en, Frederick Augustus George Louis William Maximilian Charles Maria Nepomuk Baptist Xavier Cyriacus Romanus , image =George of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg , caption = Photograph by

Nicola Perscheid Nicola Perscheid (3 December 1864 – 12 May 1930) was a German photographer. He is primarily known for his artistic portrait photography. He developed the "Perscheid lens", a soft focus lens for large format portrait photography. Life and car ...

c. 1900 , reign =19 June 1902 – 15 October 1904 , predecessor = Albert , successor = Frederick Augustus III , succession =

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 ...

, spouse = , issue = , issue-link = #Issue , issue-pipe = more... , house = Wettin , father =

John, King of Saxony , image = Photograph of John, King of Saxony (1801-1873).jpg , reign =9 August 1854 – 29 October 1873 , caption = Photograph of King John, , predecessor = Frederick Augustus II , successor = Albert , succ ...

, mother =

Amalie Auguste of Bavaria Amalie Auguste (13 November 1801, in Munich – 8 November 1877, in Dresden) was a Bavarian princess by birth and Queen of Saxony by marriage to King John of Saxony. Biography Amalie was the fourth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria an ...

, birth_date = , birth_place =

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 ...

, death_date = , death_place = Pillnitz , place of burial =

Katholische Hofkirche Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German Katholische Hofkirche and since 1980 also known as Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, is the Catholi ...

, religion =

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

George (german: Georg; 8 August 1832 – 15 October 1904) was a king of

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a ...

and 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 ...

Early life

George was born in the Saxon capital

. He was the second son of King

John of Saxony , image = Photograph of John, King of Saxony (1801-1873).jpg , reign =9 August 1854 – 29 October 1873 , caption = Photograph of King John, , predecessor = Frederick Augustus II , successor = Albert , succ ...

(1801–1873) and his wife,

Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria Amalie Auguste (13 November 1801, in Munich – 8 November 1877, in Dresden) was a Bavarian princess by birth and Queen of Saxony by marriage to King John of Saxony. Biography Amalie was the fourth child of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria an ...

(1801–1877), daughter of King

Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph (german: Maximilian I. Joseph; 27 May 1756 – 13 October 1825) was Duke of Zweibrücken from 1795 to 1799, prince-elector of Bavaria (as Maximilian IV Joseph) from 1799 to 1806, then King of Bavaria (as Maximilian I Joseph) ...

(1756–1825).

Marriage

On 11 May 1859 at Belém Palace,

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

, George married the younger sister of King Pedro V of Portugal: Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, eldest surviving daughter of

Queen Maria II of Portugal , image = Queen Maria II by John Simpson.jpg , caption = Portrait by John Simpson, 1835 , succession = Queen of Portugal , reign = , predecessor = Pedro IV , successor = Miguel I , reg-type = Regents , regent ...

and her consort, Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry. Maria Anna died young and George stayed unmarried for the rest of his long life.

Issue

Military career

George served under his brother Albert's command during the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866 and in the Franco-German War. In the re-organisation of the army which accompanied the march towards

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, his brother the Crown Prince gained a separate command over the 4th army (Army of the Meuse) consisting of the Saxon XII corps, the Prussian Guard corps, and the IV (Prussian Saxony) corps and George succeeded him in command of the XII corps.

King of Saxony

Prince George was a

Generalfeldmarschall ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...

before his ascension. It gradually became clear that George's elder brother,

Albert I Albert I may refer to: People Born before 1300 *Albert I, Count of Vermandois (917–987) *Albert I, Count of Namur () * Albert I of Moha *Albert I of Brandenburg (), first margrave of Brandenburg *Albert I, Margrave of Meissen (1158–1195) *Alber ...

(1828–1902), and his wife, Queen Carola (1833–1907), would not have any children, thereby making George the

heir presumptive An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question. ...

to the throne. He succeeded Albert I as King of Saxony on 19 June 1902, albeit for just a brief two-year reign. On 15 October 1904 he died in Pillnitz and was succeeded by his eldest son, Frederick Augustus III (1865–1932), who was deposed in 1918. King George was a controversial figure. He divorced by royal decree his eldest son from his daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Luise. Luise's flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law's threatening to have her interned in a mental asylum at the

Sonnenstein Castle The Sonnenstein Castle is a castle in Pirna, near Dresden, Germany. It housed a mental hospital, which operated from 1811 to the end of World War II in 1945. During the War, it functioned as an extermination centre for the Nazi ''Aktion T4'' pro ...

for life.

Honours and awards

Ancestry

References

External links

George, King of Saxony, ThePeerage.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:George Of Saxony 1832 births 1904 deaths Nobility from Dresden Field marshals of Saxony Field marshals of the German Empire German military personnel of the Franco-Prussian War People of the Austro-Prussian War House of Wettin Kings of Saxony Burials at Dresden Cathedral Saxon princes German Roman Catholics Members of the First Chamber of the Diet of the Kingdom of Saxony Albertine branch Military personnel from Dresden Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (military class) Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary 2 2