Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

(Grand) Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Groß-)herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach
State of the Confederation of the Rhine State of the German Confederation State of the North German Confederation State of the German Empire State of the Weimar Republic
←   ← 1809–1920 →
Flag (1813–1897) Coat of arms
Anthem Weimars Volkslied
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach within the German Empire
Capital	Weimar
Government	Principality
Grand Duke
- 1809–28	Charles Augustus (first)
- 1901–18	William Ernest (last)
Historical era	Middle Ages
- Saxe-Eisenach and     Saxe-Weimar held in     personal union	1741
- Merger of Eisenach     and Weimar	1809
- Raised to     grand duchy	1815
- German Revolution	1918
- Joined Thuringia	1920
Area
- 1905	3,617 km2 (1,397 sq mi)
Population
- 1905 est.	388,000
Density	107.3 /km2  (277.8 /sq mi)

The Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (German: Herzogtum Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach) was created in 1809 by the merger of the Ernestine duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach. It was raised to a Grand duchy in 1815 by resolution of the Vienna Congress. In 1877, it officially changed its name to the Grand Duchy of Saxony (German: Großherzogtum Sachsen), but this name was rarely used. The Grand Duchy came to an end in the German Revolution of 1918–19 with the other monarchies of the German Empire. It was succeeded by the Free State of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, which was merged into the new state of Thuringia two years later.

The full grand ducal style was Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Princely Count of Henneberg, Lord of Blankenhayn, Neustadt and Tautenburg.

History

The duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach had been ruled in personal union by the House of Wettin since 1741, after the Eisenach line had died out upon the death of Duke Wilhelm Heinrich. In 1804 Duke Charles Augustus' eldest son and heir Charles Frederick married Maria Pavlovna Romanova, sister of Emperor Alexander I of Russia, a conjugal union which decisively promoted the rise of the Ernestine Saxe-Weimar dynasty. Though at first an ally of Prussia in the Napoleonic War of the Fourth Coalition, Duke Charles Augustus escaped his deposition by joining the Confederation of the Rhine on 15 December 1806.

After the official merger in 1809, the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach consisted of the separate districts around the capital Weimar in the north and Eisenach in the west, further enlarged in 1815 by the district of Neustadt an der Orla in the east.

Princes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach

Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 1809–1815

• Charles Augustus, 1809–15; Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach since 1758, until 1775 under the tutelage of his mother Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel

Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 1815–1918

• Charles Augustus, 1815–28
• Charles Frederick, 1828–53
• Charles Alexander, 1853–1901
• William Ernest, 1901–18

Heads of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, 1918–present

• Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst, 1918–23
• Hereditary Grand Duke Carl August, 1923–88
• Prince Michael, 1988–present

See also

• Ernestine duchies

External links

• Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach genealogy
•  "Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.