Friedrich August III. (Saxony)

This article deals with the last Saxon King Friedrich August III. To the last Saxon Elector Friedrich August III. see Friedrich August I. (Saxony) .

Friedrich August III. (1914)

Brief CV of King Friedrich August III.
year	event
1865	Born in Dresden
1874-1883	High school attendance
1877	Second Lieutenant
1883	Premier lieutenant and high school diploma
1884	Death of the mother
1884-1886	Study of law and political science
1886	Travels to Austria, Hungary, Serbia and England
1888	Captain and company commander
1889/90	Orient trip
1891	Lieutenant Colonel and wedding with Luise von Toscana
1892	Colonel and regimental commander
1893	Birth of Crown Prince Georg
1898	Lieutenant General and Division Commander
1902	General of the infantry, Luise escapes from the royal court
1903	Marriage is divorced by special court
1904	Death of the father, accession to the throne
1909	Colonel General
1911	Hunting expedition to Sudan
1912	Field Marshal General
1914-1918	First World War
1918	November Revolution, abdication, relocation to Sibyllenort
1924	Dispute agreement
1925	North country trip
1927	Vacation in the Canary Islands
1928	Trip to brazil
1930	Trip to Ceylon
1931	Trip to Rapallo
1932	Died at Sibyllenort Castle

Friedrich August III. (born Prince Friedrich August Johann Ludwig Karl Gustav Gregor Philipp von Sachsen; *  May 25, 1865 in Dresden ; † February 18, 1932 at Sibyllenort Castle ) from the line of the Albertine Wettins was the last from 1904 until his abdication on November 13, 1918 King of Saxony .

After attending grammar school and studying, Friedrich August quickly passed the officer ranks of the Saxon army and advanced to general of the infantry by 1902 . As such, he devoted himself to the reorganization and reorganization of the troops subordinate to him. In October 1904 he ascended the throne. The Saxon electoral law was fundamentally reformed in 1909 with his participation and achieved a broader representation of the population. The reorganization of the school system he sought failed, however, in 1912. During the First World War, Friedrich August was the only one of the four royal federal princes to not take command of his army, but limited himself to representative and charitable tasks. At the same time, he strove vehemently for territorial expansion for his kingdom.

In the course of the November Revolution, he abdicated on November 13, 1918 and withdrew to his private Silesian property, Schloss Sibyllenort. From there he led a legal dispute with the Free State of Saxony about the severance payment for the former royal family, which ended in 1924 with a compromise, the dispute agreement. Politically and spatially marginalized, Friedrich August no longer played an important role during the Weimar Republic . As a private citizen, he primarily devoted himself to hunting and traveled a lot. His death in February 1932 came as a surprise to the public. More than half a million people paid their last respects at the funeral in Dresden.

Prince years

parents house

Mother: Maria Anna of Portugal		Father: Georg of Saxony

Friedrich August was born on May 25, 1865 at around 10 p.m. as the first son and fourth child of the future King George of Saxony and his wife Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal in the Palais der Secondogenitur on Langgasse. His siblings were the princesses Marie Johanna (1860–1861) and Elisabeth Albertine (1862–1863), who had died before him, his older sister Mathilde and Maria Josepha , Johann Georg , Maximilian and Albert, who were born after him . The day after the birth, Bishop Ludwig Forwerk baptized the child. Christening witnesses included Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria as a great aunt, Gustav von Wasa as a great uncle, Sophie of Bavaria as an aunt and Carl Theodor von Bayern as an uncle. On Sunday, May 28, 1865, celebrations in honor of the newborn prince took place all over the kingdom, especially in the Dresden Residenzschloss and in the Catholic Court Church , where the birth festival was held. The festivities were concluded with a gala table. That evening, at the behest of King Johann , the first advertising pillar in Dresden was erected in front of the main train station .

childhood

Early childhood was characterized by parental love and domestic security. While the father was only able to take care of his son to a limited extent due to military and representative duties, the mother cared for her children very much. Upbringing was the responsibility of court employees. Friedrich August's life was already directed towards a later military career in infancy. On the occasion of his first birthday, his grandfather King Johann appointed him head of the infantry brigade "Prince Maximilian", which was reclassified to the 5th Infantry Regiment "Prince Friedrich August" named after him in the following year . At the same time he awarded him the house order of the diamond crown . A month later, in June 1866, Prussian troops marched into Saxony, which was fighting on Austria's side in the German War . The royal family fled with Friedrich August to Aussig and on to Prague . After the lost battle at Königgrätz , their path led to the Kingdom of Bavaria , where Luitpold von Bayern left his Regensburg villa to the family . After the peace treaty in October 1866, the family returned to Dresden. The acclaimed entry of the Saxon troops from the Franco-German War on July 11, 1871 on the Dresden Neumarkt was formative for the young Friedrich August ; he is said to have admired Otto von Bismarck at the time . Up until then, upbringing had been in the hands of women, but in 1872 he was assigned an officer. Friedrich August also received private elementary lessons; he is said to have shown an interest in geography as well as a good number memory and liked to memorize poems. He didn't like piano lessons. In character he was certified childlike cheerfulness and indulgence. The lessons mostly took place in the Zinzendorfpalais in Dresden or in his parents' summer residence in Hosterwitz near Pillnitz. From the royal villa there , he often went on hikes into the nearby forests and vineyards, which connected him deeply with nature and home.

Youth and student days

Friedrich August as sub-lieutenant (1878)

From 1874 Friedrich August attended the Royal Gymnasium in Dresden's Outer Neustadt , where he was taught by the physicist August Toepler , among others . He learned mathematics, German, geography and history. He was fluent in French, Latin and Greek. Religion was taught by the later Bishop of Strasbourg Adolf Fritzen and the future Apostolic Prefect of Meißen Ludwig Wahl .

On his twelfth birthday, Friedrich August joined the Saxon army and was appointed lieutenant . Throughout his life he showed a strong inclination for the military. He performed the service in addition to school duties. He was assigned to the 7th Company in the 1st (Leib) Grenadier Regiment No. 100 , based in Albertstadt . With this regiment, the prince took part in the parade on the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of the royal couple Albert and Carola on the Alaunplatz in June 1878 and in the imperial parade in Mergendorf near Riesa on September 15, 1882, where Wilhelm I awarded him the Order of the Black Eagle . After passing his Abitur exam in the spring of 1883, Friedrich August took oath of the flag in June, began regular army service in his regular regiment and was promoted to Prime Lieutenant on September 19, 1883 . At the same time he received a personal adjutant in Captain Georg Freiherr von Wagner (1852–1905). Friedrich August was shaken in February 1884 by the early death of his mother, who succumbed to typhoid fever .

In May 1884 he began studying at the Kaiser Wilhelm University in Strasbourg . There he attended lectures in law , political science and history for two semesters . He used his free time for riding excursions and visits to the 6th Infantry Regiment No. 105 stationed in Strasbourg and the 1st Foot Artillery Regiment No. 12 in the fortress of Metz . From April 1885 to Easter 1886 he continued his studies at the State University of Leipzig in order to obtain a degree in Saxony. He moved into the Royal Palace . Bernhard Windscheid , Anton Springer , Adolf Wach and Karl Binding were among his lecturers . On March 11, 1886, Friedrich August received his exit document and finished his studies.

From then on, Friedrich August prepared for his future role as king. In order to gain an insight into Saxon administrative activities, the prince worked temporarily in the Dresden- Altstadt district administration, and later in the Dresden district administration . He deepened his economic knowledge by visiting industrial sites and craft workshops. He also took part in meetings of the entire ministry , a kind of forerunner of today's State Chancellery , the First Chamber and the Berlin Reichstag, and attended public court hearings in order to better understand the practical administration of justice. Thereafter, the prince toured the countries of Central Europe from June to September 1886. The most important stops were the court of Emperor Franz Joseph in Vienna and the cities of Salzburg, Graz, Budapest and Belgrade, where King Milan I received him. Then the route led via Breslau to Berlin and on to Hamburg. From there, Friedrich August came by ship to London, where he arrived on July 8th and visited Queen Victoria and the then Prince of Wales and later King Edward VII . In August he traveled on to Scotland. From Leith the sea route finally led back to Hamburg. In northern Germany, visits to the port cities of Bremen, Lübeck, Wilhelmshaven and Kiel rounded off the trip.

Officer career

Friedrich August in the uniform of the 1st Hussar Regiment No. 18 (1889)

After his return, Friedrich August resumed his military service. With effect from September 9, 1886 he was commanded as a cavalryman to the 1st Hussar Regiment No. 18 in Grossenhain . In the winter of 1886/87 he contracted an inflammation of the joints, which made a cure necessary. In the spring of 1887, on the occasion of the 90th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm I in Berlin, he brought the congratulations from his royal family. With his promotion to Rittmeister on September 16, 1887, he was reassigned as captain to the regular regiment. Friedrich August held the position there as company commander for a little over a year; In 1889 he was commanded in the course of a renewed service rotation to the artillery . There he commanded a field battery in the 1st Field Artillery Regiment No. 12 in Königsbrück. After being promoted to major on July 23, 1888, he was again transferred back to the main regiment, where Friedrich August took over the charge as battalion commander. After an interlude as a squadron chief in the Guard-Reiter-Regiment , he embarked on a cavalier tour of several months to Jerusalem. When he returned to work in August 1890, Friedrich August became battalion leader in the rifle (fusilier) regiment "Prince Georg" No. 108 .

In his private life, Friedrich August's life developed appropriately. In November 1891 he married Luise of Austria-Tuscany, a daughter of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand IV. The couple had seven children. The marriage was to end in scandal in 1902 . In the meantime, Friedrich August's steep military career continued. On December 18, 1891 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel and on September 22, 1892 to colonel with simultaneous appointment as commander of the rifle (fusilier) regiment "Prince Georg" No. 108. With the advancements in the Saxon army, corresponding Austrian ones went and Prussian hand in hand. Friedrich August was appointed major on November 19, 1891, and colonel on December 18, in the Austro-Hungarian Army . On January 27, 1893, Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed him Colonel à la suite of the Guard Rifle Battalion of the Prussian Army .

On September 20, 1894, Friedrich August was promoted to major general , leaving the addition à la suite, and at the same time appointed commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade No. 45 . In addition, he was entrusted with the management of the inspector of the Saxon military training institutions, which included the NCO school in Marienberg and the military boys' education institution in Struppen . At the same time he was promoted to Prussian major general à la suite of the Guard Rifle Battalion. In the years that followed, Friedrich August led the troops under his command in parades and maneuvers. At the same time he supervised and directed the tactical briefing of his units. His tasks included visiting barracks and military exercises of all kinds. In his capacity as inspector of the offspring officers, Friedrich August took care of their training, attended school exams and held company presentations. With effect from May 22, 1898 he was appointed Lieutenant General and Commander of 1st Division No. 23 . In May 1901 Friedrich August attended a general course at the field artillery school in Jüterbog. He was considered a strict and conscientious superior who did not tolerate any negligence, but always took care of the well-being of his teams. Strategic or tactical thinking, however, was not attested to.

Crown Prince Years

Commanding general

Friedrich August (1902)

With the death of King Albert in June 1902 and his father's accession to the throne, Friedrich August became Crown Prince. His first task as such was to indicate the line of succession to various royal families. He did this on July 2 in Kiel opposite Kaiser Wilhelm II, who immediately presented him à la suite of the 1st Marine Battalion of the Marine Infantry, and then in Ischl in front of the Austrian and in Munich in front of the Bavarian court. On August 26, 1902, Friedrich August was appointed General Command of the XII. (I. Royal Saxon) Army Corps appointed. At this point in time, the Saxon army was in the midst of the greatest reorganization in its history. With the assumption of command, in accordance with the military convention between Prussia and Saxony, Emperor Wilhelm II appointed Friedrich August as General of the Infantry with a congruent alignment of ranks in the Prussian and Austrian armies. On November 4th, Count Schmettow presented him with the China commemorative coin , again on behalf of the emperor .

In his capacity as Crown Prince Friedrich August was increasingly called in for representative duties, in particular for deputation receptions, participation in opening and anniversary celebrations as well as for events and festivities of all kinds - for example at the end of the year, when he was invited to the New Year's reception by Kaiser Wilhelm II.

Government Deputy

At the turn of the year 1902/03, Friedrich August's father Georg saw a decrease in vitality. At the beginning of 1904 the court feared the imminent death of the 71-year-old king. Nevertheless, the first months of the year passed in the usual manner for the Crown Prince. In addition to his military obligations, Friedrich August increased his interest in scientific lectures. After a summer trip to Schmecks , August / September 1904 were characterized by major maneuvers. Around this time the father's health deteriorated; At the beginning of October his shortness of breath was so advanced that he had to hand over the business of government to Friedrich August by decree on October 14, 1904. The next day he died.

Royal years until the beginning of the war

Accession to the throne

Friedrich August III. after a recording by Erwin Raupp (1905)

The first cabinet under      Friedrich August III.

General chairman Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach Interior Minister Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach War Minister Max von Hausen Minister of Culture Paul von Seydewitz Finance Minister Konrad Wilhelm von Rüger Justice Minister Victor Alexander von Otto

On October 15, 1904, Friedrich August ascended the throne, which meant a generation change in the royal house and strengthened hopes for reform. In contrast to his father, the new ruler was popular. Therefore, Friedrich August saw it as his first task to reduce the distrust of the population towards the ruling house, which had arisen through a policy of the father, who ruled for two years, determined by dynastic egoism. He underscored this in his eagerly awaited inaugural address, in which he affirmed that it was his firm will to become a good king for all subjects. Addressing the armed forces, he declared, as Federal Prince, that Germany's independence and development were based on a strong army; therefore he regards it as his duty to train the Saxon army to be a "cutting edge tool". One of the first official acts was a partial amnesty for prisoners. On October 17th he made his constitutional pledge, the next day he gave leadership of the XII. (I. Royal Saxon) Army Corps. On November 17, he gave his speech from the throne in front of the state parliament. He took over his father's entire cabinet, which immediately dampened political expectations and caused annoyance in some circles.

Taking over the throne did not mean omnipotence . Rather, Friedrich August was bound by the Saxon constitution of 1831 , which assigned him a merely mediating role ( Pouvoir neutre ) beyond day-to-day politics. In later years there are no known incidents in which Friedrich August unlawfully interfered in political affairs or gave them a certain direction. On the other hand, he made full use of his protocol and representative duties. He also awarded medals and made ennobles . In addition, he was entitled to the right to pardon .

In the first year of his reign, Friedrich August traveled extensively in the Saxon provinces, which required tightly worked out daily programs. After his graduation by the Kaiser in Berlin, visits to the cities of Leipzig, Chemnitz , Plauen and other communities and a tour through the towns of Central Saxony followed in February / March . After visiting the Viennese court in April, he traveled to Eastern Saxony. About 240 such trips have been handed down before the outbreak of war.

Budget reform

The most urgent political challenge facing the new regent was the restructuring of the state budget, which was in high deficit at 962 million marks. The shortfall was the result of the "railroad war" of 1875/76. At that time, the existing state railways were to be united in an all-German Reichsbahn under the leadership of Prussia. Saxony had one of the densest rail networks in Germany and was afraid of losing sovereign rights and an important source of income. In order to preserve the integrity of the Saxon-Royal State Railroad, disregarding budgetary principles, a start was made to buy up all remaining private railways at the expense of the state treasury; the state railway ultimately remained in Saxon hands. Friedrich August therefore had to try to balance the state budget, which he achieved in 1906 through savings. The additional income in the following years thanks to tax increases served to repay debt, which was completed by the outbreak of the First World War.

Electoral reform

Need for reform

Friedrich August III. (1910)

State election     results 1907 and 1909 (Second Chamber)
Distribution of seats in 1907 1 3 31 46 1 1 3 31 46 1  A total of 82 seats SPD : 1 Linkslib. : 3 NLP : 31 Cons. : 46 Ref.part. : 1 See also: List of the members of the Saxon State Parliament 1907/09	Distribution of seats in 1909 25th 8th 28 28 2 25th 8th 28 28 2  A total of 91 seats SPD : 25 Linkslib. : 8th NLP : 28 Cons. : 28 Ref.part. : 2 See also: List of the members of the Saxon State Parliament 1909/10

The previous Saxon electoral law of 1868 contained a division into rural and urban electoral districts regardless of the status of the estates . In the Reichstag election in 1874 , every fifth vote cast for Social Democracy came from Saxony, which earned the country the reputation of the “ Red Kingdom ”. The socialist laws enforced by Otto von Bismarck from 1878 onwards did not prevent the labor movement from being further strengthened. In the Reichstag election in 1903 , the SPD won 22 of the 23 Saxon constituencies. The majority constellation in the state parliament with its two-chamber parliament , in whose second chamber three-class voting rights had been in effect since 1896, was completely different . This option was based on a complicated distribution key according to the tax liability with different weightings of votes.

In order to remedy this situation, Georg von Metzsch-Reichenbach, in his capacity as Minister of the Interior and Chairman of the Ministry as a whole, convened a ministerial meeting on July 10, 1903, at which the reform of the existing electoral law was resolved. In a statement that appeared a few days later, the government justified its move by stating that the current electoral law had the undesired effect of reducing the weight of the third class of voters to such an extent that it did not comply with the principle of justice. This caused outrage among the established parties who feared the loss of seats in the state parliament. Regardless, the government began drafting reforms. On December 31, 1903, she presented her first concept, which both state chambers rejected.

Reform efforts

The intended reform initially failed. Therefore, when Friedrich August was enthroned in 1904, his most important duty was to bring the amendment to the electoral law to a conclusion. At that time, the second chamber of the state parliament had 82 seats, of which 54 were held by conservatives and 23 by national liberals, and only one mandate went to the SPD. The resentment of the population grew at this. In November and December 1905 tens of thousands demonstrated on the streets of Dresden for free elections. Such a mass rally had not taken place since the May uprising of 1849 . The police forcibly disbanded the meeting. Further protests in Leipzig, Plauen and Chemnitz followed. At the same time, the state parliament tried to amend the law, which remained unsuccessful. At the beginning of December 1905 the pent-up anger of the citizens discharged in front of the private house of Metzsch-Reichenbach. When the efforts were to be postponed again in the spring of 1906, Friedrich August dismissed his interior minister and appointed Wilhelm von Hohenthal in his place .

Reform completion

In July 1907, Hohenthal presented his concept of an electoral law based on plural suffrage , according to which in future 40 members should be elected by the municipalities and 42 by male taxpayers over 25 years of age with one vote each, directly and according to proportional representation . The draft did not find the necessary two-thirds majority in the Second Chamber. An amended bill in November 1908 also failed to meet the required quorum. For the population, the government had once again demonstrated its unwillingness to reform. Renewed protests threatened to turn into street battles, whereupon on January 22, 1909 the Second Chamber approved another amended bill. The First Chamber joined three days later, and on May 5, 1909, Friedrich August signed the new electoral law , the only constitutional reform during his reign. A key point of the law was that the members of the state parliament now had to be elected every six years. To this end, 91 constituencies were set up, 43 of them urban and 48 rural. Men over the age of 25, who had held Saxon citizenship for at least two years and who paid an annual state tax, were eligible to vote. Depending on the amount of tax paid, it was possible to increase the number of votes available. With more than 1,600 marks the person entitled to vote received two votes, three for a tax liability of more than 2,200 marks and four votes for over 2,800 marks. In addition, every eligible voter from the age of 50 received a second vote (age vote), never more than four in total. According to this plural system, elections were only made in autumn 1909. The state elections in 1915 were canceled due to the war, after which the general and equal suffrage of the Weimar Republic applied .

Vatican twists

On May 26, 1910, Pope Pius X published the encyclical Editae saepe on the occasion of the three hundredth anniversary of the canonization of Charles Borromeo , which attacked Martin Luther . The papal remarks aroused a wave of indignation in Germany and particularly in Saxony, the motherland of the Reformation movement . The Catholic Friedrich August feared a threat to the denominational peace, which is why he reacted energetically. In a handwritten letter to the Pope, he protested against the theses disseminated in the encyclical, which sparked joyful reactions among the Protestant population. Protestant countries such as Sweden and Denmark praised Friedrich August's advance. Contrary to the courtly protocol, the answer from the Vatican was not sent by the pontiff himself, but by his chancellery to Friedrich August and had the following criticizing content: “For the historians at the time of Pius X. or Leo XIII. it must one day be ridiculous that a duodec king who rules over 15,000 square kilometers of cultural land writes a letter of protest to the pope, the pope who leads believers in nearly 2,000 dioceses, vicariates, prefectures and delegations. "

Another conflict with the Vatican came when Friedrich August's brother Maximilian had an article published in the ecumenically oriented magazine “Roma e l'Oriente” in 1910 , in which he spoke out in favor of the unity of the Eastern and Western Churches. The magazine was immediately put on the index and the edition destroyed. Maximilian also lost his professorship at the University of Freiburg and should immediately make his way to Rome to make atonement in the Vatican for what he did. Thereupon he got his full professorship back in Freiburg. Nevertheless, Friedrich August saw this as a humiliation of his family by the Pope.

School law reform

Having drawn attention to the encyclical through the debate, Protestant readers found that the anti-Protestant theses disseminated in it were partly found verbatim in the Small Catholic Catechism , which was the basis for Catholic religious instruction at Saxon primary schools. After protests and petitions to Education Minister Beck , Friedrich August announced that the denominational character of the elementary schools of both faiths in his kingdom would be left untouched. The Small Catechism was allowed to continue to be used, but put a strain on Friedrich August's reform plans for the Saxon school system. In the first eight years of his reign, the number of elementary school students rose by 170,000 to around 870,000. This resulted in an average class size of 50 students. There was a lack of staff and premises. The curricula were considered out of date. On January 15, 1912, the draft of a new school law was available. However, it was rejected by the conservative First Chamber of the state parliament and by the teaching staff, albeit for different reasons. As a result, the Royal Saxon Elementary School Act of 1835 in the new version of 1873 remained in force unchanged. The only gain was the agreement to increase the number of teaching posts. Friedrich August's efforts to implement a fundamental reform of the elementary school had failed.

A special honor Friedrich August received on 11 September 1912. When Kaiser Wilhelm II after him held in Saxony Kaisermanöver under award of the Marshal stick to Field Marshal appointed the Prussian army after he was promoted in 1909 to colonel general.

First World War

War measures

Friedrich August III. (1914)

Armaments development under  Friedrich August III.

Economic development under  Friedrich August III. until 1914

In June 1914 Friedrich August was a guest at the Russian Tsar's court. He spent his summer vacation in South Tyrol. There he received the news of Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia on July 28, 1914, whereupon he immediately returned to Dresden and convened the Council of Ministers.

For such a case a catalog of measures had been drawn up for some time, which provided for the rapid occupation of all important Saxon traffic junctions, the establishment of restricted zones and press censorship. At the same time, the Saxon army was mobilized as part of the German army . Despite the military weakness, armed conflicts were not part of Friedrich August's understanding of politics. Nevertheless, as federal prince and soldier, he was unconditionally committed to the emperor and his policies. As the only one of the four German kings, he did not take over the supreme command of his own army of around 40,000 men, but transferred it to the Saxon Minister of War Max von Hausen . As a justification, he cited the incompatibility of his functions as head of state and army chief. In the former role, on August 2, he called on his subjects to resolve in the upcoming battle.

The proclamation of martial law by the Reich meant that executive power in Saxony was transferred to Generals Hermann von Broizem and Georg Hermann von Schweinitz. With reference to the state of siege law, they could override any decision made by the state organs, including the king, which in effect meant dictatorial powers. In view of this type of disempowerment, Friedrich August gave up early on, both psychologically and in terms of government.

On August 6th, Friedrich August took leave of his former body regiment on the French front. This was followed the next day by the commanders of the 3rd Army . From the middle of the month, their Saxon units bore the brunt of the battles on the Meuse and Marne ; after initial success until mid-September, they suffered heavy losses. After a sometimes chaotic retreat, the troops finally went over to defense on Moltke's orders as part of the defensive battle on the Aisne . Because of this debacle, which ultimately meant the failure of the Schlieffen Plan , von Hausen was relieved of his command on September 13th and replaced by the Prussian infantry general Karl von Eine . With around 12,500 dead, which was a good third of the original strength, Saxony's army had the highest loss rate of all allied armies. Friedrich August reacted with rigorous measures: By lowering the military suitability and drafting criteria, introducing compulsory pre-military training for all pupils from the age of 16 and other provisions, an additional 1,000,000 men (750,000 of whom were combatants) could be mobilized for the duration of the war. Of these, around 212,000 had been killed, 334,000 wounded and 42,000 captured by the end of the war. At the same time, reserve hospitals and nursing homes for the numerous wounded and disabled people whom Friedrich August visited regularly were set up in Saxony. Furthermore, 16 trips to the front are occupied by him, which primarily served to strengthen the morale of the war. He avoided visiting prisoner-of-war camps.

Territorial aspirations

Alsace-Lorraine

As a federal component of the German Reich, the federal states initially did not pursue any war aims of their own. Only the successful operations on the Western Front in August 1914 prompted King Ludwig III. to present Bavarian annexation efforts to the emperor. These provided for a division of the realm of Alsace-Lorraine between its kingdom and Prussia. The Württemberg King Wilhelm II demanded that Belgium be incorporated into his kingdom . In November 1914, Friedrich August II of Oldenburg , a third federal prince, joined the annexation plans. He envisioned the division of France into a northern and southern kingdom, which, given the outcome of the Marne and Ypres battles, seemed utopian. However, Friedrich August let his interior minister Vitzthum of Eckstädt against Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg in December 1914 report, currently his kingdom cherish no specific compensation plans, but disapprove of the Bavarian interests in Alsace-Lorraine.

A first ministerial meeting took place in February 1915, in which the view was still held that further advances by Bavaria with regard to Alsace-Lorraine could not be approved if Saxony were not given compensation. This was to be realized through territorial claims to the detriment of Prussia ( Zeitz and Eilenburg ) and Bavaria ( court ), which, however, would have led to considerable resentment among the royal families. In March 1915 the Saxon government demanded that the final solution to the dispute over Alsace-Lorraine be postponed until the end of the war. In November of the same year, Vitzthum von Eckstädt was informed by Gustav Stresemann that Saxony would be better advised if it were to lay claim to Courland , which ultimately drew Friedrich August's attention to eastern areas.

Courland

The subject of "Courland" was then the main topic at the meeting of the entire ministry in May 1916 in the presence of the king. First, however, Vitzthum von Eckstädt drew attention to the fact that Saxony lacks mainly agricultural land, which is why an annexation of Lithuania would be obvious. Polish territories should be avoided as far as possible. Heinrich Beck contradicted this in his capacity as chairman of the entire ministry. He stated that Lithuania was too badly damaged by the war to be of any use to Saxony in the foreseeable future. In addition, future border security systems and their maintenance would be at the expense of the Saxon state treasury, which is why Kurland is preferable. Friedrich August ultimately decided to forego Polish territorial claims because, in his opinion, it was "too much Jewish" and the majority of the population showed anti-German tendencies. His Minister of the Interior should therefore assert the claim to Kurland against the Reich leadership, which Vitzthum von Eckstädt did on July 14, 1916 with Reich Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg.

Lithuania

Friedrich August III. 1916

The February Revolution of 1917 suggested that Germany would soon reach a separate peace with Russia. This led to the idea of the Supreme Army Command (OHL) and the Reich government to create autonomous principalities from Courland and Lithuania that were closely linked to the Reich both militarily and economically. This destroyed the Saxon hopes of Courland, but at the same time encouraged Vitzthum that the desired real union with Lithuania but it should be feasible and therefore - in order to create facts - should be started as soon as possible with a Saxon settlement. However, the intentions were quickly recognized and prevented by the OHL and Ober Ost . Friedrich August therefore instructed Vitzthum in June 1917 that Saxony should not be fobbed off with economic compensations, but continued and emphatically insisted on the territorial demand in the form of Lithuania. Von Eckstädt did this to the new Reich Chancellor from November, Georg von Hertling . In view of the ongoing peace negotiations, the general ministry met again on December 24, 1917, in which Friedrich August repeatedly indicated to his interior minister that he had to continue negotiating the Lithuanian real union with the Reich leadership. However, he did so in ignorance of the fact that the Reich leadership had in the meantime fixed a personal union between Lithuania and Prussia in agreement with the OHL.

At the beginning of 1918, the Saxon territorial claim to Lithuania no longer seemed to be upheld. An application submitted to the Federal Council in February no longer changed this. Instead, according to Franz-Joseph zu Isenburg-Birstein , Saxony should now assert new territorial claims in Livonia and Estonia , which Friedrich August is said to have approved. However, this request was thwarted by the Hohenzollern efforts to implement a United Baltic Duchy under Adolf Friedrich zu Mecklenburg . However, it strengthened the Saxon hopes of being able to enforce the claim to Lithuania after all, which ultimately succeeded.

On April 16, Hertling and the Emperor made binding future territorial gains for the federal princes. According to this, Lithuania should become a duchy under a Saxon prince. Hertling informed Vitzthum of the decision on April 29th. The prerequisite for this was Saxony's consent to the division of the Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine, which the Minister of the Interior gave. On May 7, the Prussian envoy Ulrich Graf von Schwerin officially informed Vitzthum in Dresden that, in agreement with the emperor, nothing stood in the way of a Saxon-Lithuanian personal union, which prompted Friedrich August to specify his demands immediately; under other aspects, the immediate posting of Saxon officials. On July 13th, after the Lithuanian State Councilor Wilhelm Karl von Urach had offered the crown of the Kingdom of Lithuania , the Kaiser gave Friedrich August another personal assurance on this matter. However, the legal relationship between the German Empire and Lithuania should first be clarified before it goes to Saxony. Friedrich August's endeavors for Lithuania did not end until the late summer of 1918, when the German defeat in the West could no longer be averted.

Supply crises

Friedrich August III. visits wounded soldiers (1917)

Like the Supreme Army Command , Friedrich August mistakenly believed at the beginning of the war that Germany could achieve a quick victory peace before the limited resources were used up. Neither the German Empire nor the Kingdom of Saxony was prepared for lengthy material battles.

In fact, the Saxon economy had already been badly affected at the beginning of the war. The tourism industry was the first to report a drop in tourist numbers. Manufacturers of sugar confectionery and hygiene products suffered heavy losses and some went bankrupt. In contrast, the metal processing industry and the leather and tobacco industries reported increases in sales. However, due to the drafting of tens of thousands of conscripts, the orders could hardly be fulfilled. There was an acute shortage of labor. In addition, border closings hindered the importation of important raw materials. As a result, there were short-time working and production losses.

The Hindenburg program of 1916 ultimately led to the complete economic collapse of Saxony. This envisaged the most extensive state centralization of entire branches of industry, primarily serving armaments. Non-war-important factories were closed, which also damaged the Saxon textile industry (spinning and weaving ban). The compulsory cultivation was enforced in all civil sectors through confiscation, rationing or processing bans and led to the elimination of entire industries. As a result, the number of unemployed skyrocketed. At the same time, there were the first food shortages in Saxony. From 1915, bread could only be obtained through so-called bread notes. Bad harvests and the rationing of grain, butter, fats and meat favored the development of black markets and receiving stolen goods . When the weekly potato rations had to be cut again in May 1916, the first hunger riots broke out in Leipzig. In June further protests followed in the Zwickauer-Oelsnitz coal district and at the beginning of November 8,000 people, mostly women, demonstrated in Dresden for a better and fairer food supply. The swede winter of 1916/17 caused further dissatisfaction.

Pacification measures

Peace aspirations

At the beginning of 1918 there were growing signs of war fatigue not only among the people . Friedrich August also had considerable doubts about the continuation of the war, but he was not prepared to take part in mediating an immediate peace of mind. Instead, he instructed Crown Prince Georg to do this. His conversation with Ludendorff about the establishment of diplomatic contacts failed in late summer, as did an alleged application by Hamburg with the support of the Kingdom of Saxony - which Friedrich August is said to have expressly approved - and the principalities of Reuss in matters of separate peace in the Reichstag. There is no reliable evidence for the application; only the testimony of Ernst Heinrich, the king's third-born son, is available.

Cabinet reform

The last cabinet under      Friedrich August III.

Overall chairman Rudolf Heinze War Minister Karl Victor von Wilsdorf Minister of Culture Alfred von Nostitz-Wallwitz Finance Minister Max Otto Schröder Justice Minister Rudolf Heinze Interior Minister Walter Koch Minister without portfolio Julius Fräßdorf Minister without portfolio Max Heldt Minister without portfolio Oscar Günther Minister without portfolio Emil Nitzschke

Despite the domestic hardship that developed into a state crisis, Friedrich August spent his summer vacation in the Allgäu. Even when another hunger riot broke out in Dresden in mid-September 1918, he was not staying at home, but at the court of the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand I. His abdication on October 3rd must have brought Friedrich August to rethink. After months of political passivity, he turned to his government business. A political reorganization of Saxony was debated in the special meeting of the entire ministry that he had called. While Friedrich August defended the position that this was still only possible on a monarchical basis, conservative forces in particular took the view that serious reform could only be successful if it had exclusively democratic features. The conference was finally adjourned to the end of October without result; the king intended to sit out the crisis.

However, this not only dampened expectations for reform, but also resulted in Friedrich August losing credibility massively in the population. In particular, his demand that the king should continue to be the sole decision-maker in a state of emergency could no longer be communicated, especially since a concession of this type would have approved violence against opposition and revolutionary forces. Riots ruled the streets, strikes and revolts were the order of the day. Friedrich August increasingly lost his authority. Finally, during another crisis meeting in mid-October, he was advised to seek rapid rapprochement with the SPD in order to counter communist currents. Friedrich August refused this. Only as a result of the Kiel sailors' uprising , when conditions similar to civil war broke out in Vienna, Budapest and Prague at the same time, did he order the immediate formation of a new Council of State. The ministers Beck (culture) and Seydewitz (finance) announced their resignation on October 25; von Vitzthum refused and had to be released the next day by Friedrich August. Justice Minister Heinze and War Minister von Wilsdorf were confirmed in their offices. In addition, Friedrich August expanded the cabinet to include four ministers of state and gave the state parliament a say in future personnel decisions. The newly constituted cabinet thus comprised five specialist ministers and four ministers without portfolio. Two of these posts were filled with the Social Democrats Julius Fräßdorf and Max Heldt .

Revolution and abdication

Escape route of Friedrich August III. in November 1918

The new government was short-lived. The revolution reached Saxony in early November 1918. Workers 'and soldiers' councils were formed all over the country . On November 8th, revolutionary sailors disarmed the Leipzig station guards. Trains on the way to the front were stopped. Almost at the same time there was a mass demonstration of angry soldiers on the Dresden Altmarkt. In the evening the victory of the revolution in Bavaria was announced in the Sarrasani Circus , while Friedrich August was informed in a final crisis meeting that the generals had practically lost command of the army. Friedrich August rejected the proposal to put down the uprisings with troops still loyal to the king, on the grounds that he would not continue the war that was just ending on Schlossstrasse . Help from Berlin was not to be expected as a news blackout had been imposed there. So Friedrich August decided on the only possible non-violent way out: he left the Residenzschloss around 8:00 p.m. via a side exit, climbed into a car provided for him, accompanied by his daughter Margarethe and Major General Georg von O'Byrn, and went to the castle Chauffeuring Moritzburg .

On November 9th, Friedrich August traveled to Linz Castle via Schönfeld Castle . Here he received the news that there had been further unrest in Dresden; the main guard, the general command and the rifle barracks were controlled by revolutionary forces and could no longer guarantee the safety of the king. Although Friedrich August feared no lynchings, he decided to accept Prince Ulrich von Schönburg-Waldenburg's offer to temporarily take quarters at Guteborn Castle near Ruhland outside the country's borders. There he heard on November 10, the proclamation of the state of Saxony by Hermann Fleissner and signed on 13 November on plain paper's composed of a set of abdication ". I renounce the throne" He specifically did not renounce on behalf of his children to give them to enable the accession to the throne in the event of the monarchy being restored. A little later he released all officers, officials, teachers and clergy from their oath of loyalty and called on them to continue their service for the good of Saxony. The next day Friedrich August traveled on; he went to the Sibyllenort Castle near Breslau , which belonged to him privately and was to be his future residence.

Private citizen

Recourse claims

With the abdication, Friedrich August did not renounce his assets, which had been confiscated since he renounced the throne. Like the other people affected by the expropriation of the prince , he pursued the primary goal of obtaining the release of these goods. He hired the Dresden lawyer Bernhard Eibes (1867–1942) to look after his interests in the Free State of Saxony. In December 1918, Eibes filed a complaint with the Saxon state government against the illegal requisition. The requirements were specified in a memorandum submitted on March 20, 1919. In addition to real estate, including in particular the royal villas in Strehlen and Hosterwitz as well as the manors Helfenberg , Jahnishausen and Leukersdorf, the focus was on money and securities worth 12.2 million marks. In addition, there were claims for compensation for works of art worth 17.5 million marks as well as financial rights for his children. A ten-person commission was set up to clarify the claims, half of which consisted of government representatives and half of those commissioned by Friedrich August.

• Disputed real estate (selection)
• 

  Villa Strehlen

• 

  Villa Hosterwitz

• 

  Helfenberg Manor

• 

  Jahnishausen manor

• 

  Manor Leukersdorf

After more than two years of negotiations, Prime Minister Wilhelm Buck signed the draft contract on August 23, 1922 , which provided for compensation of 14 million marks and the creation of a cultural foundation. In addition, a settlement of around one million marks for works of art and around 6.5 million marks for secondary education was agreed. The adoption of the law by the state parliament was delayed due to political debates until, in the meantime, with Erich Zeigner, a new prime minister took the helm of the Free State, who had the severance payment for the secondary school and the creation of a cultural foundation deleted from the draft contract. Friedrich August agreed to both changes on June 30, 1923, as the other agreed compensation payments were constantly losing value due to the inflationary crisis . On October 19, 1923, at the height of the October unrest , the cabinet signed the amended version and submitted it to the state parliament for approval. After parliamentary deportation and the overthrow of the Zeigner cabinet by the Reichswehr at the end of October, Eibes unilaterally terminated the contract on December 12, 1923 on behalf of Friedrich August.

In the following year, negotiations on a new contract were started and successfully concluded. They were concluded on June 26, 1924 with the signature of Prime Minister Max Heldt . The dispute agreement passed parliament after five and a half years of negotiation without any further objections and was passed by the state parliament on July 5th. It included Friedrich August's waiver of all rights to the state and domain property . For this purpose, the Free State transferred Moritzburg Castle to the family association "Haus Wettin Albertinischer Line eV", founded on January 10, 1922, and a one-off compensation of 300,000 gold marks . In addition, Friedrich August received a lifelong hunting right. Furthermore, the picture gallery , the copper engraving cabinet , the green vault and other collections were transferred to a cultural foundation under public law. In addition, the association received a one-time compensation of 7 million gold marks in return for the lost and all future income from the domain goods.

pensioner

Friedrich August in later years

Freed from all obligations, Friedrich August enjoyed a manorial retirement at Sibyllenort Castle. He had sufficient funds and land and was not subject to any travel restrictions. Therefore, he was able to maintain his previous lifestyle. His daily routine was the inspection of his castle property in and around Sibyllenort as well as in Guttentag , whose castle he preferred as a summer residence. There were regular bowling, skat and teaching evenings. Friedrich August held back from expressing political opinions. He was regularly informed about current imperial politics by Johannes Wunderlich . He intervened indirectly in this, for example by suggesting that Wunderlich, who was a member of the Reichstag, should vote in a certain way, as in the case of the Republic Protection Act of 1922. His two visits to ex-Kaiser Wilhelm in the Doorn house brought him criticism .

In addition, Friedrich August created a “Sachsenwald” in the 23,000 hectare park of Sibyllenort as a substitute for his home. The grove consisted of 34 oaks, which were named after former ministers, generals, courtiers and representatives of the Wilhelmine circle. There was a Kaiser Wilhelm oak and trees named after Hindenburg, Kirchbach or Tümpling . Friedrich August often held dialogues there, especially in later years. After his children left and the currency stabilized, Friedrich August went traveling again. In 1925 he took a trip to the north of the country. The following year he was on Amrum . In 1927 he visited the Canary Islands , and in 1928 he fulfilled his dream of visiting the American continent with a trip to Brazil . His last major travels took him to India and Ceylon .

At the end of the twenties, Friedrich August began to show signs of catarrh , which made longer cures and more treatment necessary. Stays in a milder climate brought only slight relief. In the following years there was also a weakening of the heart. As a representative of the former ruling elite, he was disdainful of the national socialist and communist currents that had grown stronger at the beginning of the 1930s, since for him they were products of the November Revolution and thus “devil's brood”. When in doubt, he saw National Socialism as a necessary evil with which to combat Marxism. Friedrich August also had a deep dislike of Jesuits . In the autumn of 1931 he took the parade from a delegation of about 5,000 Saxon members of the Steel Helmet Association in Breslau and then entertained them at his mansion. At the beginning of February 1932 he and a small entourage attended a hunting exhibition in Berlin.

Death and burial

The king's standard at Sibyllenort Castle, which was set to half-mast on the day of death

On February 17, 1932, Friedrich August went on a morning ride, attended Holy Mass and then visited the court estates. In the evening he had invited to a skat round. When he went to bed around 10 p.m., there was no sign of any complaints. The next morning the servants found Friedrich August, who was considered to be physically fit and sane, lying unconscious in his bed. Two doctors who were summoned both diagnosed a left-sided stroke. He died on the evening of February 18 at 10:03 p.m. in the company of his family members who had been summoned without having regained consciousness, at the age of 67 years of paralysis . His son Georg celebrated the funeral mass. Friedrich August's corpse was laid out in the large palace hall in the uniform of a Prussian field marshal - he held this 5-star general rank from 1912 to 1918 - in order to enable the residents and delegates who had hurriedly traveled to say goodbye. A Catholic and a Protestant church service were scheduled for the morning of February 21. This was followed by a memorial service for the closest relatives. In the early morning of February 22nd, the body was taken to Breslau; from there he was transferred to Dresden by special train.

Crowd at the funeral procession

When the train arrived at Dresden Central Station at 10 a.m., hundreds of thousands lined the streets. The funeral procession then set off across the Bürgerwiese in the direction of the Hofkirche. The sons of the deceased followed the coffin. The military escort of honor was commanded by the artillery commander Major General Ludwig Beck . Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Olbricht was in charge of the honor battalion, parts of the 10th regiment of the Reichswehr. After an hour, the funeral procession reached the court church, where Friedrich August was laid out. There tens of thousands said goodbye to the last Saxon monarch. Conditions were chaotic in front of the church. The crowd, which had meanwhile grown to around 500,000, resulted in numerous scuffles. The emergency medical service at the Italian village reported around a thousand missions that day, including bruises, dozen fainting spells and two deaths. The following day the funeral mass took place, which the Bishop of Meissen Conrad Gröber held. Among the high-ranking attendees were Colonel Oskar von Hindenburg on behalf of the Reich President, Eitel Friedrich von Hohenzollern on behalf of the Ex-Emperor, Prime Minister Walther Schieck, as well as the Lord Mayor of Dresden Wilhelm Külz and other personalities. The musical background was provided by the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the soloist Helene Jung . After the mass, the coffin was brought to the new crypt of the court church by seven sergeants of the Reichswehr with salvos of honor .

Hereditary control

The children of Friedrich August met in Dresden on February 24, 1932 to settle the inheritance. In terms of hereditary assets, a wealth of 2,147,870 marks was determined. The Allodbesitz Sibyllenorts included about 46,000 Mark in equities, 66 hectares of land and other assets; the Fideikommiss of the castle was given with about 13.5 million marks. This contrasted with annual expenses of around 118,000 marks that had to be earned by the entails commission. Friedrich August added to his will that the assets were to be indivisible for a period of 30 years and that a board of trustees appointed by him had to watch over them. This belonged to Arthur Meding († 1932) as counselor, Colonel a. D. Curt von der Damerau-Dambrowski (1869-1944) as head of the court of Sibyllenort and the head of the Saxon administration Wolf von Tümpling. The community of heirs ignored the last will of the father and decided in March 1932 in Munich, excluding the members of the board of trustees, to distribute the property immediately. Friedrich Christian received the estate Villa Wachwitz (where he had the new Wachwitz Castle built from 1936 ) and Sibyllenort Castle, Ernst Heinrich Moritzburg Castle and the goods in Jahnishausen, Gönnsdorf and Helfenberg and Georg an annuity .

Personal

personality

Neither the throne nor the wealth that Friedrich August had inherited seemed desirable to him. Despite his position, he did not value privileges and made no fuss about himself, which justified his unusual popularity. Contemporaries agreed on his personal characteristics regardless of their political views: Friedrich August conveyed the image of a warm-hearted, amiable, sociable, personally completely undemanding man of outward simplicity and modesty. He only had the royal insignia brought from the Green Vault for speeches in the state parliament. His public appearances were neither pompous nor staged nor glamorous. He spoke with a Saxon accent , mingled unrecognized with fellow citizens in civilian clothes and occasionally played casual skat in pubs or strolled openly through the shopping streets of Dresden, as Erich Kästner knew how to describe in his childhood memories. All of this earned him the nickname of the affable .

Friedrich August was an inartistic person and had been unmusical since early childhood. Richard Wagner operas caused him physical discomfort while he took pleasure in military marches with drums and fanfares. He was indifferent to theater and painting, which did not prevent him from making immense sums of money privately available for the purchase of modern art to support communal operas and theaters or other cultural and educational institutions. Friedrich August also took a personal part in the planning and realization of urban cultural buildings, such as the Dresden Museum of Applied Arts and the State Theater .

Family relationships

marriage

Wedding of the couple in the Vienna Hofburg parish church (drawing: Wilhelm Gause )

In the summer of 1887, the family of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Ferdinand IV stayed in Pillnitz at the invitation of King Albert. On this occasion Friedrich August and the 17-year-old daughter of Archduke Luise of Austria-Tuscany met. Despite mutual sympathies, no liaison developed. It wasn't until four years later that Friedrich August began to advertise them. The engagement on June 23 was followed in November 1891 by the couple's wedding ceremony in the Vienna Hofburg, which lasted several days . After Luise's renunciation , her oath renunciation of the Austrian throne, Cardinal Anton Josef Gruscha performed the wedding on November 21st. After a banquet, the bride and groom were said goodbye at the Vienna train station and welcomed two days later in Dresden. The celebrations ended with a court ball in the giant hall of the Residenzschloss on November 25th. Then the prince couple moved into their domicile in the Taschenbergpalais.

progeny

The marriage had seven children.

- Georg was born in 1893. He later became a priest and Jesuit . Followed him

- Friedrich Christian in the same year and with

- Ernst Heinrich in 1896 a third potential heir to the throne.

- Maria Alix Carola (* / † August 22, 1898) was stillborn . After her came with the princesses

- Margarete Carola Wilhelmine (1900–1962),

- Maria Alix Luitpolda (1901–1990) and

- Anna Monika Pia (1903–1976) gave birth to three more daughters.

The relationship with the children was kind and loving. After his mother left the court, Friedrich August endeavored to help his offspring. In his strictly religious upbringing, he attached great importance to imparting Christian beliefs. These included attending Holy Mass every day and evening prayer. The regular daily routine began at 6 a.m. with the waking up. This was followed by breakfast together. The three-course lunch was served at 1:30 p.m., and the sometimes meager supper was served at 7 p.m. They went to bed around 10 p.m. Whenever the business of government permitted, Friedrich August tried to spend time with his children. He was also interested in her schooling. For this purpose he founded the Prinzenschule in 1904, which was housed in the premises of the Taschenbergpalais and only accepted sons of high-ranking officers, civil servants and doctors. The curriculum and examination plans there corresponded to the state school ordinance and were divided into three-year secondary lessons and an eight-year grammar school part.

Family quarrel

Friedrich August III. with family (1901)

While the princess, who was considered to be fun-loving and in love with herself, was able to come to terms with the conservative, strictly Catholic life at the Dresden court, the relationship with her father-in-law Georg was considered disturbed. He disliked her constant violations of the Spanish court ceremonies and open expressions of opinion. With the accession of George to the throne, Luise's position within the royal family deteriorated rapidly. The regent no longer made a secret of his opinion that Luise had played her part in securing the succession to the throne and was dispensable for the dynasty. He feared that she might become a new Constantia von Cosel . He tried to prevent that at all costs. Repeatedly and publicly he claimed that she suffered from mental confusion. He had them monitored and ransacked their personal belongings. Friedrich August, who was primarily obliged to his father under the house law, did not adequately protect his wife. Luise feared that the king might admit her to a psychiatric hospital. The situation escalated with the inaccurate claim that the Crown Princess had a love affair with her children's French teacher, the Belgian André Giron. Luise, who was meanwhile pregnant, only used it in her subsequent escape from the farm after her husband had refused the request to leave Dresden with her and the children.

Court scandal

On December 5, 1902, the crown prince couple appeared together for the last time. Four days later, on December 9th, Luise left Dresden on the pretext of wanting to visit her parents in Salzburg. From there she traveled with her brother Archduke Leopold Ferdinand of Austria-Tuscany via Zurich to Geneva , from where on December 13th she sent a dispatch to the Saxon court that she intended to stay abroad. The royal court immediately dispatched detectives to persuade the escaped Crown Princess to turn back, if necessary with coercive measures. The repatriation operation failed because of the Geneva gendarmerie , which lodged a complaint about this with the imperial consulate. The Saxon police then limited themselves to observation. Since Luise's voluntary return was out of the question, the court announced on December 22nd that the Crown Princess had gone abroad in a state of emotional excitement and severing all relations here. All royal festivities around Christmas and New Years have been canceled. Luise's escape was one of the biggest scandals in Germany before the First World War and was widely marketed by the press.

Marriage annulment

A divorce was impossible under canon law, and no action could be taken for nullity (annulment) of the marriage, since in this case Friedrich August's children would have been illegitimate and thus excluded from the succession to the throne. Therefore, King George had a special court convened on December 30, 1902, which was to resolve the dissolution of the conjugal union on behalf of Friedrich August. This required the consent of the Pope, who had planned to hear Luise beforehand. However, she did not take this opportunity, but on January 3, 1903, declared in writing that she was renouncing her position as Crown Princess and all other claims against the Saxon royal family. Four days later she was expelled from the Wettin house, child contact was forbidden and entry to Saxony was prohibited. The marriage was annulled on February 11, 1903. Friedrich August spent the rest of his life celibate. The children stayed with him, the unborn daughter Anna Monika Pia stayed with the mother until 1908 according to an agreement. Friedrich August approved a generous annuity for his ex-wife from his own resources. Nor should they be badly spoken of in his presence.

leisure

Friedrich August was an enthusiastic alpinist and was considered an excellent rider. When choosing his animals, he made a point of being well-behaved. His show stallion was a Lipizzaner named Maestoso . For hunting trips he used a chestnut mare and otherwise his body ridge. His greatest passion was hunting, which he mostly pursued in his home territory. Friedrich August was considered to be accurate and preferred stalking . In total he is said to have killed 600 deer, 1,200 roebucks, 23,000 pheasants and 200 capercaillie. Seal hunts and African hunting expeditions have also been handed down. Friedrich August showed great interest in hunting dogs.

reception

Anecdotes

Countless anecdotes have come down to us about Friedrich August whose truth content is no longer verifiable. His behavior caused irritation in aristocratic circles. Friedrich August is said to have slept loudly snoring during a theater performance to the horror of the high-ranking entourage. His casual demeanor ran the risk of not being taken fully and undermining the authority of the German ruling houses. On the other hand, there was hardly a ruling monarch in Europe at that time, whom his people showed more sympathy and affection for. In his person he bundled the possibilities and limits of dynastic action in a regional context and embodied territorial state self-awareness as well as Saxon sensitivities in a Prussian-dominated German nation-state. Below is a selection of his most famous bon mots :

On November 12, 1918, the king was reported to have been informed by telephone by Finance Minister Schröder that from now on government power would no longer be exercised by him, but by a workers 'and soldiers' council. Friedrich August is said to have replied: “So, so - well , there's a Drägg alleene! “ (In fact, the - unhistorical - anecdote probably goes back to the state parliament member Karl Sindermann .)	When driving through Saxony, the ex-king avoided anything that betrayed his presence. His presence could not be concealed, however, and loyal Saxons gathered. At first, the crowd was reluctant. Then cheers began, and when Friedrich August did not appear at the coupé window, the enthusiastic crowd drummed on the windows of the car. A window went down, a fist threatened the admirers and a familiar voice shouted: "You are a shame Rebbubligahnr !"	Shortly after the revolution in Sibyllenort. Friedrich August had to dismiss the forester Brausewetter to save money. When he met him again weeks later in the forest, the surprise was great. “What are you still doing here, Brausewäddr? Brausewetter replied that he had not been properly terminated, whereupon the ex- king said: " How do you feel that I have been properly given to me? "
After the performance of Othello, the theater quickly emptied; only King Friedrich August persevered. The adjutant cleared his throat: "Your Majesty, the performance is over." Then the king: "I'm just waiting for you to stab the prompter!"	Friedrich August did not like going to funeral services. At one of these he disliked the gloomy mood. The matter became boring for him and finally he said to the mourners: "Well, we all miss dying - who would be the next from eich?"	A theater director had put on his awards. Friedrich August looked morose at the medal buckle: “ Scheen! Awr eens you should know, Mr. Deeahdr-Dirägkdr! My medals are torn apart, but not thrown out! "
Kaiser Wilhelm II., The Saxon King and the generals positioned themselves on a treeless hill to observe maneuvers. Friedrich August pressed the bladder. Finally he was fed up with it, stepped aside and said to the horrified-looking emperor: “ Even the great general has to peek in battle. "		Friedrich August III. received new titleholders, including a lawyer appointed to the judiciary. “What is de Braxis doing?” He explained: “Mainly I am in charge of bankruptcy administrations.” “Midd Gongurssen?” Said Friedrich August happily. "That eats fine! That brings enn Hauffn bimm-bimm! "
In a field hospital, Friedrich August soldiers met with a kitchen kettle full of dark broth. Demanded the king. The attending doctor wanted to avert disaster. "But your Majesty!" "I sautéed a spoon, that's enough." So he got the spoon, dipped it in the broth, tasted it and spat it out. “Ugh, Deifel! That smells like Uffwaschwasser! What should that be? "" Wash up water, your Majesty! "		As a friend of hunting and exhibitions, Friedrich August had to visit a zoological cabinet. He might have imagined something else. He saw himself compensated by a stuffed pelican, which he liked. "Where did dr dnn the buzie Nuhdl fork? Wassn das fir ä Gärrl? ”“ A pelican, your Majesty. ”“ Ä Behligahn? Oh, I know: these are the ones who are made out of the shower ! "
In the twenties, Friedrich August stops at an inn in Bad Elster on a hunting trip. A dinner party puzzles: Is it him or isn't he? In the end curiosity wins out over decency, and an old gentleman asks: “Excuse me, aren't you the King of Saxony?” Then the ex-king: “ Geenich without Saxony! "	In the forest, Friedrich August asked a brushwood collector how he was. He's doing badly, said the latter. He used to make his living as a forest worker, but the forester threw him out for a small wood theft. The ex- king replied : “ Come on, I haven't stolen any wood, and I've been thrown out. "	In Sibyllenort, Friedrich August was closely connected to agriculture and had time to read. He was taken aback by an advertisement: to sell a cow that can calve every day. " Mr should buy it, " he calculated to his manager. “ If there are sun badgers and party badgers, it still makes sense to have three hundred Källwer a year. "
An imperial judge had an extremely ceremonial wife. When a large member of the Wettins had given his time, she expressed her most submissive condolences to the Majesty, to which Friedrich August replied: “ Don't be in Unkossdn. I hawwe all the dangers ain't gannd. "	Friedrich August took part in the funeral of General von Hausen. A fortnight later he met the widow, who was blessed with two marriageable daughters, at a ball. The King: “Ooch here?” - “Yeah, ... before vizzn Dahchn hammr een begrahm ... heide danzn mr. Mr de Fässde must be fine, how they fall. "	The actor Ernst Wendt was hired by the Dresden theater to play the stuttering Heinrich Percy in Shakespeare's work Heinrich IV . Friedrich August attended the performance and afterwards said to the director: “ That eats awwr gee guhdr Schauschbielr. So you had a tongue count! "

Research views

According to the view of the historian Walter Fellmann , which he represented in a monograph on the king in 1992, Friedrich August's political work was insignificant: he had never stepped out of the shadow of the role of sovereign, the power of the imperial family - to which he always felt friends had - had not grown. Fellmann stated in 1992 that the kingdom's economic progress had remained manageable under his reign; The monarch, who is considered hesitant and conflict-averse, has only shown initiatives for reforms under the pressure of a seemingly imperative. Fellmann put this position into perspective in the 2004 edition of the Dresdner Hefte about “The 'Red Kingdom' and its Monarch” on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the coronation in 1904.

Lothar Machtan's assessment of 2016 in his study of the abdication of German monarchs in the course of the November Revolution is even more critical . According to him, Friedrich August was not a man of the modern age, but was frozen in his role as king and unable to break away from old forms of rule, let alone renew them. Machtan attested to a lack of tact and a lack of political seriousness and style. Friedrich August was not worthy of the crown and had shown a level of sophistication that was an imposition.

Hellmut Kretzschmar, on the other hand, expressed the view in 1961 in his life abstract for the Neue Deutsche Biographie that Friedrich August would have been called to make the transition to a modern, bourgeois form of the monarchy had it not been prevented by the revolution of 1918, an assessment by Frank -Lothar Kroll and Walter Fellmann 2004, the latter in a slightly modified form, confirmed.

In 2004, Hans-Peter Lühr posed the question of what “a king with such circumstances” would do, in which “the question of red” - that is, the rise of social democracy - was “a very topical specter” (only existed in the third largest German federal state At the beginning of 1914 more Social Democrats than in France and Italy put together) - and: “What are the circumstances doing with him?” Lühr replied, without ignoring the sharpness of the disputes at the time, with regard to Friedrich August III. That he had “his objective lack of influence and commented on the 'overstrained by history' with a disarmingly healthy motherly joke, “which made the last Saxon ruler the most popular among his people…. The abundance of anecdotal traditions ... the republican posterity interpreted with rare friendliness as a long attempt to say goodbye to 1918. "

Memorials

Monuments to the king were erected during the reign, including a larger than life marble statue by the sculptor Carl Seffner , which was unveiled in 1909 in the foyer of the University of Leipzig. It was later sawed up and is now preserved as a bust. Another one that no longer exists was in Bad Elster . Numerous names, mainly in Saxony, testify to its presence; well-known are the Friedrich-August-Brücke , the König-Friedrich-August-Towers in Geringswalde and Sohland and the paddle steamer Prince Friedrich August of the White Fleet, built in 1895 . It also served companies as an advertising medium, for example the tobacco industry as a passionate cigar smoker. On the other hand, when he transferred it to Meissen porcelain (1907), his portrait was not added to the prince's procession with his consent, in order to preserve the original from the late 19th century as a porcelain mural.

An exhibition “Make your dirt alley”. The last Saxon king, his castles and the revolution of 1918. ”with previously unseen documents, photos and films in Pillnitz Castle , from April 26 to November 4, 2018, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his renunciation of the throne, was exclusively dedicated to Friedrich August III. and his family and showed how the royal family lived and how it dealt with the radical revolution.

attachment

genealogy

Fonts

• Memories of my trip to Sudan and Egypt. February - March 1911. Warnatz and Lehmann, Dresden 1912. Reprinted as a facsimile in the series Ponte fra le culture - writings of the Knauf Museum Iphofen. Volume 2. Röll, Dettelbach 2010, ISBN 978-3-89754-331-7 .

literature

• Walter Fellmann : Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Koehler and Amelang, Berlin / Leipzig 1992, ISBN 3-7338-0103-2 .
• Dresdner Geschichtsverein (Ed.): The “Red Kingdom” and its monarch (= Dresdner Hefte - contributions to cultural history. No. 80, 4/2004). Dresden 2004, ISBN 3-910055-74-5 .
• Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and time (= series of publications by the study group for Saxon history and culture. Volume 3). Ilmgau, Pfaffenhofen / Study Group for Saxon History and Culture, Munich 1964, DNB 452551811 (new edition Boldt, Boppard 1972, ISBN 3-7646-1569-9 ).
• Iris Kretschmann, André Thieme (Ed.): "Make your dirt avenue!" The last Saxon king, his castles and the 1918 revolution. Special exhibition in the Pillnitz Castle Museum from April 28 to November 4, 2018. Pillnitz Castle and Park, sandstone, Dresden 2018, ISBN 978-3-95498-396-4 .
• Hellmut Kretzschmar :  Friedrich August III .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 577 ( digitized version ).
• Frank-Lothar Kroll : Friedrich August III. (1904-1918). In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. CH Beck, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-65166-3 , pp. 306-319.
• Rainer Kubatzki , Hans Eggert : A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III., Letters, pictures. Wills. A reader. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, Meißen 2007, DNB 990641848 .
• Wolfgang von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, DNB 575103507 .
• Hans Reimann : The Geenich. Anecdotes about the last king of the Saxons (= Saxon miniatures. Volume 5). Lehmstedt, Leipzig 2007, ISBN 978-3-937146-42-3 .
• Albert Herzog zu Sachsen : The Wettins in life pictures. Styria, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-222-12301-2 .
• Albert Duke of Saxony: The Albertinian Wettins. History of the Saxon royal family 1763/1932 (= series of publications of the König-Friedrich-August-Institut for Saxon history and culture research. Volume 1). Graefelfing 1995, ISBN 3-87693-211-4 .
• Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, DNB 362317356 .

Web links

Commons : Friedrich August III.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: Friedrich August III.  - Quotes

• Literature by and about Friedrich August III. in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Friedrich August III. in the Saxon Bibliography
• Literature by and about Friedrich August III. in the annual reports for German history
• Reiner Pommerin : Friedrich August III. In: Saxon Biography . May 29, 2007.

Footnotes

1. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 27-30; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 9 f .; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 26-32; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 25 f .; Albert Duke of Saxony: The Albertinian Wettins. History of the Saxon royal family 1763/1932. Graefelfing 1995, p. 339.
2. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo publishing house, Dresden 1916, pp. 11–15; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 33 f .; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 27-32; Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, p. 45 f.
3. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 34 f., 37; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 14 f .; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 33; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 308.
4. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 46-49; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 22; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 36, 39 f.
5. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 16 f .; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 33-38; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 34-37; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 36 f.
6. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, pp. 18-20; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 46; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 308; Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, p. 68 f.
7. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 40–51, 70 f .; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 39 f .; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 41-43.
8. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 52-58; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 43-45.
9. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 26; Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 58-62; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 45; Walter Fellmann: The popular monarch. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 92-98., Here: p. 97.
10. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 105-117.
11. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 117-122; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 70 f.
12. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 87 f .; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 313; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 26; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 76; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Saxony's last King Friedrich August III. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 83-91, here: p. 86.
13. ^ Frank-Lothar Kroll: Saxony's last King Friedrich August III. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 83-91., Here: pp. 86 f .; Walter Fellmann: The popular monarch. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 92-98., Here: pp. 96 f.
14. ^ W. von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 159-211; H. Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, pp. 39-45; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 108 f.
15. ^ Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 82-84.
16. ^ Valentin Schröder: Elections in Germany until 1918, Kingdom of Saxony. on-line
17. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 127-132; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 311.
18. ↑ James Retallack: Suffrage struggles in Saxony after 1896. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and his monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 13-24., Here: pp. 16-18.
19. ↑ James Retallack: Suffrage struggles in Saxony after 1896. In: Dresdner Hefter No. 80, year 2004 The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch , p. 18 f.
20. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 132-136; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 312; James Retallack: Suffrage struggles in Saxony after 1896. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 13-24., Here: pp. 20 f.
21. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 137-141.
22. ↑ Angelo Tamborra: Vladimir Zabughin e l'Italia religiosa del primo novecento . In: Europa Orientalis . tape 12 , no. 2 , 1993, p. 289-302 ( online (PDF) ).
23. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 143 f.
24. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 141-143; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 89 f.
25. ^ Ansgar Reiss (Ed.), Ulrich Herr, Jens Nguyen: The German Generals as well as War Ministries and General Staffs from 1871 to 1914 (= catalogs of the Bavarian Army Museum Ingolstadt. Volume 10). Militaria, Vienna 2012, ISBN 978-3-902526-60-1 , p. 227; H. Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 31; Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus (Ed.): Brockhaus. Handbook of Knowledge. Volume 2, Leipzig 1922, p. 162.
26. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 154 f.
27. ↑ Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 179, 184; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 156-163; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 141 f .; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 72 f.
28. ↑ Peter Mertens: The »Red Kingdom« under siege - Saxon domestic policy under military aegis during the First World War. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 74-82., Here: pp. 74-77.
29. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, pp. 73 f .; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 162-173.
30. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 9–13.
31. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 15–20.
32. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 21–29.
33. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 32–40.
34. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 41–45.
35. ↑ Reiner Pommerin: Poland taken against us and heavily Jewish. King Friedrich August III. and the war aims of Saxony in the First World War. Military History Research Office, Potsdam 2009, pp. 45–49.
36. ^ Carsten Schmidt: Dresden in the First World War. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 64–73., Here: pp. 64 f.
37. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 164, 174 f .; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 145; Carsten Schmidt: Dresden in the First World War. In: Dresdner Hefter No. 80, year 2004 The »Red Kingdom« and its Monarch , pp. 66–68.
38. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 176-181.
39. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 184 f.
40. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 185-189.
41. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 190-193.
42. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 194 f .; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 149 f .; Lothar Machtan: The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. DTV, Munich 2016, pp. 308-310.
43. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 201 f.
44. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 202-206.
45. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 206-209; Reiner Groß: The Wettins. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2007, p. 272.
46. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 212, 219-221; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 162-164.
47. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 218, 223; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 165; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 40.
48. ↑ Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 155–157, 172 f.
49. ^ Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 165-173.
50. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 225-227; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 199; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, pp. 174-182.
51. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 225-232; Reiner Groß : The Wettins. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2007, p. 273; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 192–194; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 183.
52. ↑ Quoted from Hans Eggert: The difficult legacy of the last king. In: Saxon newspaper . December 9, 2009, ( online ); Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 216–221.
53. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 9 f .; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 177; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 309 f .; Erich Kästner: When I was a little boy. Atrium-Verlag Zurich 1996, p. 12 f.
54. ^ Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 314.
55. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 41-46; Friedrich Kracke: Friedrich August III. Saxony's most popular king. A picture of his life and his time. Munich 1964, p. 59 f.
56. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 49; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 145–147.
57. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, pp. 34-36; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 99; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 152–154, 162.
58. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 50-59; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 308 f.
59. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 59-63 .; Rainer Hünecke : Luise von Toscana: "My way of life". A conceptual historical analysis of coping with a scandalous adultery at the Saxon court. In: Gisela Brandt (Ed.): Use of language by women in their own texts. International symposium, Magdeburg, September 8-9, 2003. Stuttgart, 2004, p. 119.
60. ^ Johannes Sembdner: Georg of Saxony. Crown Prince - Lieutenant Colonel - Tertiary - Father SJ. Cordier, Heiligenstadt 2006, p. 14; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 64-68; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 149–151; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 309.
61. ^ Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 16; Albert Duke of Saxony: The Albertinian Wettins. History of the Saxon royal family 1763–1932. Graefelfing 1995, p. 341 f. During a stay in Tarvisio in 1908, the king, who used to stop off at Alpine Club huts on his tours, became a member of the Villach section, Gau Tarvisio. - See: All sorts. King Friedrich August of Saxony member of the S. Villach. In: Messages from the German and Austrian Alpine Club. Volume 34, 1908, p. 236 top left (online at ALO ).
62. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 224-232; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 95 f .; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 177.
63. ^ Wolf von Metzsch, Karl Siegismund: Friedrich August III. King of Saxony. A picture of life. Imberg & Lesson, Berlin 1906, pp. 120, 238-245; Hermann Schindler: King Friedrich August III. A picture of life and character. Apollo, Dresden 1916, p. 32; Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 73-83; Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, pp. 175, 180 f.
64. ↑ Lothar Machtan: The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. DTV, Munich 2016, pp. 306 f., 312.
65. ^ Frank-Lothar Kroll: Friedrich August III. 1904-1918. In: ders. (Ed.): The rulers of Saxony. Margraves, electors, kings 1089–1918. Beck, Munich 2013, p. 306 f .; Frank-Lothar Kroll: Saxony's last King Friedrich August III. In: Dresdner Hefte No. 80, The "Red Kingdom" and its monarch. Historical Society Dresden e. V. 2004, pp. 83-91., Here: p. 83.
66. ↑ Lothar Machtan: The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. DTV, Munich 2016, p. 310 f.
67. ↑ Hans Reimann: New Saxon Miniatures. Carl Reissner, Dresden 1928, p. 207.
68. ↑ Hans Reimann: New Saxon Miniatures. Carl Reissner, Dresden 1928, p. 204 f.
69. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 102.
70. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 234.
71. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 153.
72. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 40.
73. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 211.
74. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 181.
75. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 86.
76. ↑ ^{a b} Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 198.
77. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, p. 225.
78. ↑ Hans Reimann: New Saxon Miniatures. Carl Reissner, Dresden 1928, p. 194.
79. ↑ Hans Reimann: New Saxon Miniatures. Carl Reissner, Dresden 1928, p. 192.
80. ↑ Hans Reimann: New Saxon Miniatures. Carl Reissner, Dresden 1928, p. 190.
81. ↑ Walter Fellmann: Saxony's last king, Friedrich August III. Berlin 1992, pp. 10-12, 236.
82. ↑ For more information, see Walter Fellmann: Der Volksstümliche Monarch. In: Dresdner Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.): The “Red Kingdom” and its monarch (= Dresdner Hefte - contributions to cultural history. No. 80, 4/2004). Dresden 2004, ISBN 3-910055-74-5 , pp. 92-98.
83. ↑ Lothar Machtan: The abdication. How Germany's crowned heads fell out of history. DTV, Munich 2016, pp. 305, 312.
84. ^ Hellmut Kretzschmar :  Friedrich August III .. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1961, ISBN 3-428-00186-9 , p. 577 ( digitized version ).
85. ^ Frank-Lothar Kroll: Saxony's last King Friedrich August III. In: Dresdner Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.): The “Red Kingdom” and its monarch (= Dresdner Hefte - contributions to cultural history. No. 80, 4/2004). Dresden 2004, ISBN 3-910055-74-5 , pp. 83-91; Walter Fellmann: The popular monarch. In: ibid., Pp. 92-98.
86. ↑ Karsten Rudolph: A "Red Kingdom" in Wilheminischen Germany. In: Dresdner Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.): The “Red Kingdom” and its monarch (= Dresdner Hefte - contributions to cultural history. No. 80, 4/2004). Dresden 2004, ISBN 3-910055-74-5 , pp. 3–12, here p. 4.
87. ↑ Hans-Peter Lühr: Preliminary remark. In: Dresdner Geschichtsverein e. V. (Ed.): The “Red Kingdom” and its monarch (= Dresdner Hefte - contributions to cultural history. No. 80, 4/2004). Dresden 2004, ISBN 3-910055-74-5 , p. 2.
88. ↑ Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 90.
89. ↑ Hans Eggert, Rainer Kubatzki: A king in good Saxon. Friedrich August III. Redaktions- und Verlagsgesellschaft Elbland, 2007, p. 55.
90. ↑ Exhibition information on schlosspilnitz.de , accessed on April 14, 2018.
91. ↑ See Jochen and Gabriele Hallof: Ein König auf Reisen. His Majesty Friedrich August III. of Saxony in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (= Ponte fra le culture - writings of the Knauf Museum Iphofen. Volume 1). Röll, Dettelbach 2009, ISBN 978-3-89754-341-6 .

predecessor	Office	successor
George I.	King of Saxony 1904–1918	-
George I.	Head of the Wettin House from 1904 to 1932	Friedrich Christian

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on March 29, 2018 in this version .