What is Thuringia?
This area is a well-known collection of small states. From a grand Duchy down to principalities. There are quite a few and by World War I there were eight. So when we look at the smaller states this collection of states confuses the vast majority of enthusiasts. Most of the time people have a hard time even describing this group of states. They are frequently referred to as the Saxon duchies. They did not belong to Saxony and only three of the eight were duchies. Therefore the term Saxon duchies does a poor job describing what we are talking about. This gets even tougher as some of the names changed and some of the land was even swapped. Yes in 1913 Grand Duchy of Sachs-Weimar- Eisenach swapped some land with Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. This accomplished little in straightening out the confusing boundaries and enclaves.
These were all independent states, each having their own vote in the Bundesrat. Compare and contrast that to the kingdom of Saxony that had only four votes.
Going way back the Wettin dynasty that is associated with Saxony split into two lines in 1485. the senior line was known as the Ernestine branch and ended up in Thuringia. This branch’s dynastic lineage collapsed into a series of independent states which were properly known as the Ernestine duchies. Much of the collapse and subdivision of territory was based on inheritance. The junior branch which was known as the Albertines maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony. It was the Albertine branch that abdicated the kingdom of Saxony in 1918.
The Ernestine grouping consisted of:
Grand Duchy of Sachs-Weimar- Eisenach
Duchy of Saxe- Coburg- Gotha
Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen
Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg
Principality of Schwartzburg-Rudolstadt
Principality of Schwartzburg-Sondershausen
Principality of Reuss older Line
Principality of Reuss younger Line
If you look at the map you will see that the states have irregular shapes with all sorts of detached enclaves. One of the great difficulties is finding cartography that adequately shows the states. Because of common boundaries, this older text uses six colors. So we have six colors and eight states. There is also a frequently displayed map of the Western area of the Thuringia forest. I don’t know why. I mean it is a real mystery to me as I do not think this area has any specific significance that I am aware of. As there are also Prussian lands interspersed, the modern map with nine colors shows it well.
Each of these separately had a military convention with Prussia. The conventions of Prussia with Sachsen-Weimar, Coburg-Gotha, Altenburg, Meiningen, both Reuß, and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt almost follow the exact same wording and were concluded at the same time. Oldenburg is very similar. The former contingents of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Lippe-Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe, and the Hanseatic Cities were completely disbanded. Only unit traditions such as those of the Westfälisches Jäger Bataillon Nr. 7 commemorated the past of those contingents. Prussia took over the military obligations of these states, which received garrisons of Prussian military formations, together with the promise that these formations would be restricted to their garrisons except during “special events.” The barracks of these formations usually displayed the national emblems of the former contingents.
For the non-kingdom contingents only honorary rights remained (e.g. consideration of personal wishes for appointments, conferring of orders, and other decorations, reports, inspections). The princes of those states usually dealt with their contingents as though they were commanding generals and executed respective disciplinary rights as well as their honorary rights. These military stipulations of the military conventions were usually not executed and were only considered as an act of courtesy. Also the honorary rights of the Senates of the three Hanseatic Cities were never touched. The right to commission officers or to appoint officers into certain positions was never taken away from these princes. Usually they delegated this right to Prussia but retained the right to appoint officers “à la suite,” who were paid out of the respective prince’s budget.