The State of Saxony () was a subdivision of the

Soviet occupation zone in Germany The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

(until 1949) and state of East Germany (from 1952) which broadly corresponds with the present-day German state of Saxony.

History

In 1945, the state of Saxony was re-formed within the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

, consisting of the former Free State of Saxony and the areas of the

Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...

province of

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ) is a historical and geographical region mostly located in Poland with small portions in the Czech Republic and Germany. It is the western part of the region of Silesia. Its largest city is Wrocław. The first ...

west of the Oder-Neisse border (

Upper Lusatia Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Polabian Slavs, Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia a ...

), with a total area of 17,004 km. The Saxon areas east of the Oder-Neisse line were lost to

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. At the beginning of May 1945 the KPD group responsible for Saxony began its political work in Dresden under Anton Ackerman. The state associations of the SPD and the KPD carried out forced unification to form the SED before the zone-wide merger on April 22, 1946. The first advisory meeting of the provisional state assembly took place in May 1946. The focus of the consultation was the preparation of law on the expropriation of companies without compensation and the creation of state owned companies. The first election of the Saxon state parliament took place on October 20, 1946, where in Saxony the SED won 49.11% of the vote and 59 seats, the LDPD won 24.71% of the vote and 30 seats, the CDU won 23.30% of the vote and 28 seats, and the VdgB won 1.74% of the vote and 2 seats. Other political party's won 1.14% of the vote and 1 seat. During the election Rudolf Friedrichs was elected as the first minister-president of the state of Saxony in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and on February 28, 1947, the state constitution would be passed.

Land Reform

During land reform in November 1947, around an eight of Saxony's agricultural land (1,212 estates with 260,000 hectares of land) was expropriated and given to new farmers. According to the

Potsdam Agreement The Potsdam Agreement () was the agreement among three of the Allies of World War II: the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union after the war ended in Europe that was signed on 1 August 1945 and published the following day. A ...

, large German companies and the property of the most active

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

were transferred to the control of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

of the second world war. In May 1946, the

Soviet Military Administration in Germany The Soviet Military Administration in Germany (; ''Sovyetskaya Voyennaya Administratsiya v Germanii'', SVAG; , SMAD) was the Soviet military government, headquartered in Berlin- Karlshorst, that directly ruled the Soviet occupation zone in German ...

transferred those goods to the state administration of the

. The important cultural assets of the numerous Saxon castles and mansions also came into state administration. These include around 1,000 estate archives and important castle libraries. (e.g. those of Kuckuckstein Castle and Gussing Castle), which were assigned to state archives, as well as around 11,400 additional works of art formed the basis of the 130 museums founded in the post-war years.

Dissolution into Districts

On July 23, 1952, a law passed which reorganized the state of Saxony into the three Districts of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

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

(Karl-Marx-Stadt 1953 to 1990). A small part of Upper Lusatia was added to the District of Cottbus.

Minister-President (1945-1952)

Political parties:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxony (1945-1952) Soviet occupation zone 1945 establishments in Germany 1952 disestablishments in East Germany Aftermath of World War II in Germany States and territories established in 1945 States and territories disestablished in 1952 History of Saxony

History

Land Reform

Dissolution into Districts

Minister-President (1945-1952)

See also

References