Saxe-Eisenach

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Saxe-Eisenach (German Sachsen-Eisenach) was the name of three different duchies that existed at different times in Thuringia. The chief town and capital of all three duchies was Eisenach.

In the 15th century much of what is now Thuringia, including the area around Eisenach, was in the hands of the Wettin dynasty, the Electors of Saxony. In 1485 the Wettin lands were divided, with the lands in Thuringia going to the Ernestine branch of the family. The Ernestines also retained the title of Elector. When John Frederick the Magnanimous was defeated and captured by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1547 and deprived of the electorate, he was allowed to retain the lands in Thuringia. The Ernestine lands were divided by his sons in 1572 into the duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Gotha-Eisenach.

The territory of Saxe-Eisenach in Thuringia in the 18th Century

For the next three centuries the lands were divided when dukes had more than one son to provide for, and re-combined when dukes died without direct heirs, but all of the lands stayed in the Ernestine branch of the Wettin family. All of the descendants of John Frederick the Magnanimous in the male line bore the title "Duke of Saxony", whether or not they actually ruled in any territory. Brothers sometimes ruled jointly, but usually there was a division of territory if there was more than one son to inherit. As a result, the Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach was separated from and subsumed into other Ernestine duchies several times. The actual territoies included in the duchy changed with each creation, but always with the town of Eisenach as the core.

The first Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach was created on the death of John Frederick II of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach in 1596 for his younger son, John Ernest of Saxe-Eisenach. In 1633, the Wettin line in Saxe-Coburg died out, and John Ernest II inherited it. John Ernest II died in 1638 without an heir, and the territories of Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Eisenach were split between Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg (which had itself been separated from Saxe-Weimar in 1603). In 1640 Saxe-Eisenach was again separated off from Saxe-Weimar for Albert of Saxe-Eisenach. He died without an heir in 1644, and Saxe-Eisenach was then divided between Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar, ruled by his brothers Ernst and Wilhelm.

During nearly 20 years Saxe-Eisenach was merged by Saxe-Weimar. However, in 1662 came to a renewed divisionary treaty, and Saxe-Eisenach was again a independent duchy. In this year the duke Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, died. He left four children, Johann Ernst, Adolf Wilhelm, Johann Georg and Bernhard. These divided the duchy Saxe-Weimar again after the death of their father. The oldest became as Johann Ernst II and took the duchy of Saxe-Weimar. Adolf Wilhelm received from Weimar the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and took his residence in Eisenach. It had to divide the country, however, with his younger brother Johann George, but finally he accepted to receive the income from the duchy of Saxe-Eisenach and took his residence in the small town of Markshul. Adolf William married in 1663 with Marie Elizabeth, a daughter of the duke August of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. They had five children, but the first four sons died briefly after their birth. In 1668 Adolf Wilhelm died, briefly before of the birth of his fifth child, Wilhelm August, who became the new Duke of Saxe-Eisenach from his birth, under the guardianship of his uncle Johann Georg; but in 1671, Wilhelm August, sickly boy, died with only two years old, and Johann Georg I became to a alone ruler of Saxe-Eisenach.

In 1672, with the death of Frederick William III, the line of the dukes of Saxe-Altenburg became extint. For this, the Weimar line inherited 1/4 of his territory. Because for this division Bernhard received received Saxe-Jena, and Saxe-Eisenach took a number of further towns and thus the shape. This line of the Wettins ruled Saxe-Eisenach for sixty-nine years, until Wilhelm Heinrich of Saxe-Eisenach died without an heir in 1741. Duke Ernst August I of Saxe-Weimar inherited Saxe-Eisenach; he and his successors ruled Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Eisenach in a personal union until 1809, when the duchies were formally merged into the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.