Saxony
The Kingdom of Saxony, a German state since 1180, was a member of the German Confederation from 1815 to 1866. Prior to that, the Wettin dynasty had split in 1547 and the junior Albertine line took over Saxony. The senior line ruled the Thüringian area. In the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, Saxony declined Prussia’s offer of neutrality, and the Saxon army joined the Austrians. The Prussians occupied the entire kingdom. On the conclusion of peace, Saxony lost no territory, but had to pay a war indemnity of ten million Thalers, and was compelled to enter the North German Confederation. The military, postal and telegraph systems were placed under Prussian control. The Saxon military became a contingent of the Prussian army on 7 February 1867. Saxony became a member state of the German Empire in 1871.
King George of Saxony died on 15 October 1904; his son, as King Friedrich Augustus III, succeeded him until his abdication in 1918. Friedrich served in the Royal Saxon Army until his coronation and commanded several units. Friedrich Augustus IIIwas the only German royal who renounced his own rights for the throne, but not his family’s rights. The 800-year plus reign of House Wettin ended with his abdication. When he abdicated in 1918 he famously said: “you’ll just have to do your dirty business without my help!” Frederick Augustus III’s son, Crown Prince Georg of Saxony gave up his succession rights to become a Jesuit priest in 1923. During WWII he helped conceal Jews, and was consequently murdered by the Nazis. Second picture is Prinz Johann Georg Pius Karl Leopold Maria Januarius Anacletus von Sachsen, Herzog zu Sachsen. 1869-1938. A younger brother of the Kingdom of Saxony’s last king, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Prince Johann Georg only had an illegitimate son, John William (1927) who was killed in action in 1945.
Saxony was a hereditary constitutional monarchy with four votes in the Bundesratand twenty-three deputies in the Reichstag.Saxony was known as the “Red Kingdom,” when in 1903 with universal suffrage, 22 of 23 Reichstag deputies were Social Democrats. The parliament of the kingdom had two chambers known as the Ständekammer. The upper chamber consisted of princes, certain members of the nobility and prominent men appointed by the King. The lower chamber consisted of 43 members from the towns and 48 from the country, who were elected for six-year terms. All male citizens 25 years and older, who paid three marks per annum in taxes, had the vote. The number of Social Democratic delegates in the Kingdom’s parliament increased steadily. As a result, in 1896, a new electoral law was passed, introducing indirect elections and a franchise based on a three-tier system. In 1901, this change eliminated the Socialists from the Kingdom’s parliament but, by 1903, the Social Democrats were the overwhelming majority in the Imperial Reichstag. This majority changed further in 1909 with plural voting of between one and four votes determined by the amount paid in direct taxation.
In 1914, the population of Saxony was 4,986,000. Saxony was the most densely populated state in the empire, and its population increased at a more rapid rate than any of the larger German states. No kingdom had so large a proportion of urban population, forming 52.97 percent of the whole. About 94 percent of the inhabitants were Protestants; about 12,500 were Jews; and about 4.7 percent, including the royal family, were Roman Catholics. There was a neighboring Prussian province of Saxony that had the same name. The Kingdom was 14,993 km². The capital was Dresden. Saxon soldiers were concentrated into two Army Corps: the XII and XIX Army Corps. However, the 105th Infantry Regiment and the 12th Foot Artillery Regiment were located in Alsace Lorraine.
Saxony’s royal scandal involved the Crown Princess Louise’s (the wife of Friedrich August) flight in December 1902 with André Giron, who had been the French tutor to her three eldest of eventually six children. Louise of Tuscany (2 September 1870 Salzburg–23 March 1947) was born in Salzburg under the name Luise Antoinette Maria Theresia Josepha Johanna Leopoldine Caroline Ferdinande Alice Ernestine Habsburg, Princess Imperial and Archduchess of Austria, Princess of Hungary and Bohemia, Princess of Tuscany. She was a daughter of Ferdinand IV of Tuscany and his second wife Alicia of Bourbon-Parma.
When Louise (Princess of Tuscany) and Friedrich August married in Vienna on 21 November 1891, he was the Crown Prince. She was very popular in Saxony, as she did not follow the etiquette at the court, and her foibles did not endear her to her father-in-law. On 9 December 1902, pregnant with her youngest daughter, (some say Giron’s child) she left Saxony with Giron but without her children. She was divorced 11 February 1903 by royal decree. Her last child was sent to Dresden to live at the court. Allegedly, Louise’s flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law threatening to have her interned in Sonnestein Mental Asylum for life. Her brother supported her in her wish to escape Saxony. Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria-Hungary did not recognize the divorce. Louise’s Italian father awarded her the title of Countess of Montignoso. The relationship with Giron did not last and on 25 September 1907, she married the musician Enrico Toselli in London. They were divorced five years later. She died in poverty in Brussels in 1947.
Louise and Friedrich Augusthad seven children:
Friedrich August Georg, Crown Prince of Saxony (1893–1943). After becoming a Jesuit priest, he renounced his rights in 1923. He was allegedly assassinated by the SS or Gestapo in 1943.
Friedrich Christian, Margrave of Meissen, Duke of Saxony (1893–1968). Married Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis (1903–1976).
Ernst Heinrich (1896–1971). Married first Princess Sophie of Luxembourg (1902–1941), daughter of Guillaume IV, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, in 1921 and second Virginia Dulon (1910–2002) in 1947 (morganatically).
Maria Alix Carola, stillborn 22 August 1898
Margarete Carola Wilhelmine (1900–1962). Married Prince Friedrich of Hohenzollern (1891–1965).
Maria Alix Luitpolda (1901–1990). Married Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden (1891–1964).
Anna Monika Pia (1903–1976). Married firstly Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria (1895–1957) and secondly Reginald Kazanjian (1905–1990).