, residence of the Duchy since 1682
House of Wettin The
Wettiner had been the rulers of sizeable holdings in today's states of
Saxony,
Saxony-Anhalt and
Thuringia since the Middle Ages. In the
Leipziger Teilung of 1485, the Wettiner were split into two branches named after their founding princes
Albrecht and
Ernst (
albertinisch and
ernestinisch). Thuringia was part of the Ernestine holdings of
Kursachsen (the
Electorate of Saxony). In 1572, the branches
Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and
Saxe-Weimar were established there. The senior line again split in 1641/41 into three duchies, including the
Duchy of Saxe-Gotha.
Duke Ernst I who founded this duchy with its seat at
Gotha opposed the system of
primogeniture. As a result, on his death in 1675 all of his sons inherited part of his holdings and were supposed to rule under the leadership of his oldest son. In practice, this proved very complicated and brought on three settlements in 1679, 1680 and 1681 that established the following princedoms: Saxe-Gotha (
Friedrich),
Saxe-Coburg (
Albrecht), Saxe-Meiningen (Bernhard),
Saxe-Eisenberg (
Christian),
Saxe-Hildburghausen (
Ernst) and
Saxe-Saalfeld (
Johann Ernst).
Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen , in 1893
Bernhard, Ernst I's third son, received the town of
Meiningen as well as several other holdings (
Wasungen und Salzungen, Maßfeld und Sand, Herrenbreitungen, Herpf, Stepfershausen, Utendorf, Mehlis and the former
Franconian lands of the extinct
House of Henneberg, Henneberg). Bernhard chose the town of Meiningen as his residence and became the first duke of Saxe-Meiningen. From 1682 Duke Bernhard I had the
Schloss Elisabethenburg built and in 1690 established the
Court Orchestra (
Hofkapelle), in which
Johann Ludwig Bach later became the
Kapellmeister (1711). In the reshuffle of Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinction of the
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg line upon the death of Duke
Frederick IV in 1825, Duke
Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen received the lands of the former Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen as well as the
Saalfeld territory of the former
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld duchy. As Bernhard II had supported
Austria in the 1866
Austro-Prussian War, the prime minister of victorious
Prussia,
Otto von Bismarck, enforced his abdication in favour of his son
George II, after which Saxe-Meiningen was admitted to join the
North German Confederation. By 1910, the duchy had grown to and 278,762 inhabitants. The ducal summer residence was at
Altenstein Castle. Since 1868, the duchy comprised the
Kreise (districts) of
Hildburghausen,
Sonneberg and
Saalfeld as well as the northern
exclaves of
Camburg and
Kranichfeld.
End of the Duchy In the
German Revolution after
World War I, Duke
Bernhard III, brother-in-law of Emperor
Wilhelm II, was forced to abdicate and his brother Ernst on 11/12 November 1918 refused the succession. The succeeding
Free State of Saxe-Meiningen became part of the new state of
Thuringia on 1 May 1920. ,
Meiningen == Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen ==