Johann Georg (Saxony-Weissenfels)

Duke Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weißenfels with an allonge wig and in court costume; next to him the prince's hat ; he wears the breast star of the Order of the Elephants

Duke Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weißenfels with an allonge wig and in court costume with an ermine cloak as a sign of princely dignity

Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weißenfels (born July 13, 1677 in Halle , † March 16, 1712 in Weißenfels ) was the third Duke of the Electoral Saxon secondary school of Saxony-Weißenfels and Prince of Saxony-Querfurt and came from a sideline of the Albertine Wettins .

family

Johann Georg was the third son of Duke Johann Adolf I. von Sachsen-Weißenfels and his wife Johanna Magdalena von Sachsen-Altenburg , daughter of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm II. Von Sachsen-Altenburg .

Government in the duchy

Since his two older brothers had already died in childhood, Johann Georg succeeded his father Johann Adolf I on the ducal throne in 1697. Due to his minority when he took office, Elector Friedrich August I of Saxony took over the guardianship for a short time . Since he later had to convert to the Catholic faith in order to gain the Polish royal crown, he in turn entrusted him in 1700 with the management of the Corpus Evangelicorum .

Like his two predecessors, Johann Georg tended to display great courtly splendor, in the context of which he let himself be carried away to build a small river port for his pleasure flotilla in order to enjoy himself, his wife and the court on trips to the Saale . The educated duke was also active as a great patron of the arts and sciences. During his reign, the city of Weißenfels flourished enormously and, together with Dresden in Electoral Saxony, was one of the economic and cultural centers in Central Germany. However, through his way of life, he considerably increased the mountain of debt that had already accumulated under his predecessors and thus contributed to the financial ruin that finally occurred under his likewise wasteful brother and successor.

In order to maintain security and order at parties and elevators, Johann Georg arranged for the establishment of citizen companies, for whose service male residents were called in, even before paying homage.

When the Swedes invaded the Saxon area during the Great Northern War , he could not prevent the occupation of his principality from 1706 to 1707.

Based on the "Palm Order" of his grandfather August , which he founded in connection with his status as head of the Fruit-Bringing Society , Johann Georg established the order " De la noble passion " (French: " De la noble passion ") on June 24, 1704, which is based on knightly virtues . Society of noble inclination ”) and gave it the motto“ J'aime L 'honneur, qui vient par la vertu ”(French:“ I love the honor that comes from virtue ”). The statutes, which the Duke himself drafted - in both German and French - required not only a noble origin but also an impeccable way of life.

Duke Johann Georg was buried in a pewter coffin in the princely crypt of the castle church of Neu-Augustusburg .

Since his only son, Hereditary Prince Johann Georg, did not even survive the first year of life, the ducal throne passed to his brother Christian .

Marriage and offspring

His only marriage was on January 7, 1698 in Jena with Friederike Elisabeth von Sachsen-Eisenach , the daughter of Johann Georg I, Duke of Sachsen-Eisenach from his marriage to Johanetta von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn .

He had the following children with his wife:

• Friederike Elisabeth (born August 4, 1701 in Weißenfels, † February 28, 1706 in Weißenfels), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels
• Johann Georg (born October 20, 1702 in Weißenfels, † March 5, 1703 in Weißenfels), Hereditary Prince of Saxony-Weißenfels
• Johannetta Wilhelmine (born May 31, 1704 in Weißenfels, † July 9, 1704 in Weißenfels), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels
• Johannetta Amalia (born September 8, 1705 in Weißenfels, † February 7, 1706 in Weißenfels), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels
• Johanna Magdalena (born March 17, 1708 in Weißenfels, † January 25, 1760 in Leipzig), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels ∞ Ferdinand, Duke of Courland and Semgallia
• Friederike Amalia (born March 1, 1712 in Weißenfels, † January 31, 1714 in Weißenfels), Princess of Saxony-Weißenfels

literature

• 300 years of Neu-Augustusburg Castle, 1660–1694 - Residence of the Dukes of Saxony-Weißenfels: Festschrift. Weißenfels, 1994, pp. 38-39
• Gerhardt, Friedrich, Castle and Castle Church in Weißenfels, Weißenfels, 1898, pp. 55–56
• Johann Christoph Dreyhaupt : Description of the ... Saal-Creyses, especially the cities of Halle. Halle, 1749/1751 (i.e. "Dreyhaupt-Chronik")

Web links as sources

• Johann Huebners ... three hundred and three and thirty genealogical tables, Tab. 169
• History of the five dukes of Weißenfels
• Publications by and about Johann Georg im VD 17 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Johann Adolf I.	Duke of Saxony-Weißenfels and Prince of Saxony-Querfurt 1697 - 1712	Christian