Saxe-Meiningen

The Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen arose in 1681 as a result of the division of the possessions of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha Ernst the Pious between his seven sons. The ancestor of a new kind was Bernhard I.

The composition of the duchy subsequently repeatedly changed, for example, as a result of the unsuccessful war with Gotha for Saxe-Meiningen (the so-called Wazungen war of 1741 - 1748 ).

Under Duke George (d. 1803), the country made particularly significant successes; many factories arose, agriculture (especially tobacco growing) developed. Under Bernhard II (1803-1866, d. 1882), which was under the tutelage of his mother until 1821 , Saxe-Meiningen joined the Rhine Union in 1807 ; his army (800 people) fought in Spain and Russia . In 1823, the duke granted his state an estate constitution.

When the Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg line of the Ernestine House died out, Saxe-Meiningen under the partition agreement of 1826 received most of the Duchy of Saxe-Gildburggauzen , the Principality of Saalfeld and some other possessions, only about 1400 km² with 71,000 inhabitants. A significant increase in territory necessitated a change in the entire system of government, and in 1829 the duke agreed to a new constitution, according to which he divided the legislative power with zemstvo ranks; Executive power belonged to the Duke, together with the Zemstvo directory ( German: Landschaftliches Directorium ), of 3 members elected by the Zemsky ranks. In 1834, Saxe-Meiningen joined the German Customs Union .

The subject of a constant dispute between the Duke and the Landtag was domains; of their income under the law of 1831, 200 thousand guilders went to the duke, and the rest went to the state treasury. In 1846, the Duke obtained from the Landtag concessions to him, on certain conditions, the right to independently manage domains and use all income from them. This caused extreme discontent among the people, and in 1848 the duke hastened to restore the law of 1831 . The issue of domains was finally settled only in 1871 : control over the management of domains was granted to the Landtag; of the proceeds from them, 230 thousand guilders make up the rent of the duke, the rest is divided equally between the duke and the state. In 1848, the duke agreed to a democratic reform of suffrage, but, pacifying the unrest with the help of Saxon troops, he first resigned to the liberal ministry and dissolved the Landtag, and then (1853) repealed the 1848 electoral law.

Since 1859, the Duke in his foreign policy was clearly leaning on the side of Austria and in 1866 supported it so vigorously that the Prussian troops occupied Saxe-Meiningen. Then the duke denied the crown in favor of his son, George II (1826-1914), who hastened to make peace with Prussia and annex Saxe-Meiningen to the North German Union . The following year, a military convention was concluded with Prussia. In 1873, a liberal election law was passed. In 1893, the Landtag won the right to vote the budget for a year (instead of three years).

The monarchy ceased to exist in 1918 . Saxe-Meiningen briefly became a free state within the Weimar Republic , and two years later it was merged with other small states and incorporated into Thuringia.

The territory of Saxe-Meiningen was divided into districts ( landkreis ):

• Hildburghausen
• Meiningen
• Zaafeld
• Sonneberg

• Bernhard I (1680-1706)
• Ernst Ludwig I (1706-1724)
• Ernst Ludwig II (1724-1729)
• Karl Friedrich (1729-1743)
• Friedrich Wilhelm (1743-1746)
• Anton Ulrich (1746-1763)
• Karl (1763-1782)
• George I (1782-1803)
• Bernhard II (1803-1866)
• George II (1866-1914)
• Bernhard III (1914-1918)

• Saxe-Meiningen // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Agamov A.M. Dynasties of Europe 400--2016: Complete genealogy of possessive houses. URSS 2017.1120 s. ISBN 978-5-9710-3935-8