History of Saxony-Anhalt: Difference between revisions
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'''Grand Duchy of Baden''', a former sovereign state of [[Germany]], which was bounded to the north by the kingdom of [[Bavaria]] and the Grand Duchy of [[Hesse-Darmstadt]] - to the west and practically throughout its whole length by the river [[Rhine]], which separated it from the Bavarian Palatinate and the imperial province of [[Alsace-Lorraine]]; to the south by [[Switzerland]], and to the east by the kingdom of [[Wurttemberg]] and also part of Bavaria. |
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{{More citations needed|date=July 2017}} |
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| image1 = German_Empire_-_Prussia_-_Saxony_(1871).svg |
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| caption1 = The Prussian province of Saxony within Prussia and the German Empire |
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| image2 = Anhalt in the German Reich (1871).svg |
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| caption2 = Anhalt within the German Empire |
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| image1 = Flagge Herzogtum Anhalt.svg |
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| caption1 = Flag of Anhalt |
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| image2 = Flagge Preußen - Provinz Sachsen.svg |
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| caption2 = Flag of the Prussian province of Saxony |
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The '''history of Saxony-Anhalt''' began with [[Old Saxony]], which was conquered by [[Charlemagne]] in 804 and transformed into the [[Duchy of Saxony]] within the [[Carolingian Empire]]. Saxony went on to become one of the so-called [[Stem duchy|stem duchies]] of the [[German Kingdom]] and subsequently the [[Holy Roman Empire]] which formed out of [[East Francia|the eastern partition of the Carolingian Empire]]. The duchy grew to become a powerful [[States of the Holy Roman Empire|state]] within the empire, ruling over much of what is now northern Germany, but following conflicts with the emperor it was partitioned into numerous minor states, including the [[Principality of Anhalt]], around the end of the 12th century and early 13th century. The territories of the Duchy of Saxony, the Principality of Anhalt, and their successors are now part of the modern German state of [[Saxony-Anhalt]]. |
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The country has an area of 5823 sq. m. and consists of a considerable portion of the eastern half of the fertile valley of the Rhine and of the mountains which form its boundary. The mountainous part is by far the most extensive, forming, indeed, nearly 8o% of the whole area. From [[Lake Constance]] in the south to the river Neckar in the north is a portion of the Black Forest or Schwarzwald, which is divided by the valley of the Kinzig into two districts of different elevation. To the south of the Kinzig the mean height is 3100 ft., and the loftiest summit, the Feldberg, reaches about 4898 ft;, while to the north the mean height is only 2100 ft., and the Belchen, the culminating point of the whole, does not exceed 4480 ft. To the north of the Neckar is the Odenwald Range, with a mean of 1440 ft., and inthe Katzenbuckel, an extreme of 1980 ft. Lying between the Rhine and the Dreisam is the Kaiserstuhl, an independent volcanic group, nearly 10 m. in length and 5 in breadth, the highest point of which is 1760 ft. The greater part of Baden belongs to the basin of the Rhine, which receives upwards of twenty tributaries from the highlands; the north-eastern portion of the territory is also watered by the Main and the Neckar. A part, however, of the eastern slope of the Black Forest belongs to the basin of the Danube, which there takes its rise in a number of mountain streams. Among the numerous lakes which belong to the duchy are the Mummel, Wilder, Eichener and Schluch, but none of them is of any size. The Lake of Constance (Boden-See) belongs partly to Bavaria and Switzerland. |
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The ducal title and [[Prince-elector|electoral dignity]] passed to the [[Ascanian]] [[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernhard of Anhalt]], but the title only came with a few small eastern parts of the former territory. Following his death in 1212 his possessions were divided between his sons: [[Henry I, Count of Anhalt|Henry]] established [[principality of Anhalt|Anhalt]] as a [[Graf|county]] while [[Albert I, Duke of Saxony|Albert I]] took on the ducal title and the remaining possessions. |
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Owing to its physical configuration Baden presents great extremes of heat and cold, The Rhine valley is the warmest district in Germany, but the higher elevations of the Black Forest record the greatest degrees of cold experienced in the South. The mean temperature of the Rhine valley is approximately 50° F. and that, of the high table-land, 43° F. July is the hottest and January the coldest month in the year. |
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Anhalt was raised to a [[Fürstentum|principality]] in 1218 but was divided in 1252 between Henry's sons, forming [[Anhalt-Aschersleben]], [[Anhalt-Bernburg]] and [[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Anhalt-Zerbst]]. Over the centuries, numerous additional divisions and reunifications of the Anhalt territory took place, resulting in the creation of [[Anhalt-Köthen]], [[Anhalt-Dessau]], [[Anhalt-Pless]] and [[Anhalt-Plötzkau]], as well as the recreation of several of the divisions; after 1252 it was only ruled as a single entity between 1570 and 1603. |
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Christopher divided it before his death in 1527 among his three sons. One died childless in 1533, and in 1535 his remaining sons, Bernard and Ernest, having shared their brother's territories, made a fresh division and founded the lines, of Baden-Baden and Baden-Pforzheim, Ii aIled~ after 1565 Baden-Durlach. Further divisions followed, and the weakness caused by these partitions was accentuated by a rivalry between the two main branches of the family. This culminated in open warfare, and from 1584 to 1622 Baden-Baden was in the possession of one of the princes of Baden-Durlach. Religious differences added to this~ rivalry. During the period of the Reformation some of the rulers of Baden adhered to the older and some adopted the newer faith, and the house was similarly divided during the Thirty Years' War. Baden suffered severely during this struggle, and both branches of the family were exiled in turn. The treaty of Westphalia in 1648 restored the status quo, and the family rivalry gradually died out. During the wars of the reign of Louis XIV, the Margravate was ravaged by the French troops, and the margrave of Baden-Baden, Louis William (d. 1707), was prominent among the soldiers who resisted the aggressions of France. In 1771 Augustus George of Baden-Baden died without sons, and his territories passed to Charles Frederick of Baden-Durlach, who thus became ruler of the whole of Baden. Although in 1771 Baden was united under a single ruler it did not form a compact territory, and its total area was only about 1350 sq. m. Consisting of a number of isolated districts on either bank of the upper Rhine, it was the work of Charles Frederick to acquire the intervening stretches of highland, and so to give territorial unity to his country. Beginning his reign in 1738 and coming of age in 1746, this prince is the most notable of the rulers of Baden. He was interested in the development of agriculture and commerce; sought to improve education and the administration of justice, and was in general a wise and liberal ruler. His opportunity for territorial aggrandizement came during the Napoleonic wars. When war broke out between France and Austria in 1792, the Badenese fought for Austria; consequently their country was devastated, and in 1796 the margrave was compelled to pay an indemnity, and to cede his territories on the left bank of the Rhine to France. Fortune, however, soon returned to his side. In 1803, largely owing to the good offices of Alexander I, emperor of Russia, he received the Bishopric of Constance, part of the Rhenish Palatinate, and other smaller districts, together with the dignity of a prince elector. Changing sides in 1805 he fought for Napoleon, with the result that by the peace of Pressburg in that year he obtained the Greisgau and other territories at the expense of the Habsburgs. In 1806 he joined the Confederation of the Rhine, declared himself a sovereign prince, became a grand-duke, and received other additions of territory. The Baden contingent continued to assist France, and by the peace of Vienna in 1809 the grand-duke was rewarded with accessions of territory at the expense of the kingdom of Württemberg. Having quadrupled the area of Baden, Charles Frederick died in June 1811, and was suceeded by his grandson, Charles, who was married to Stephanie de Beauharnais (d. 1860), an adopted daughter of Napoleon. Charles fought for his father-in-law until after the battle of Leipzig In 1813, when he joined the Allies. |
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Meanwhile, after Albert I's death in 1260, the Duchy of Saxony was co-ruled by his sons [[John I, Duke of Saxony|John I]] and [[Albert II, Duke of Saxony|Albert II]], and subsequently also by John I's sons. However, the geographic separation of the territories – [[Wittenberg]], [[Lauenburg]] and [[Hadeln]] – led to them being increasingly administered separately. In 1296 the duchy was officially separated into two separate duchies: John's sons became rulers of [[Saxe-Lauenburg]] (which also included the Hadeln exclave) while Albert II became ruler of [[Saxe-Wittenberg]]. In addition to the duchy, Albert had acquired the [[County of Gommern]] in 1295, and in 1290 his son and heir [[Rudolf I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg|Rudolph]] had been enfeoffed with the lands of the former [[County of Brehna]] on Wittenberg's southern border. The status of the electoral dignity was contested by both lines until it was officially settled in Saxe-Wittenberg's favour by the [[Golden Bull of 1356]], after which time it became known as the [[Electorate of Saxony]]. In 1423 the Electorate was inherited by the [[House of Wettin|Wettin]] [[Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Frederick I]], who was also the [[Margraviate of Meissen|Margrave of Meissen]] and [[Landgraviate of Thuringia|Landgrave of Thuringia]]. Since Prince-elector was a higher rank than either landgrave or margrave, the whole of Frederick's territory became known as the Electorate of Saxony; the lands around Wittenberg, Brehna and Gommern became known as the ''{{lang|de|[[Kurkreis]]}}'' or "Electoral [[Circle (administrative division)|Circle]]". |
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In 1815 Baden became a member of the Germanic confederation established by the Act of the 8th of June, annexed to the ??inal Act of the congress of Vienna of the 9th of June. In the hurry of the winding-up of the congress, however, the vexed question of the succession to the grand-duchy had not been settled. This was soon to become acute. By the treaty of the 6th of April 1816, by which the territorial disputes between Austria and Bavaria were settled, the succession to the Baden ~ Palatinate was guaranteed to Maximilian I, king of Bavaria, in the expected event of the extinction of the line of [[Zahringen (family)|Zahringen]]. |
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After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the remaining Anhalt divisions – Bernburg, Dessau and Köthen – were elevated to duchies by [[Napoleon]] while the Electorate of Saxony became [[Kingdom of Saxony|a Kingdom]]; all were part of Napoleon's [[Confederation of the Rhine]] until 1813. |
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In a counterblast to this the grand-duke Charles issued in 1817 a pragmatic sanction (Hausgesetz) declaring the counts of Hochberg, the issue of a morganatic marriage between the grand-duke Charles Hochberg), capable of succeeding to the crown. A controversy between Bavaria and Baden resulted, which was only decided in favour of the Hochberg claims by the treaty signed by the ur great powers and Baden at Frankfurt on the 10th of July ‘9. Meanwhile the dispute had produced important effects for Baden. In order to secure popular support for the Hochberg heir, Charles in 1818 granted to the grand-duchy, under article ii. of the Act of Confederation, a liberal constitution, under which two chambers were constituted and their assent declared necessary for legislation and taxation. The outcome was of importance far beyond the narrow limits of the duchy; for all Germany watched the constitutional experiments of the southern states. In Baden the conditions were not favourable to success. The people, belonging to the Celtic fringe of Germany, had lain during the revolutionary period completely under the influence of French ideas, and this was sufficiently illustrated by the temper of the new chambers, which tended to model their activity on the proceedings of the Convention in the earlier days of the French Revolution. On the other hand, the new Grand-duke Louis, who had succeeded in 1818, was unpopular, and the administration was in the hands of hide-bound and inefficient bureaucrats. The result was a deadlock; and, even before the promulgation of the Carlsbad decrees in October 1816, the grand-duke had prorogued the chambers, after three months of sterile debate. The reaction that followed was as severe in Baden as elsewhere in Germany, and culminated in 1823, when, on the refusal of the chambers to vote the military budget, the grand-duke dissolved them and levied the taxes on his own authority. In January 1825, owing to official pressure, fully three Liberals were returned to the chamber; a law was passed making the budget presentable only every three years, and the constitution ceased to have any active existence. |
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In 1813 the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] occupied large amounts of Saxony's territory in the [[Battle of Leipzig]], including the Electoral Circle (which had been renamed the "Wittenberg Circle" in 1807); in May 1815 a treaty was signed in which Saxony ceded this territory to Prussia. In June 1815 they all became part of the [[German Confederation]]. In 1816 Prussia reorganised its annexed territory, merging it with the former [[Duchy of Magdeburg]], [[Principality of Halberstadt]], [[Principality of Erfurt]], the [[Eichsfeld]], and the former Imperial Cities of [[Mühlhausen]] and [[Nordhausen, Thuringia|Nordhausen]], along with the [[Altmark]] and other parts of [[Margraviate of Brandenburg|Brandenburg]] west of the Elbe, into the [[Province of Saxony]]. |
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In 1830 Louis was succeeded as grand~duke by his half-brother Leopold, the first of the Hochberg line. The July Revolution led to no disturbances in Baden; but the new grand-duke from the first showed liberal tendencies. The elections of 1830 were not interfered with; and the result was the return of a Liberal majority. The next few years saw the introduction, under successive ministries, of Liberal reforms in the constitution, in criminal and civil law, and in education. In 1832 the adhesion of Baden to the Prussian Zollverein did much for the material prosperity of the country. |
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In 1863 the Anhalt duchies were finally reunited to form the [[Duchy of Anhalt]]. The duchy became part of the Prussian-led [[North German Confederation]] in 1867 and finally the [[German Empire]] in 1871. |
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With the approach of the revolutiony year 1848, however, Radicalism once more began to lift up its head. At a popular demonstration held at Offenburg in September 1847, resolutions were passed demanding the conversion of the regular army into a national militia which would take an oath to the constitution, a progressive income tax and a fair adjustment of the interests of capital and labour. The news of the revolution of February 1848 in Paris brought this agitation to a head. Numerous public meetings were held at which the Offenburg programme was adopted, and on the 4th March, under the influence of the popular excitement, it was accepted almost unanimously by the lower chamber. As in other German states, the government bowed to the storm, proclaimed an amnesty and promised reforms. The ministry was remodelled in a more Liberal direction; and a new delegate was sent to the federal diet at Frankfort, empowered to vote for the establishment of a parliament for united Germany. The disorders, fomented by republican agitators, none the less continued; and the efforts of the government to suppress them with the aid of federal troops led to an armed insurrection. For the time this was mastered without much difficulty; the insurgents were beaten at Kandern on the 20th of April; Freiburg, which they held, fell on the 24th; and on the 27th a Francoerman legion, which had invaded Baden from Strassburg, was routed at Dossenbach. |
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Following Germany's defeat in World War I, Anhalt became the [[Free State of Anhalt]] while the Province of Saxony continued as a constituent of the [[Free State of Prussia]] (both within the [[Weimar Republic]]). During Nazi rule, all of the previous subdivisions, including Anhalt and the Province of Saxony, ceased to exist ''de facto'' as they were replaced with ''{{lang|de|[[Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany|Gaue]]}}'' in 1934. |
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At the beginning of 1849, however, the issue of a new constiition, in accordance with the resolutions of the Frankfort parliament, led to more serious trouble. It did little to satisfy the Radicals, who were angered by the refusal of the second chamber to agree to their proposal for the summoning of a constituent assembly (10th of February 1849). The new insurrection that now broke out was a more formidable affair than the first. |
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After World War II what had been Anhalt and the Province of Saxony formed the basis of the [[Soviet occupation zone|occupying Soviet administration]]'s state (''{{lang|de|Land}}'') of [[Saxony-Anhalt]]. Along with the other states of [[East Germany]], Saxony-Anhalt was dissolved in 1952 and replaced with various [[Administrative divisions of East Germany|districts]] (''{{lang|de|Bezirke}}''); Saxony-Anhalt roughly corresponds to the former [[Bezirk Magdeburg|Magdeburg]] and [[Bezirk Halle|Halle]] districts. However, the states, including Saxony-Anhalt, came back into being following [[German reunification]] in 1990, albeit with different borders than the original East German states. |
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A military mutiny at Rastatt on the 11th of May showed that the army sympathized with the revolution, which was proclaimed two days later at Offenburg amid tumultuous scenes. On the same day (13th of May) a mutiny at Karlsruhe forced the grand-duke to take to flight, and the next day he was followed by the ministers, while a committee of the diet under Lorenz Brentano (1813-1891), who represented the more moderate Radicals as against the republicans, established itself in the capital to attempt to direct affairs pending the establishment of a provisional government. This was accomplished on the 1st of June, and on the 10th the constituent diet, consisting entirely of the most advanced politicians, assembled. It had little chance of doing more than make speeches; the country was in the hands of an armed mob of civilians and mutinous soldiers; and, meanwhile, the grand-duke of Baden had joined with Bavaria in requesting the armed intervention of Prussia, which was granted on the condition that Baden should join the League of the Three Kings. |
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== Duchy of Saxony == |
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From this moment the revolution in Baden was doomed, and with it the revolution in all Germany. The Prussians, under Prince William (afterwards emperor), invaded Baden in the middle of June. The insurgent forces were under the command of the Pole, Ludwig von Mieroslawski (1814 - 1878), who reduced them to some semblance of order. On the 20th he met the Prussians at Waghausel, and was completely defeated; on the ??th Prince William entered Karlsruhe; and at the end of the month the members of the provisional government, who had taken refuge at Freiburg, dispersed. Such of the insurgent leaders as were caught, notably the ex-officers, suffered military execution; the army was dispersed among Prussian garrison towns; and Baden was occupied for the time by Prussian troops. The grand-duke returned on the 15th of August, and at once dissolved the diet., The elections resulted in a majority favourable to the new ministry, and a series of laws were passed of a reactionary tendency with a view to strengthening the government. |
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[[File:Saxony locator map (1000).svg|thumb|left|Saxony (red) within the German Kingdom around the beginning of the 11th century.]] |
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After Charlemagne's conquest of the Saxons (772–804), their land was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and late in the 9th century, it became the first [[Duchy of Saxony]]. It occupied nearly all the territory between the Elbe and Saale rivers to the east and the Rhine to the west; it bordered on Franconia and Thuringia in the south. It was itself divided into four provinces: [[Westphalia]], [[Angria]], [[Eastphalia]], and [[Nordalbingia]], with modern Saxony-Anhalt mostly lying within Eastphalia. Duke Henry I ([[Henry the Fowler]]) of Saxony was elected German king in 919, and his son, Emperor Otto I, bestowed (961) Saxony on [[Hermann Billung]] (d. 973), a Saxon nobleman, whose descendants held the duchy until the extinction of the male line in 1106. [[Lothair of Supplinburg]] bestowed it on his [[House of Welf|Guelphic]] son-in-law, [[Henry the Proud]], who was already Duke of Bavaria. |
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[[File:Mark Lausitz, Karte Anno 1200.jpg|thumb|Anhalt (''{{lang|de|Gft. Anhalt}}'', orange) and the Wittenberg lands of the Duchy of Saxony (''{{lang|de|Hzm. Sachsen}}'', dark green) around the middle of the 13th century.]] |
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The grand-duke Leopold died on the 24th of April 1852, and was succeeded by his second son, Frederick, as regent, the eldest, Louis (d. 22nd of January 1858), being incapable of ruling. The internal affairs of Baden during the period that followed have comparatively little general interest. In the greater politics of Germany, Baden, between 1850 and 1866, was a consistent supporter of Austria; and in the war of 1866 her contingents, under Prince William, had two sharp engagements with the Prussian army of the Main. Two days before the affair of Werbach (24th of July), however, the second chamber had petitioned the grand-duke to end the war and enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with Prussia. The grand-duke had from the first been opposed to the war with Prussia, but had been forced to yield owing to popular resentment at the policy of Prussia in the Schleswig-Holstein question (q.v.). The ministry, now at one, resigned; Baden announced her withdrawal from the German confederation; and on the 17th of August a treaty of peace and alliance was signed with Prussia. The adhesion of Baden to the North German confederation was presented by Bismarck himself, who had no wish to give Napoleon III. so good an excuse for intervention; but it was the opposition of Baden to the formation of a South German confederation that made the ultimate union inevitable. The troops of Baden took a conspicuous share in the war of 2870; and it was the grand-duke of Baden, who, in the historic assembly of the German princes at Versailles, was the first to hail the king of Prussia as German emperor. |
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In 1142 the duchy passed to [[Henry the Lion]], son of [[Henry the Proud]]. The struggle between Henry the Lion and [[Emperor Frederick I]] ended with Henry's loss of all his fiefs in 1180. The stem duchy was broken up into numerous fiefs. The Guelphic heirs of Henry the Lion retained only their [[allodial]] lands, the Duchy of Brunswick. The ducal title of Saxony went to [[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernhard of Anhalt]], a younger son of [[Albert the Bear]] of Brandenburg and founder of the [[Ascanian]] line of Saxon dukes. Besides [[Anhalt]], Bernard received [[Lauenburg]] and the country around Wittenberg on the Elbe. These widely separate territories continued after 1260 under separate branches of the [[Ascanians]] as [[Saxe-Lauenburg]] and [[Saxe-Wittenberg]]. |
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== Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony == |
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The internal politics of Baden, both before and after 1870, centre in the main round the question of religion. The signing on the 28th of June 1859 of a concordat with the Holy See, by which education was placed under the oversight of the clergy and the establishment of religious orders was facilitated, led to a constitutional struggle, which ended in 1863 with the victory ??? |
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The [[Golden Bull of 1356]] raised the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of [[Prince-elector|elector]], with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. Electoral Saxony, as his territory was called, was a relatively small area along the middle Elbe. Extending to the south of Electoral Saxony was the [[Margraviate of Meissen]], ruled by the increasingly powerful house of [[Wettin (dynasty)|Wettin]]. The margraves of Meissen acquired (13th–14th century) the larger parts of Thuringia, Lower [[Lusatia]] and the intervening territories, and in 1423 Margrave [[Frederick I, Elector of Saxony|Frederick the Warlike]] added Electoral Saxony; in 1425 he became Elector Frederick I. Thus, Saxony shifted to east-central and east Germany from northwest Germany. |
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In 1485 the Wettin lands were partitioned between two sons of Elector [[Frederick II, Elector of Saxony|Frederick II]]; the division came to be permanent. Ernest, founder of the Ernestine branch of Wettin, received Electoral Saxony with Wittenberg and most of the [[Thuringian]] lands. Albert, founder of the [[Ernestine and Albertine Wettins|Albertine]] branch, received a ducal rank and the Meissen territories, including Dresden and Leipzig. Duke Maurice of Saxony, a grandson of Albert and a Protestant, received the electoral title in the 16th century; it remained in the Albertine branch until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. |
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Frederick assumed the title of grand-duke on the 5th of September 1856. |
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The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election in 1697 of [[Augustus II the Strong|Augustus II]] (who was Frederick Augustus I as Elector of Saxony) as King of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony, whose prestige was thereby diminished. In the [[War of the Austrian Succession]], Saxony adhered to what had become its traditional wavering policy, changing sides in the middle of the conflict. The death in 1763 of [[Augustus III of Poland|Augustus III]] ended the union with Poland. |
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Of Liberal principles, the communes being made responsible for education, though the priests were admitted to a share in the management. The quarrel between Liberalism and Clericalism was, however, not ended. In 1867, on the accession to the premiership of Julius von Jolly (1823-1891), several constitutional changes in a Liberal direction were made; responsibility of ministers, freedom of the press, compulsory education. In the same year (6th of September) a law was passed to compel all candidates for the priesthood to pass the government examinations. The archbishop of Freiburg resisted, and, on his death in April 1868, the see was left vacant. In 1869 the introduction of civil marriage did not allay the strife, which reached its climax after the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility in 1870. The ''Kulturkampf'' raged in Baden, as in the rest of Germany; and here as elsewhere the government encouraged the formation of Old Catholic communities. Not till 1880, after the fall of the ministry of Jolly, was a reconciliation with Rome effected; in 1882 the archbishopric of Freiburg was again filled up. The political tendency of Baden, meanwhile, mirrored that of all Germany. In 1892 the National Liberals had but a majority of one in the diet; from 1893 they could maintaib themselves only with the aid of the Conservatives; and in 1897 a coalition of Ultramontanes, Socialists, Social-democrats and Radicals (Freisinnige), won a majority for the opposition in the chamber. |
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The period of Saxon rule in Poland marked a time of economic and social decay but also of cultural and artistic flowering. Augustus II and Augustus III were lavish patrons of art and learning and greatly beautified their capital, Dresden. The universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig had long been leading intellectual centers, and 18th-century Leipzig led in the rise of German literature as well as in music, which reached its first peak with Bach. |
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Amid all these contests the wise and statesmanlike moderation of the grand-duke Frederick won him universal esteem. By the treaty under which Baden had become an integral part of the German empire, he had reserved only the exclusive right to tax beer and spirits; the army, the post-office, railways and the conduct of foreign relations were placed under the effective control of Prussia. In his relations with the German empire, too, Frederick proved himself rather a great German noble than a sovereign prince actuated by particularist ambitions; and his position as husband of the emperor William I.'s only daughter, Louise (whom he had married in 1856), gave him a peculiar influence in the councils of Berlin. When, on the 20th of September 1906, the grand-duke celebrated at once the jubilee of his reign and his golden wedding, all Europe combined to do him honour. King Edward VII. sent him, by the hands of the duke of Connaught, the order of the Garter. But more significant, perhaps, was the tribute paid by the Temps, the leading Parisian paper. |
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Saxony sided with Prussia against France early in the French Revolutionary Wars but changed sides in 1806. For this act its elector was raised to royal rank, becoming King Frederick Augustus I. His failure to change sides again before Napoleon's fall cost him (1815) nearly half his kingdom at the Congress of Vienna. The Kingdom of Saxony lost Lower Lusatia, part of Upper Lusatia, and all its northern territory including Wittenberg and [[Merseburg]] to Prussia. Its principal remaining cities were Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Plauen. The larger part of the territories ceded in 1815 was incorporated with several other Prussian districts into the Prussian province of Saxony, with Magdeburg as its capital. This was united after 1945 with [[Anhalt]] to form the state of Saxony-Anhalt and became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony-Anhalt was divided into the East German districts of Halle and Magdeburg. In 1990, prior to German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state. |
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"Nothing more clearly demonstrates the sterile paradox of the Napoleonic work," it wrote, "than the history of the grand-duchy. It was Napoleon, and he alone, who created this whole state in 1803 to reward in the person of the little margrave of Baden a relative of the emperor of Russia. It was he who after Austerlitz aggrandized the margravate at the expense of Austria; transformed it into a sovereign principality and raised it to a grand-duchy. It was he too who, by the secularization on the one hand and by the dismemberment of Wurttemberg on the other, gave the grand-duke 500,000 new subjects. He believed that the recognition of the prince and the artificial ethnical formation of the principality would be pledges of ;ecurity for France. But in 1813 Baden joined the coalition, and since then that nation created of odds and ends (de bric el le broc) and always handsomely treated by us, had not ceased to take a leading part in the struggles against our country. rhe grand-duke Frederick, grand-duke by the will of Napoleon, has done France all the harm he could. But French opinion itself renders justice to the probity of his character and to the ardour of his patriotism, and nobody will feel surprise at the homage with which Germany feels bound to surround his old age. He died at Mainau on the 28th of September ~, and was succeeded by his son, the grand-duke Frederick II." |
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== Counts of Anhalt == |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY. ''Das Grossherzogtum Baden in geographischer Hinsichi dargesleilt'' (Karisruhe, i885); Wielandt, ''Des Statsrecht des Grossherzogtums Baden'' (Freiburg, 1895); F. von Weech, ''Badische Geschichte'' (Karlsruhe, 1890); ''Die Zahringer in Baden'' (Karlsruhe, 1881); ''Baden unter den Grossherzëgen'' Karl Friedrich. Karl Ludwig (Freiburg, 1863); ''Geschichte der badischen Verfassung'' (Karlsruhe, I868); and ''Baden in den Jahren 1852 bis 1877'' (Karlsruhe, 1877); C. F. Nebenius,and F. von Weech, ''Karl Friedrich von Baden'' (Karlsruhe, 1868); L. H. Häusser, ''DenkwiArdigkeiten gut Geschichte der badischen Revolution'' (Heidelberg, 1851) |
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During the 9th century, the greater part of Anhalt was included in the [[Duchy of Saxony]]. In the 12th century, it came under the rule of [[Albert the Bear]], [[Margrave]] of Brandenburg. Albert was descended from [[Adalbert, Count of Ballenstedt]], whose son [[Esico of Ballenstedt|Esico]] (d. 1059 or 1060) appears to have been the first to bear the title of Count of Anhalt. Esico's grandson, [[Otto, Count of Ballenstedt|Otto the Rich]], Count of Ballenstedt, was the father of Albert the Bear, who united Anhalt with Brandenburg. When Albert died in 1170, his son [[Bernhard, Count of Anhalt|Bernard I]], who received the title of [[Duke of Saxony]] in 1180, became the first Count of Anhalt. Bernard I died in 1212, and Anhalt, separated from Saxony, passed to his son [[Henry I, Count of Anhalt|Henry]], who in 1218 took the title of prince and was the real founder of the house of Anhalt.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} Henry is included among the Minnesingers in the [[Codex Manesse]]. |
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== Princes of Anhalt == |
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On Henry's death in 1252 his three sons partitioned the principality, founding the lines of [[Anhalt-Aschersleben|Aschersleben]], [[Anhalt-Bernburg|Bernburg]] and [[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Zerbst]]. The family ruling in Aschersleben became extinct in 1315, and this district was subsequently incorporated into the neighbouring [[Bishopric of Halberstadt]], thus dividing the territory of [[Anhalt-Bernburg]] into two separate pieces. The last prince of the original line of Anhalt-Bernburg died in 1468 and his lands were inherited by the princes of the sole remaining line, that of [[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Anhalt-Zerbst]]. The territory belonging to this branch of the family had been divided in 1396, and after the acquisition of Bernburg, Prince [[George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|George I]] made a further partition of Zerbst (Zerbst and Dessau). Early in the 16th century, owing to the death or abdication of several princes, the family had narrowed down to the two branches of Anhalt-Köthen and Anhalt-Dessau (both issued from Anhalt-Dessau in 1471).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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[[Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen|Wolfgang of Anhalt]], called "The Confessor", who became prince of Anhalt-Köthen in 1508, was the second ruler in the world to introduce the [[Reformation]] in his territory. He was a co-signer of the [[Augsburg Confession]] in 1530, and after the [[Battle of Mühlberg]] in 1547 was placed under Imperial ban and deprived of his lands by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]]. After the [[peace of Passau]] in 1552 he bought back his principality, but as he was childless he surrendered it in 1562 to his kinsmen, the princes of Anhalt-Dessau. [[Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau]] (d. 1516), left three sons, [[John V, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst|John II]], [[George III, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|George III]], and [[Joachim I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau|Joachim]], who jointly ruled their lands for many years and favoured the reformed doctrines, which thus became dominant in Anhalt. About 1546 the three brothers divided their principality and founded the lines of [[Principality of Anhalt-Zerbst|Zerbst]], [[Anhalt-Plötzkau|Plötzkau]] and Dessau. This division, however, was only temporary, as the acquisition of [[Anhalt-Köthen|Köthen]], and a series of deaths among the ruling princes, enabled [[Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt|Joachim Ernest]], a son of John II, to unite the whole of Anhalt under his rule in 1570.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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Joachim Ernest died in 1586, and his five sons ruled the land in common until 1603, when Anhalt was again divided, and the lines of Dessau, Bernburg, Plötzkau, Zerbst, and Köthen were re-established. The principality was ravaged during the [[Thirty Years' War]], and in the earlier part of this struggle [[Christian I of Anhalt-Bernburg]] took an important part. In 1635 an arrangement was made by the various princes of Anhalt to authorize the eldest member of the family to represent the principality as a whole. This action was probably due to the necessity of maintaining an appearance of unity in view of the disturbed state of European politics at the time.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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In 1665 the Anhalt-Köthen branch became extinct, and according to a family compact, this district was inherited by [[Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen|Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Plötzkau]], who surrendered Plötzkau to Bernburg and took the title of prince of Anhalt-Köthen. In the same year the princes of Anhalt decided that if any branch of the family became extinct its lands should be equally divided among the remaining branches. This arrangement was carried out after the death of [[Frederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst]], in 1793, and Zerbst was divided between the three remaining princes. During these years the policy of the different princes was marked, perhaps intentionally, by considerable uniformity. Once or twice [[Calvinism]] was favoured by one of the princes, but in general, the house was loyal to the doctrines of [[Martin Luther]]. The growth of [[Prussia]] provided Anhalt with a formidable neighbour, and the establishment and practice of [[primogeniture]] by all branches of the family prevented the further division of the principality.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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== 19th century duchies == |
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In 1806 [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau, and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies. (Anhalt-Plötzkau and Anhalt-Zerbst had in the meantime ceased to exist.) These duchies were united in 1863 to form a single [[Duchy of Anhalt]], again due to the extinction of the Köthen and Bernburg lines. The new duchy consisted of two large portions: Eastern and Western Anhalt, separated by the interposition of a part of the Prussian [[Province of Saxony]], and five exclaves surrounded by Prussian territory, namely [[Alsleben]], [[Muhlingen]], [[Dornburg]], [[Goednitz]] and [[Abberode|Tilkerode-Abberode]]. The eastern and larger portion of the duchy was enclosed by the Prussian government district of [[Potsdam]] (in the Prussian [[province of Brandenburg]]), and [[Magdeburg]] and [[Merseburg]] (belonging to the Prussian province of Saxony). The smaller western part (the so-called Upper Duchy or [[Ballenstedt]]) was also enclosed by the two latter districts as well as by the duchy of [[Brunswick-Lüneburg]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|pp=44-45}} |
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The capital of Anhalt (whenever it was a united state) was [[Dessau]]. |
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In 1918 Anhalt became a state within the [[Weimar Republic]] (see [[Free State of Anhalt]]). After [[World War II]] it was united with the former Prussian province of Saxony, forming the new state of [[Saxony-Anhalt]]. The state was dissolved in 1952 by the [[German Democratic Republic]] government, but was re-established prior to [[German reunification]] and is now one of the German {{lang|de|[[States of Germany|Bundesländer]]}}. |
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== State of Saxony-Anhalt == |
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{{Main|Saxony-Anhalt (1945-1952)}} |
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[[File:Germany Laender 1947 1990 DDR.png|thumb|left|The states of the former East Germany. The modern borders are shown in red while the pre-1952 borders are shown in purple.]] |
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Saxony-Anhalt was formed as a province of [[Prussia]] in 1945, from the territories of the former Prussian [[Province of Saxony]] (except the ''{{lang|de|Regierungsbezirk}}'' Erfurt), the [[Free State of Anhalt]], the [[Free State of Brunswick]] ([[Calvörde]] and the eastern part of the former [[Blankenburg am Harz|Blankenburg]] district) and the formerly [[Thuringia]]n town [[Allstedt]]. See the respective articles for the history of the area before 1945. |
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When Prussia was disbanded in 1947, the province became the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It became part of the [[German Democratic Republic]] ([[East Germany]]) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony-Anhalt was divided into the East German districts of [[Halle, Saxony-Anhalt|Halle]] and [[Magdeburg]]. In 1990, in the course of [[German reunification]], the districts were reintegrated as a state. |
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== Geography == |
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The land is undulating in the west and mountainous in the extreme north-west, where it forms part of the [[Harz]] range, the [[Ramberg (Harz)|Ramberg]] peak marking the highest elevation at 1900 ft (579 m). From the Harz, the country gently shelves down to the [[Saale]] and is fertile between this river and the [[Elbe]]. East of the Elbe, the land is mostly a flat sandy plain, with extensive [[pine]] forests, interspersed with bog-land and rich pastures. The Elbe is the chief river, intersecting the eastern portion of the former duchy from east to west and joining the [[Mulde]] at [[Rosslau]]. The navigable Saale takes a northerly direction through the central portion of the territory and receives, on the right, the [[Fuhne]] and, on the left, the [[Wipper (Saale)|Wipper]] and [[Bode (river)|Bode]] rivers.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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The climate is generally mild, less so in the higher regions to the south-west. The area of the former duchy is 906 sq mi (2300 km<sup>2</sup>), and the population in 1905 was 328,007, a ratio of about 351/sq mi (909/km<sup>2</sup>).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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== Political and religious structure of Anhalt in 1911 == |
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As of 1911, Anhalt was divided into the districts of [[Dessau]], [[Köthen]], [[Zerbst]], [[Bernburg]] and [[Ballenstedt]], Bernburg being the most populous and Ballenstedt the least. Four towns – Dessau, Bernburg, Köthen, and Zerbst – had populations exceeding 20,000. The inhabitants of the former duchy, who mainly belonged to the upper [[Saxony|Saxon]] race, were, with the exception of about 12,000 [[Roman Catholic]]s and 1,700 [[Jew]]s, members of the [[Evangelical Church of the Union]]. The supreme ecclesiastical authority was the [[Consistory (Protestantism)|consistory]] in Dessau. A [[synod]] of 39 members, elected for six years, assembled periodically to deliberate on internal matters pertaining to the organization of the church. The Roman Catholics were under the [[bishop of Paderborn]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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By virtue of a fundamental law proclaimed on September 17, 1859, and subsequently modified by various [[decree]]s, the duchy was a [[constitutional monarchy]]. The duke bore the title of "Highness" and wielded the executive power while sharing [[legislation|legislative powers]] with the [[Estates of the realm|estates]]. The [[diet (assembly)|diet]] ([[Landtag]]) was composed of thirty-six members, of whom two were appointed by the duke, eight were representatives of landowners paying the highest taxes, two were chosen from among the highest assessed members of the commercial and manufacturing classes, fourteen were [[Voting|elector]]s of the towns and ten represented the rural districts. These representatives were chosen for six years by indirect vote and had to be at least 25 years of age. The duke governed through a [[minister of state]], who was the head of all the departments: finance, home affairs, education, public worship, and statistics.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=45}} |
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==Notes== |
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{{More citations needed|date=July 2017}} |
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{{reflist}} |
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==References== |
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* {{EB1911|wstitle=Anhalt|volume=2|pages=44-46}} This contains more detailed information on the fortunes of the Köthen and Bernburg branches until 1863. |
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{{History of the States of Germany}} |
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[[Category:History of Saxony-Anhalt| ]] |
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Latest revision as of 21:04, 29 April 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
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The history of Saxony-Anhalt began with Old Saxony, which was conquered by Charlemagne in 804 and transformed into the Duchy of Saxony within the Carolingian Empire. Saxony went on to become one of the so-called stem duchies of the German Kingdom and subsequently the Holy Roman Empire which formed out of the eastern partition of the Carolingian Empire. The duchy grew to become a powerful state within the empire, ruling over much of what is now northern Germany, but following conflicts with the emperor it was partitioned into numerous minor states, including the Principality of Anhalt, around the end of the 12th century and early 13th century. The territories of the Duchy of Saxony, the Principality of Anhalt, and their successors are now part of the modern German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
The ducal title and electoral dignity passed to the Ascanian Bernhard of Anhalt, but the title only came with a few small eastern parts of the former territory. Following his death in 1212 his possessions were divided between his sons: Henry established Anhalt as a county while Albert I took on the ducal title and the remaining possessions.
Anhalt was raised to a principality in 1218 but was divided in 1252 between Henry's sons, forming Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg and Anhalt-Zerbst. Over the centuries, numerous additional divisions and reunifications of the Anhalt territory took place, resulting in the creation of Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Pless and Anhalt-Plötzkau, as well as the recreation of several of the divisions; after 1252 it was only ruled as a single entity between 1570 and 1603.
Meanwhile, after Albert I's death in 1260, the Duchy of Saxony was co-ruled by his sons John I and Albert II, and subsequently also by John I's sons. However, the geographic separation of the territories – Wittenberg, Lauenburg and Hadeln – led to them being increasingly administered separately. In 1296 the duchy was officially separated into two separate duchies: John's sons became rulers of Saxe-Lauenburg (which also included the Hadeln exclave) while Albert II became ruler of Saxe-Wittenberg. In addition to the duchy, Albert had acquired the County of Gommern in 1295, and in 1290 his son and heir Rudolph had been enfeoffed with the lands of the former County of Brehna on Wittenberg's southern border. The status of the electoral dignity was contested by both lines until it was officially settled in Saxe-Wittenberg's favour by the Golden Bull of 1356, after which time it became known as the Electorate of Saxony. In 1423 the Electorate was inherited by the Wettin Frederick I, who was also the Margrave of Meissen and Landgrave of Thuringia. Since Prince-elector was a higher rank than either landgrave or margrave, the whole of Frederick's territory became known as the Electorate of Saxony; the lands around Wittenberg, Brehna and Gommern became known as the Kurkreis or "Electoral Circle".
After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the remaining Anhalt divisions – Bernburg, Dessau and Köthen – were elevated to duchies by Napoleon while the Electorate of Saxony became a Kingdom; all were part of Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine until 1813.
In 1813 the Kingdom of Prussia occupied large amounts of Saxony's territory in the Battle of Leipzig, including the Electoral Circle (which had been renamed the "Wittenberg Circle" in 1807); in May 1815 a treaty was signed in which Saxony ceded this territory to Prussia. In June 1815 they all became part of the German Confederation. In 1816 Prussia reorganised its annexed territory, merging it with the former Duchy of Magdeburg, Principality of Halberstadt, Principality of Erfurt, the Eichsfeld, and the former Imperial Cities of Mühlhausen and Nordhausen, along with the Altmark and other parts of Brandenburg west of the Elbe, into the Province of Saxony.
In 1863 the Anhalt duchies were finally reunited to form the Duchy of Anhalt. The duchy became part of the Prussian-led North German Confederation in 1867 and finally the German Empire in 1871.
Following Germany's defeat in World War I, Anhalt became the Free State of Anhalt while the Province of Saxony continued as a constituent of the Free State of Prussia (both within the Weimar Republic). During Nazi rule, all of the previous subdivisions, including Anhalt and the Province of Saxony, ceased to exist de facto as they were replaced with Gaue in 1934.
After World War II what had been Anhalt and the Province of Saxony formed the basis of the occupying Soviet administration's state (Land) of Saxony-Anhalt. Along with the other states of East Germany, Saxony-Anhalt was dissolved in 1952 and replaced with various districts (Bezirke); Saxony-Anhalt roughly corresponds to the former Magdeburg and Halle districts. However, the states, including Saxony-Anhalt, came back into being following German reunification in 1990, albeit with different borders than the original East German states.
Duchy of Saxony
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After Charlemagne's conquest of the Saxons (772–804), their land was incorporated into the Carolingian empire, and late in the 9th century, it became the first Duchy of Saxony. It occupied nearly all the territory between the Elbe and Saale rivers to the east and the Rhine to the west; it bordered on Franconia and Thuringia in the south. It was itself divided into four provinces: Westphalia, Angria, Eastphalia, and Nordalbingia, with modern Saxony-Anhalt mostly lying within Eastphalia. Duke Henry I (Henry the Fowler) of Saxony was elected German king in 919, and his son, Emperor Otto I, bestowed (961) Saxony on Hermann Billung (d. 973), a Saxon nobleman, whose descendants held the duchy until the extinction of the male line in 1106. Lothair of Supplinburg bestowed it on his Guelphic son-in-law, Henry the Proud, who was already Duke of Bavaria.
In 1142 the duchy passed to Henry the Lion, son of Henry the Proud. The struggle between Henry the Lion and Emperor Frederick I ended with Henry's loss of all his fiefs in 1180. The stem duchy was broken up into numerous fiefs. The Guelphic heirs of Henry the Lion retained only their allodial lands, the Duchy of Brunswick. The ducal title of Saxony went to Bernhard of Anhalt, a younger son of Albert the Bear of Brandenburg and founder of the Ascanian line of Saxon dukes. Besides Anhalt, Bernard received Lauenburg and the country around Wittenberg on the Elbe. These widely separate territories continued after 1260 under separate branches of the Ascanians as Saxe-Lauenburg and Saxe-Wittenberg.
Electorate and Kingdom of Saxony
[edit]The Golden Bull of 1356 raised the Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg to the permanent rank of elector, with the right to participate in the election of the Holy Roman Emperor. Electoral Saxony, as his territory was called, was a relatively small area along the middle Elbe. Extending to the south of Electoral Saxony was the Margraviate of Meissen, ruled by the increasingly powerful house of Wettin. The margraves of Meissen acquired (13th–14th century) the larger parts of Thuringia, Lower Lusatia and the intervening territories, and in 1423 Margrave Frederick the Warlike added Electoral Saxony; in 1425 he became Elector Frederick I. Thus, Saxony shifted to east-central and east Germany from northwest Germany.
In 1485 the Wettin lands were partitioned between two sons of Elector Frederick II; the division came to be permanent. Ernest, founder of the Ernestine branch of Wettin, received Electoral Saxony with Wittenberg and most of the Thuringian lands. Albert, founder of the Albertine branch, received a ducal rank and the Meissen territories, including Dresden and Leipzig. Duke Maurice of Saxony, a grandson of Albert and a Protestant, received the electoral title in the 16th century; it remained in the Albertine branch until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.
The rivalry between Saxony and Brandenburg (after 1701 the kingdom of Prussia) was a decisive factor in later Saxon history, as was the election in 1697 of Augustus II (who was Frederick Augustus I as Elector of Saxony) as King of Poland; the election led to an economic partnership between the declining Poland and Saxony, whose prestige was thereby diminished. In the War of the Austrian Succession, Saxony adhered to what had become its traditional wavering policy, changing sides in the middle of the conflict. The death in 1763 of Augustus III ended the union with Poland.
The period of Saxon rule in Poland marked a time of economic and social decay but also of cultural and artistic flowering. Augustus II and Augustus III were lavish patrons of art and learning and greatly beautified their capital, Dresden. The universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig had long been leading intellectual centers, and 18th-century Leipzig led in the rise of German literature as well as in music, which reached its first peak with Bach.
Saxony sided with Prussia against France early in the French Revolutionary Wars but changed sides in 1806. For this act its elector was raised to royal rank, becoming King Frederick Augustus I. His failure to change sides again before Napoleon's fall cost him (1815) nearly half his kingdom at the Congress of Vienna. The Kingdom of Saxony lost Lower Lusatia, part of Upper Lusatia, and all its northern territory including Wittenberg and Merseburg to Prussia. Its principal remaining cities were Dresden, Leipzig, Chemnitz, and Plauen. The larger part of the territories ceded in 1815 was incorporated with several other Prussian districts into the Prussian province of Saxony, with Magdeburg as its capital. This was united after 1945 with Anhalt to form the state of Saxony-Anhalt and became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony-Anhalt was divided into the East German districts of Halle and Magdeburg. In 1990, prior to German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state.
Counts of Anhalt
[edit]During the 9th century, the greater part of Anhalt was included in the Duchy of Saxony. In the 12th century, it came under the rule of Albert the Bear, Margrave of Brandenburg. Albert was descended from Adalbert, Count of Ballenstedt, whose son Esico (d. 1059 or 1060) appears to have been the first to bear the title of Count of Anhalt. Esico's grandson, Otto the Rich, Count of Ballenstedt, was the father of Albert the Bear, who united Anhalt with Brandenburg. When Albert died in 1170, his son Bernard I, who received the title of Duke of Saxony in 1180, became the first Count of Anhalt. Bernard I died in 1212, and Anhalt, separated from Saxony, passed to his son Henry, who in 1218 took the title of prince and was the real founder of the house of Anhalt.[1] Henry is included among the Minnesingers in the Codex Manesse.
Princes of Anhalt
[edit]On Henry's death in 1252 his three sons partitioned the principality, founding the lines of Aschersleben, Bernburg and Zerbst. The family ruling in Aschersleben became extinct in 1315, and this district was subsequently incorporated into the neighbouring Bishopric of Halberstadt, thus dividing the territory of Anhalt-Bernburg into two separate pieces. The last prince of the original line of Anhalt-Bernburg died in 1468 and his lands were inherited by the princes of the sole remaining line, that of Anhalt-Zerbst. The territory belonging to this branch of the family had been divided in 1396, and after the acquisition of Bernburg, Prince George I made a further partition of Zerbst (Zerbst and Dessau). Early in the 16th century, owing to the death or abdication of several princes, the family had narrowed down to the two branches of Anhalt-Köthen and Anhalt-Dessau (both issued from Anhalt-Dessau in 1471).[1]
Wolfgang of Anhalt, called "The Confessor", who became prince of Anhalt-Köthen in 1508, was the second ruler in the world to introduce the Reformation in his territory. He was a co-signer of the Augsburg Confession in 1530, and after the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547 was placed under Imperial ban and deprived of his lands by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. After the peace of Passau in 1552 he bought back his principality, but as he was childless he surrendered it in 1562 to his kinsmen, the princes of Anhalt-Dessau. Ernest I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1516), left three sons, John II, George III, and Joachim, who jointly ruled their lands for many years and favoured the reformed doctrines, which thus became dominant in Anhalt. About 1546 the three brothers divided their principality and founded the lines of Zerbst, Plötzkau and Dessau. This division, however, was only temporary, as the acquisition of Köthen, and a series of deaths among the ruling princes, enabled Joachim Ernest, a son of John II, to unite the whole of Anhalt under his rule in 1570.[1]
Joachim Ernest died in 1586, and his five sons ruled the land in common until 1603, when Anhalt was again divided, and the lines of Dessau, Bernburg, Plötzkau, Zerbst, and Köthen were re-established. The principality was ravaged during the Thirty Years' War, and in the earlier part of this struggle Christian I of Anhalt-Bernburg took an important part. In 1635 an arrangement was made by the various princes of Anhalt to authorize the eldest member of the family to represent the principality as a whole. This action was probably due to the necessity of maintaining an appearance of unity in view of the disturbed state of European politics at the time.[1]
In 1665 the Anhalt-Köthen branch became extinct, and according to a family compact, this district was inherited by Lebrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Plötzkau, who surrendered Plötzkau to Bernburg and took the title of prince of Anhalt-Köthen. In the same year the princes of Anhalt decided that if any branch of the family became extinct its lands should be equally divided among the remaining branches. This arrangement was carried out after the death of Frederick Augustus, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, in 1793, and Zerbst was divided between the three remaining princes. During these years the policy of the different princes was marked, perhaps intentionally, by considerable uniformity. Once or twice Calvinism was favoured by one of the princes, but in general, the house was loyal to the doctrines of Martin Luther. The growth of Prussia provided Anhalt with a formidable neighbour, and the establishment and practice of primogeniture by all branches of the family prevented the further division of the principality.[1]
19th century duchies
[edit]In 1806 Napoleon elevated the remaining states of Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Dessau, and Anhalt-Köthen to duchies. (Anhalt-Plötzkau and Anhalt-Zerbst had in the meantime ceased to exist.) These duchies were united in 1863 to form a single Duchy of Anhalt, again due to the extinction of the Köthen and Bernburg lines. The new duchy consisted of two large portions: Eastern and Western Anhalt, separated by the interposition of a part of the Prussian Province of Saxony, and five exclaves surrounded by Prussian territory, namely Alsleben, Muhlingen, Dornburg, Goednitz and Tilkerode-Abberode. The eastern and larger portion of the duchy was enclosed by the Prussian government district of Potsdam (in the Prussian province of Brandenburg), and Magdeburg and Merseburg (belonging to the Prussian province of Saxony). The smaller western part (the so-called Upper Duchy or Ballenstedt) was also enclosed by the two latter districts as well as by the duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg.[2]
The capital of Anhalt (whenever it was a united state) was Dessau.
In 1918 Anhalt became a state within the Weimar Republic (see Free State of Anhalt). After World War II it was united with the former Prussian province of Saxony, forming the new state of Saxony-Anhalt. The state was dissolved in 1952 by the German Democratic Republic government, but was re-established prior to German reunification and is now one of the German Bundesländer.
State of Saxony-Anhalt
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Saxony-Anhalt was formed as a province of Prussia in 1945, from the territories of the former Prussian Province of Saxony (except the Regierungsbezirk Erfurt), the Free State of Anhalt, the Free State of Brunswick (Calvörde and the eastern part of the former Blankenburg district) and the formerly Thuringian town Allstedt. See the respective articles for the history of the area before 1945.
When Prussia was disbanded in 1947, the province became the state of Saxony-Anhalt. It became part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) in 1949. From 1952 to 1990 Saxony-Anhalt was divided into the East German districts of Halle and Magdeburg. In 1990, in the course of German reunification, the districts were reintegrated as a state.
Geography
[edit]The land is undulating in the west and mountainous in the extreme north-west, where it forms part of the Harz range, the Ramberg peak marking the highest elevation at 1900 ft (579 m). From the Harz, the country gently shelves down to the Saale and is fertile between this river and the Elbe. East of the Elbe, the land is mostly a flat sandy plain, with extensive pine forests, interspersed with bog-land and rich pastures. The Elbe is the chief river, intersecting the eastern portion of the former duchy from east to west and joining the Mulde at Rosslau. The navigable Saale takes a northerly direction through the central portion of the territory and receives, on the right, the Fuhne and, on the left, the Wipper and Bode rivers.[1]
The climate is generally mild, less so in the higher regions to the south-west. The area of the former duchy is 906 sq mi (2300 km2), and the population in 1905 was 328,007, a ratio of about 351/sq mi (909/km2).[1]
Political and religious structure of Anhalt in 1911
[edit]As of 1911, Anhalt was divided into the districts of Dessau, Köthen, Zerbst, Bernburg and Ballenstedt, Bernburg being the most populous and Ballenstedt the least. Four towns – Dessau, Bernburg, Köthen, and Zerbst – had populations exceeding 20,000. The inhabitants of the former duchy, who mainly belonged to the upper Saxon race, were, with the exception of about 12,000 Roman Catholics and 1,700 Jews, members of the Evangelical Church of the Union. The supreme ecclesiastical authority was the consistory in Dessau. A synod of 39 members, elected for six years, assembled periodically to deliberate on internal matters pertaining to the organization of the church. The Roman Catholics were under the bishop of Paderborn.[1]
By virtue of a fundamental law proclaimed on September 17, 1859, and subsequently modified by various decrees, the duchy was a constitutional monarchy. The duke bore the title of "Highness" and wielded the executive power while sharing legislative powers with the estates. The diet (Landtag) was composed of thirty-six members, of whom two were appointed by the duke, eight were representatives of landowners paying the highest taxes, two were chosen from among the highest assessed members of the commercial and manufacturing classes, fourteen were electors of the towns and ten represented the rural districts. These representatives were chosen for six years by indirect vote and had to be at least 25 years of age. The duke governed through a minister of state, who was the head of all the departments: finance, home affairs, education, public worship, and statistics.[1]
Notes
[edit] | This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2017) |
References
[edit]- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Anhalt". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 44–46. This contains more detailed information on the fortunes of the Köthen and Bernburg branches until 1863.
