Maria Emanuel Margrave of Meissen
Maria Emanuel Prince of Saxony Duke of Saxony (born January 31, 1926 in Regensburg , Germany ; † July 23, 2012 in La Tour-de-Peilz , Switzerland ) was head of the former royal Saxon house of Wettin Albertinische Linie since 1968 and called himself as such Margrave of Meissen .
Life
Maria Emanuel was born in Schlossprüfunging in Regensburg and was the eldest son of Friedrich Christian Prince of Saxony and Elisabeth Helene von Thurn und Taxis .
As a schoolboy he was arrested in 1943 because of a letter he had written against the Nazi regime and charged with degrading military strength and broadcasting crimes. Maria Emanuel was initially detained in Saulgau (Württemberg), but then transferred to Potsdam, where he was to be tried before the People's Court . The responsible judge, Roland Freisler , fell victim to a bomb attack shortly before the trial opened in February 1945. Due to the father's good contacts with relevant authorities in Berlin , the charge of juvenile offense could be softened, otherwise Maria Emanuel would have threatened the death penalty. At the end of the war in 1945, Maria Emanuel von Sachsen was liberated as a political prisoner by the Soviet troops advancing into Potsdam and was finally able to meet her parents and siblings in Vorarlberg, Austria, in 1946.
Maria Emanuel studied a few semesters at the Düsseldorf Art Academy . From 1950 he worked as a graphic artist and painter in Munich. On June 22, 1962 he married in La Tour-de-Peilz (Switzerland) Anastasia-Louise Princess of Anhalt (* 1940), daughter of Eugen Prinz von Anhalt (1903–1980) and Anastasia Jungmeier (1901–1970) and granddaughter of Eduard von Anhalt , ruling Duke of Anhalt in 1918 . Since the marriage remained childless, Maria Emanuel adopted his nephew Alexander Prince von Sachsen-Gessaphe on May 26, 1999, who was to succeed him as head of the House of Saxony. However, this succession is controversial; Maria Emanuel's brother Albert von Sachsen (historian) , who only survived him by three months, called himself Margrave of Meissen after his death (see: Head of the Albertine family (House of Saxony) and succession dispute ) .
Maria Emanuel died on July 23, 2012 in his adopted Swiss home. His body was buried on July 30, 2012 in the presence of the closest family circle in a soldered zinc coffin, which is embedded in an oak coffin, in the crypt next to the royal chapel near Imst in Tyrol .
Orders and memberships
Maria Emanuel was the recipient of numerous high awards. Among other things, he was awarded the Order of the Golden Fleece in 1978 .
In Munich he founded together with his father Friedrich Christian, his brother Albert , as well as other representatives of the Saxon nobility, the chapter of the St. Heinrichs Order of the "Verein der Dresdner" and the Landsmannschaft Sachsen - Kreisgruppe München on January 30, 1961 the study group for Saxon history and culture V. Munich , which at that time was to become one of the largest Saxon associations in the federal territory of divided Germany. In 1998 he became an honorary member of the Catholic student association KDSt.V. Chursachsen zu Dresden in the CV .
After the reunification of Germany , Maria Emanuel became a member of the board of trustees of the world cultural heritage Dresden Elbe Valley .
ancestors
Question of succession
With the support of the family association, Maria Emanuel, who had no children of his own, appointed the son of his sister Anna, Alexander Afif Prince of Saxony-Gessaphe, as his successor as head of the House of Wettin Albertinischer Linie in May 1997. In 1999 he reaffirmed this decision by adopting him, giving him the legal surname “Prince of Saxony”. The Sachsen-Gessaphe family branch was founded as a new branch of the Wettin family, which continued the dynasty after Maria Emanuel's death. The question of the legitimacy of this succession is, however, controversial, cf. on this Albertiner # Succession dispute among the Albertines .
literature
- Maria Emanuel Duke of Saxony: Patronage in Saxony. Weidlich, Frankfurt am Main 1968.
- Albert Herzog zu Sachsen: The Wettins in life pictures. Styria-Verlag, Graz / Vienna / Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-222-12301-2 .
- Jürgen Helfricht : The Wettins. Saxony's kings, dukes, electors and margraves. 5th edition. Sachsenbuch, Leipzig 2012.
- Jürgen Helfricht : His Royal Highness Maria Emanuel Margrave of Meissen Duke of Saxony. Sell Heimat-Verlag, Altenburg 1999.
- Maria Emanuel von Sachsen , in: Internationales Biographisches Archiv 23/2000 of May 29, 2000, in the Munzinger archive ( beginning of article freely available)
- Frank-Michael Bäsig: Maria Emanuel Margrave of Meissen Duke of Saxony. Celebration for the 75th birthday. Starke, Limburg 2001, ISBN 3-7980-0569-9 .
- Reiner Groß : The Wettins. Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, ISBN 3-170-18946-8
Web links
- Literature by and about Maria Emanuel Margrave von Meißen in the catalog of the German National Library .
- Alexander Prince of Saxony Duke of Saxony: Margrave Maria Emanuel von Meißen
- St. Heinrichs Order e. V., Dresden
Individual evidence
- ↑ By Helmut Heiber: Files of the Party Chancellery of the NSDAP, Volume 1, Part 1, Munich 1983, p. 1034 ( limited preview in the Google book search)
- ↑ Albert Prince of Saxony Duke of Saxony: Prince Friedrich Christian Albert Leopold Anno Sylvester Macarius, Margrave of Meissen, Duke of Saxony, Dr. jur.
- ↑ Reiner Groß : Die Wettiner , Kohlhammer Verlag, Stuttgart 2007, page 278
- ↑ Jürgen Helfricht: Wettiner heir to the throne buried in Austria: At the grave of the Prince of Saxony. In: Image Chemnitz. July 31, 2012, accessed July 25, 2014 .
- ^ Cartell Association of Catholic German Student Associations : Directory of Members, 2007 edition, page V-195
- ↑ Markus Lesch: The Wettins are back. In: welt.de . May 20, 1997, accessed July 25, 2014 .
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Friedrich Christian | Head of the Wettin House from 1968–2012 |
Alexander Afif Prince of Saxe-Gessaphe |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Meißen, Maria Emanuel Margrave of |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Saxony, Maria Emanuel Prince of |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German boss of the Wettin house |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 31, 1926 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | regensburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 23, 2012 |
| Place of death | La Tour-de-Peilz , Switzerland |