, 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 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 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 Weimar Classicism (german: Weimarer Klassik) was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after t ...

at his court in Weimar, notably by bringing

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tre ...

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

, regained importance through marriages as the "stud of Europe", by ascending the thrones of Belgium (in 1831), Portugal (1853–1910),

(1908–1946) and the United Kingdom (1901-present, though the relevant marriage had taken place in 1840) and also providing a consort to the future Habsburg

Emperor of Mexico The Emperor of Mexico ( Spanish: ''Emperador de México'') was the head of state and ruler of Mexico on two non-consecutive occasions in the 19th century. With the Declaration of Independence of the Mexican Empire from Spain in 1821, Mexico be ...

(1857).

Residences of Ernestine branches

File:Schloss Altenburg 02.JPG,

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region bet ...

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

Schloss Weimar Schloss Weimar is a ''Schloss'' (palace) in Weimar, Thuringia, Germany. It is now called ''Stadtschloss'' to distinguish it from other palaces in and around Weimar. It was the residence of the dukes of Saxe-Weimar and Eisenach, and has also been c ...

File:City palace - Stadtschloss - Eisenach - Thuringia - Germany.jpg, Eisenach Palace File:Schloss01.jpg,

Elisabethenburg Palace Elisabethenburg Palace (german: Schloss Elisabethenburg) is a Baroque palace located on the northwestern edge of Meiningen in Germany. Until 1918 it was the residence of the Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen. The castle now houses the Meininger Museum as we ...

in Meiningen File:Schloss Hildburghausen.JPG, Hildburghausen Castle

Albertines

Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Saxony 1806-1918

The junior

maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony, preserving it as a significant power in the region, and used small

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 ...

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 The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in French period, Napoleonic through German Confederation, post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was ...

(1806–1918), and also played a role in Polish history – two Wettins were

Kings of Poland Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...

(between 1697–1763) and a third ruled the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, durin ...

(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 Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

(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 Prince Maria Emanuel of Saxony, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen (31 January 1926 – 23 July 2012) was the head of the Royal House of Saxony. Life Born at Prüfening Abbey in Regensburg, Bavaria, he was the eldest child of the then Heredi ...

(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 Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...

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 Moritzburg Castle (german: Schloss Moritzburg) or Moritzburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Moritzburg, in the German state of Saxony, about northwest of the Saxon capital, Dresden. The castle has four round towers and lies on a symmetrical a ...

(near Dresden) File:Pillnitz-Wasseransicht.jpg,

Pillnitz Palace Pillnitz Palace (german: Schloss Pillnitz) is a restored Baroque architecture, Baroque schloss at the eastern end of the city of Dresden in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the bank of the River Elbe in the former village of Pillnitz. ...

(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 Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

) File:Schloss Hubertusburg, Wermsdorf, Sachsen, Deutschland.JPG,

Hubertusburg Hubertusburg is a Rococo palace in Saxony, Germany. It was built from 1721 onwards at the behest of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and after his death served as a residence of his son Augustus III. The 'Saxon Versaill ...

Castle (near Leipzig)

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Coat of Arms of the Duchy 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 Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-d ...

after that, went on to contribute

kings of Belgium This is a list of Belgian monarchs from 1831 when the first Belgian king, Leopold I, ascended the throne, after Belgium seceded from the Kingdom of the Netherlands during the Belgian Revolution of 1830. Under the Belgian Constitution, the Belgi ...

(from 1831) and

(1908–1946), as well as furnishing consorts to

queens regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning ...

of Portugal ( Prince Ferdinand) and the United Kingdom ( Prince Albert), and the

(

Carlota of Mexico Charlotte of Belgium (''Marie Charlotte Amélie Augustine Victoire Clémentine Léopoldine''; 7 June 1840 – 19 January 1927), known by the Spanish version of her name, Carlota, was by birth a Princess of Belgium and member of the House of ...

) Thus, the British and Portuguese thrones became possessions of persons who belonged to the House of Wettin for a time. From King George I to Queen Victoria, the British Royal family was called the

House of Hanover The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house ori ...

, being a junior branch of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg and thus part of the dynasty of the Guelphs. In the late 19th century, Queen Victoria charged the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

in England to determine the correct personal surname of her late husband, Prince Albert of

—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 ( King Edward VII) or by her grandson ( 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 An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' K ...

legally changed the name of the British royal family to "Windsor" (originally suggested by

Lord Stamfordham Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, (18 June 1849 – 31 March 1931) was a British Army officer and courtier. He was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria during the last few years of her reign, and to George V during mos ...

) in 1917.

Residences of the family

File:Coburg-Veste4.jpg,

Veste Coburg The Veste Coburg (Coburg Fortress) is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses of Germany. It is situated on a hill above the town of Coburg, in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria. Geography Location Veste Coburg dominates the town of ...

, 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 Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

(winter residence) File:Reinhardsbrunn Schloss Winter.JPG,

Reinhardsbrunn Reinhardsbrunn in Friedrichroda near Gotha, in the German state of Thuringia, is the site of a formerly prominent Benedictine abbey, the house monastery of the Ludovingian Landgraves of Thuringia abbey extant between 1085 and 1525. Later used a ...

Castle, Gotha File:CO Schloss Rosenau1.jpg, Rosenau Castle, Coburg Schloss Callenberg 2.jpg,

Callenberg Castle Callenberg Castle (''Schloss Callenberg'') is a castle on a wooded hill in Beiersdorf, an ''Ortsteil'' of Coburg, from the town centre. It was a hunting lodge and summer residence and has long been the principal residence of the House of Saxe-Cob ...

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

Early Wettins

* Counts of Wettin * Margraves of Landsberg * Margraves of Meissen * Margraves of Lusatia *

Dukes of Saxony The Duchy of Saxony ( nds, Hartogdom Sassen, german: Herzogtum Sachsen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 and incorporated into the ...

, Landgraves of Thuringia *

Electors 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 Charles ...

and

Arch-Marshal 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 prince ...

s of the Holy Roman Empire File:Wartburg von Brücke.jpg,

Wartburg The Wartburg () is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the ...

near Eisenach (1250–1406: residence of the Wettins)

Ernestines

and

s of the Holy Roman Empire (1464–1547) File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-16879-0019, Wittenberg, Schloss, Schlosskirche.jpg,

Wittenberg Castle Wittenberg ( , ; Low Saxon: ''Wittenbarg''; meaning ''White Mountain''; officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg (''Luther City Wittenberg'')), is the fourth largest town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Wittenberg is situated on the River Elbe, north o ...

, residence of Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1490–96 File:SchlossHartenfels.JPG, Hartenfels Castle in

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces fi ...

, main residence of the Ernestine Electors since Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1533–40

Existing Ernestine branches

Branch of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach *

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised ...

, extant lines all shared last common ancestor in the person of

William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach William Ernest, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Wilhelm Ernst Karl Alexander Friedrich Heinrich Bernhard Albert Georg Hermann, '' en, William Ernest Charles Alexander Frederick Henry Bernard Albert George Herman''; 10 June 1876 – 24 April 19 ...

. However there are only two members of this line left,

Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Michael, Prince of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Michael Prinz von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach; born 15 November 1946) is the current head of the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, as well as the most senior agnate of the entire House of Wet ...

and Prince Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Both were born in 1946. Since Prince Michael has no sons, and Prince Wilhelm Ernst, whose only son Prince Georg-Constantin (13 April 1977 – 9 June 2018), a banker who was married but without issue, was killed in a horse riding accident on 9 June 2018 while riding with Jean Christophe Iseux von Pfetten. Therefore, the Grand Ducal House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach will most likely become extinct in the male line. These two represent the last non-morganatic descendants of

William, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar (Altenburg, 11 April 1598 – Weimar, 17 May 1662), was a duke of Saxe-Weimar. Wilhelm was the fifth (but third surviving) son of Johann, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Dorothea Maria of Anhalt. He was brother to Berna ...

** Illegitimate line of Barons of Heygendorff, four males left Branch of Saxe-Meiningen *

Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Meiningen (; german: Sachsen-Meiningen ) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia. Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernesti ...

lines all shared common descent from

Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (2 April 1826 – 25 June 1914), was the penultimate Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, reigning from 1866 to 1914. For his support for his successful court theatre he was also known as the ''Theaterherzog'' (theatre duk ...

** Morganatic lines from Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen ** Morganatic line from Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen ** Legitimate line from Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen of whom only Prince Frederick Konrad of Saxe-Meiningen (Born on 14 April 1952) is still alive today. In the very likely event of the extinction of these two senior branches, the sole represantation of the Ernestine Wettins will pass to the descendants of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who are the present Saxe-Coburg-Gothas led by

Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Andreas of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke of Saxony (''Andreas Michael Friedrich Hans Armin Siegfried Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha Herzog von Sachsen''; born 21 March 1943) is a German landowner and nobleman who has been the hea ...

(b. 21 March 1943), the

House of Windsor The House of Windsor is the reigning royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. In 1901, a line of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (itself a cadet branch of the House of Wettin) succeeded the House of Hanover to th ...

, the

Royal Family of Belgium Belgium is a constitutional, hereditary, and popular monarchy. The monarch is titled king or queen of the Belgians ( nl, Koning(in) der Belgen, french: Roi / Reine des Belges}, german: König(in) der Belgier) and serves as the country's he ...

and the Royal Family of Bulgaria. Francis and his nephew Ludwig Frederick Emil von Coburg are also ancestors to morganatic lines. * Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, last common descent from

Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Francis Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (25 September 1697, in Saalfeld – 16 September 1764, in Rodach) was a duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Biography He was the fourth living son of Johann Ernest IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, the thi ...

, further divided into: **

Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present- ...

, last common descent from Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, further divided into: ***

, last common descent from Albert, Prince Consort of the United Kingdom, as in 1863

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...

and his son, the future

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Quee ...

renounced his succession rights to the duchy Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the succession fell into the line of the Duke of Albany. **** Gloucester line

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, (Richard Alexander Walter George; born 26 August 1944) is a member of the British royal family. He is the second son of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, as well ...

**** Kentian Line, from

Prince George, Duke of Kent Prince George, Duke of Kent, (George Edward Alexander Edmund; 20 December 1902 – 25 August 1942) was a member of the British royal family, the fourth son of King George V and Queen Mary. He was a younger brother of kings Edward VIII and Geo ...

*** Mainline (Albany) Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, from

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha '' , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany , mother = Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont , birth_name = Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany , birth_date = , birth_place = Clar ...

who until 1919 was the Duke of Albany *** House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, last common descent from

Prince August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha August Victor Louis of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: August Viktor Ludwig; 13 June 1818 – 26 July 1881), was a German prince of the Catholic House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. He was a General Major in the Royal Saxon Army and the ow ...

**** Morganatic descendants from Prince Philipp of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1901–1985) ****

Bulgarian royal family The last Bulgarian royal family ( bg, Българско царско семейство, Balgarsko tsarsko semeystvo) is a line of the Koháry branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which ruled Bulgaria from 1887 to 1946. The last tsar, ...

, all living members are descended from Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha *** House of Belgium, all living members share common descent from

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

. However as absolute primogeniture is in effect in Belgium, if and on the ascencion of

Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant Princess Elisabeth, Duchess of Brabant ( nl, Elisabeth Theresia Maria Helena; french: Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Hélène; born 25 October 2001) is the heir apparent to the Belgian throne. The eldest child of King Philippe and Queen Mathild ...

to the throne, the ruling house of Belgium will no longer considered agnates to the House of Wettin ****Eppinghoven, illegitimate agnatic branch to the House of Belgium from Leopold I of Belgium and

Arcadie Claret Arcadie Meyer, Baroness of Eppinghoven, born Marie-Anne Arcadie Eugénie Claret (30 May 1826 – 13 January 1897), was a Belgian noblewoman and the mistress of Leopold I, King of the Belgians for more than twenty years, causing a national scand ...

** Morganatic line of Rohmann, from

Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Prince Frederick Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (german: Friedrich Josias von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld) (26 December 1737 – 26 February 1815) was an Austrian nobleman and military general. Biography Born at Schloß Ehrenburg in Coburg, he w ...

marriage to a commoner, Therese Stroffeck File:Coat of Arms of the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.svg,

Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was a historical German state, created as a duchy in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach, which had been in personal union since 1741. It was raised ...

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

File:Coat of Arms of the King of the Belgians.svg, King of the Belgians File:Coat of Arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.svg,

Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilometer ...

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 Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

, then Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg (third line of Altenburg) * Dukes of Saxe-Weimar * Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach * Dukes of

Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach was a duchy within the Holy Roman Empire. It existed during two fairly short periods: 1572-1596 and 1633-1638. Its territory was part of the modern states of Bavaria and Thuringia. History The duchy was created by the D ...

* Dukes of Saxe-Jena * Dukes of Saxe-Gotha * Dukes of

Saxe-Eisenberg The Duchy of Saxe-Eisenberg was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. History Established in 1680 for Christian, fifth son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha, the Duchy consisted of Eisenberg and the towns ...

* Dukes of

Saxe-Marksuhl The Duchy of Saxe-Marksuhl was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1662 for John George I, third son of Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Originally John George was supposed to share Saxe-Eisen ...

* Dukes of Saxe-Römhild * Kings of Portugal and the Algarves ( House of Braganza-Saxe-Coburg and Gotha)

Albertines

* Margraves of Meissen * Grand Master of the Teutonic Order (1498–1510) *

and

s of the Holy Roman Empire (1547–1806) * Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania (1697-1763) *

Duke of Courland and Semigallia The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia ( la, Ducatus Curlandiæ et Semigalliæ; german: Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen; lv, Kurzemes un Zemgales hercogiste; lt, Kuršo ir Žiemgalos kunigaikštystė; pl, Księstwo Kurlandii i Semigalii) was ...

(1758–1763) *

Duke of Teschen The Duchy of Teschen (german: Herzogtum Teschen), also Duchy of Cieszyn ( pl, Księstwo Cieszyńskie) or Duchy of Těšín ( cs, Těšínské knížectví), was one of the Duchies of Silesia centered on Cieszyn () in Upper Silesia. It was split o ...

(1766-1822) *

(1806–1918), currently ''Prince/Princess of Saxony'' and ''Duke/Duchess of Saxony'', with the head of the family also ''

Margrave of Meissen This article lists the margraves of Meissen, a march and territorial state on the eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire. History King Henry the Fowler, on his 928-29 campaign against the Slavic Glomacze tribes, had a fortress erected on a hi ...

'' * Duke of Warsaw (1807–1815)

Extinct Albertine branches

* Dukes of

Saxe-Zeitz The Duchy of Saxe-Zeitz (german: Herzogtum Sachsen-Zeitz) was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1656–57 as a secundogeniture of the Electoral Saxon house of House of Wettin. Its capital was Zeitz. The territory fell back to ...

* Dukes of

Saxe-Merseburg The Duchy of Saxe-Merseburg was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, with Merseburg as its capital. It existed from 1656 or 1657 to 1738 and was owned by an Albertine secundogeniture of the Saxon House of Wettin. History The Wettin Elector Jo ...

* Dukes 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 ...

File:Zeitz Schloss1.jpg, Moritzburg Palace in

Zeitz Zeitz ( hsb, Žič) is a town in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the river White Elster, in the triangle of the federal states Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and Saxony. History Zeitz was first recorded un ...

File:Merseburger Schloss 2006.jpg, Merseburg Castle File:Schloss Neu-Augustusburg Ostseite.JPG, Neu-Augustusburg Castle, Weissenfels

Family tree of the House of Wettin

Coats of arms

File:Wappen Mark Landsberg.svg, Counts of Wettin, Margraves of Landsberg File:Wappen Landkreis Meissen.svg, Margraves of Meissen File:Blason Thuringe-Misnie.svg, Margraves of Meissen and Landgraves of Thuringia File:Blason Jean-Georges IV de Saxe.svg, Elector of Saxony and

of the Holy Roman Empire File:Coat of arms of Saxony.svg,

King of Saxony This article lists dukes, electors, and kings ruling over different territories named Saxony from the beginning of the Saxon Duchy in the 6th century to the end of the German monarchies in 1918. The electors of Saxony from John the Steadfast on ...

(standard arms) For an extensive treatment of the coats of arms, see:

Coat of arms of Saxony The coat of arms of the present-day German free state of Saxony shows a tenfold horizontally-partitioned ('' Barry of ten'') field of black (''sable'') and gold/yellow ('' or'') stripes,

or in French: Armorial de la maison de Wettin

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 * German noble families 10th-century establishments in the Holy Roman Empire

Origins: Wettin of Saxony

Ernestine and Albertine Wettins

Ernestines

Residences of Ernestine branches

Albertines

Albertine Electors and Kings of Saxony

Residences of the Albertine branch

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Residences of the family

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

Early Wettins

Ernestines

Existing Ernestine branches

Extinct Ernestine branches

Albertines

Extinct Albertine branches

Family tree of the House of Wettin

Coats of arms

See also

References

External links