Friedrich August II. (Saxony)

This article deals with the Saxon King Friedrich August II. For the Saxon Elector Friedrich August II. See August III. (Poland) .

King Friedrich August II of Saxony on a painting by Carl Vogel von Vogelstein , around 1836

Friedrich August II. - born Prince Friedrich August Albert Maria Clemens Joseph Vincenz Aloys Nepomuk Johann Baptista Nikolaus Raphael Peter Xaver Franz de Paula Venantius Felix von Sachsen - (* May 18, 1797 in Weißensee , Electorate of Saxony; † August 9, 1854 in Brennbichl in Tyrol ) from the house of the Albertine Wettins was the third king of Saxony from 1836 until his death .

origin

Friedrich August together with his uncle Anton on the medal for the constitution of the Kingdom of Saxony from September 4, 1831 .

Friedrich August, lithograph by Franz Hanfstaengl 1842

Statue on the Dresden Neumarkt

Friedrich August was the eldest son of Prince Maximilian of Saxony (1759-1838), the youngest son of Elector Friedrich Christian . His mother was Caroline of Parma (1770-1804), the daughter of Duke Ferdinand of Parma and Maria Amalia of Austria .

Friedrich August was an officer in the Wars of Liberation , but otherwise showed little interest in the military. He solved political questions out of a pure sense of duty. Usually he appealed to his ministers. In 1836 he took over the government from his uncle Anton , with whom he had been co-regent of the prince since September 1830. As an extremely lovable and intelligent man, he quickly became popular with the people. The town order of February 2, 1832 gave the towns free self-government.

Friedrich August II put together an important art collection, especially prints and hand drawings.

Political activity

By his edict of March 17, 1832, the peasants were exempted from forced labor and hereditary servitude . The penal code of 1838 created uniform jurisdiction for Saxony. During the March Revolution of 1848/49 he appointed liberal ministers to the government, lifted censorship and passed a liberal electoral law for the state parliament . But later he changed his attitude. On April 28, 1849, Friedrich August II dissolved the state parliament. During the Dresden May Uprising in 1849, he went to the Königsstein Fortress with the Queen and all the ministers.

Marriages

On October 7, 1819, Friedrich August married his second cousin Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria (1801–1832), daughter of Emperor Franz I , in Dresden . The marriage remained childless.

One year after the death of his first wife, he married Princess Maria Anna (1805–1877), daughter of the Bavarian King Maximilian I Joseph . This marriage also remained childless.

An illegitimate son of Friedrich August was the musician, publicist and composer Theodor Uhlig (1822-1853).

Accidental death

During a trip in Tyrol , his horse-drawn carriage had an accident on August 9, 1854 in Karrösten . He died in the Gasthof Neuner, which still exists today, after he fell out of the carriage and was kicked in the head by a horse.

Wall painting for the accident of King Friedrich August of Saxony in the Hotel Neuner in Imst

He was buried on August 16, 1854 in the royal crypt of the Catholic Court Church in Dresden. In his memory, the widow Marie von Sachsen had a royal chapel built at the scene of the accident , which was consecrated a year later.

He was succeeded by his four years younger brother Johann ; he ruled Saxony until his death in October 1873.

Honors

• Statue on the Dresden Neumarkt , 1867 by Ernst Hähnel
• König-Friedrich-August-Turm on the Löbauer Berg
• Friedrich-August-Turm on the Rochlitzer Berg
• The Königsplatz , a lookout point in the Upper Saxon Switzerland near Hinterhermsdorf , owes its name to King Friedrich August II, who is said to have stayed there.
• The König-Friedrich-August-Kaserne in Freiberg bore his name.
• The genus Saxo-fridericia R.H. Schomb. from the Rapateaceae family has been named in his honor.

genealogy

literature

• Heinrich Theodor Flathe :  Friedrich August II., King of Saxony . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 7, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, p. 790 f.
• Hellmut Kretzschmar :  Friedrich August II. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 576 ( digitized version ).
• Walter Fellmann : Saxony's Kings 1806–1918. Koehler & Amelang, Munich a. Berlin 2000, ISBN 3-7338-0233-0 .
• Maria Görlitz: Parliamentarism in Saxony. Royalty and parliament in the 19th and early 20th centuries. , Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-643-11073-2 , pp. 37-74.
• Hans-Christof Kraus : Friedrich August II. (1836-1854) in: Frank-Lothar Kroll : The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. CH Beck-Verlag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-54773-7 . Pp. 237-262.
• Silke Marburg: European nobility - King Johann von Sachsen (1801–1873) and the internal communication of a social formation , Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-05-004344-9 , pp. 19, 150, 192, 292.
• Albert Herzog zu Sachsen : The Wettins in life pictures . Styria-Verlag, Graz et al. 1995, ISBN 3-222-12301-2 .
• Bartolome Biasoletto: Journey of Sr. Majesty of King Friedrich August of Saxony through Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro in the spring of 1838. Gottschalck, Dresden 1842 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Friedrich August II. (Saxony)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Works by and about Friedrich August II.  In the German Digital Library
• Literature by and about Friedrich August II. In the Saxon Bibliography

Individual evidence

1. ↑ St. Peter & Paul: Timeline. Initiative Stadtkirchen Weißensee, accessed on April 12, 2017 : “1797: Prince Friedrich August, later known as Friedrich August II King of Saxony, was born on May 18 at 3 a.m. and on the same day at noon at noon in the city church 'St . Peter & Paul 'baptized. " 
2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names - Extended Edition. Part I and II. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin , Freie Universität Berlin , Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5 doi: 10.3372 / epolist2018 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Anton	King of Saxony 1836–1854	Johann