Albert, King of Saxony

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Albert
Albert of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg
Photograph by Nicola Perscheid, c. 1900
King of Saxony
Reign29 October 1873 – 19 June 1902
Predecessor John
Successor George
Born(1828-04-23)23 April 1828
Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony
Died19 June 1902(1902-06-19) (aged 74)
Sibyllenort, German Empire
Burial
Katholische Hofkirche
Spouse
​
(m. 1853)​
Names
German: Friedrich August Albert Anton Ferdinand Joseph Karl Maria Baptist Nepomuk Wilhelm Xaver Georg Fidelis
English: Frederick Augustus Albert Anthony Ferdinand Joseph Charles Maria Baptist Nepomuk William Xavier George Fidelis
House Wettin
Father John of Saxony
Mother Amalie Auguste of Bavaria
Religion Roman Catholicism
Signature Signatur Albert (Sachsen).PNG

Albert (23 April 1828 – 19 June 1902) was King of Saxony from 29 October 1873 until his death in 1902.

Contents

He was the eldest son of Prince John (who succeeded his brother Frederick Augustus II on the Saxon throne as King John in 1854) by his wife Amalie Auguste of Bavaria.

Albert had a successful military career, leading Saxon troops that participated in the First Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, and the Franco-Prussian War.

Early life

Albert's education, as usual with German princes, concentrated to a great extent on military matters, but he attended lectures at the University of Bonn. His first experience of warfare came in 1849, when he served as a captain in the First War of Schleswig against Denmark.

When the Austro-Prussian War broke out in 1866, Albert, then Crown Prince (German: Kronprinz), took up the command of the Saxon forces opposing the Prussian Army of Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia. No attempt was made to defend Saxony, and the Saxons fell back into Bohemia and effected a junction with the Austrians. They took a prominent part in the battles by which the Prussians forced the line of the Jizera and in the Battle of Jičín. The Crown Prince, however, succeeded in effecting the retreat in good order, and in the decisive Battle of Königgrätz (3 July 1866), he held the extreme left of the Austrian position. The Saxons maintained their post with great tenacity but were involved in the disastrous defeat of their allies.

During the operations, the Crown Prince won the reputation of a thorough soldier. After peace was made and Saxony had entered the North German Confederation, he gained the command of the Saxon army, which had now become the XII army corps of the North German army, and in that position, he carried out the necessary reorganisation. He proved a firm adherent of the Prussian alliance. On the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he again commanded the Saxons, who were included in the 2nd army under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia, his old opponent. At the Battle of Gravelotte, they formed the extreme left of the German army, and with the Prussian Guard carried out the attack on St Privat, the final and decisive action in the battle.

In the reorganisation of the army which accompanied the march towards Paris, the Crown Prince gained a separate command over the 4th army (Army of the Meuse) consisting of the Saxons, the Prussian Guard corps, and the IV (Prussian Saxony) corps. He was succeeded in command of the XII corps by his brother Prince George, who had served under him in Bohemia.

Albert took a leading part in the operations which preceded the battle of Sedan, the 4th army being the pivot on which the whole army wheeled round in pursuit of MacMahon; and the actions of Buzancy and Beaumont on 29 and 30 August 1870 were fought under his direction. In the Battle of Sedan itself (1 September 1870), with the troops under his orders, Albert carried out the envelopment of the French on the east and the north.

Albert's conduct in the engagements won for him the complete confidence of the army, and during the Siege of Paris, his troops formed the north-east section of the investing force. During the siege, he blocked French attempts to break out of the encirclement at Le Bourget and Villiers. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), he was left in command of the German army of occupation, a position which he held till the fall of the Paris Commune. On the conclusion of peace, he was made an inspector-general of the army and a field marshal.

King

Albert of Saxony in 1878 by Alfred Diethe Albert of Saxony in 1878 by Alfred Diethe.jpg
Albert of Saxony in 1878 by Alfred Diethe

On the death of his father, King John on 29 October 1873, the Crown Prince succeeded to the throne as King Albert. His reign proved uneventful, and he took little public part in politics, devoting himself to military affairs, in which his advice and experience were of the greatest value, not only to the Saxon corps but also to the German army in general. During his reign, the Saxon monarchy became constitutional.

In the 1870s, Albert initiated the construction of a Dresden suburb, the Albertstadt. It was then the largest garrison in Germany. Near the former suburb other buildings and places still bear his name: the Albertbrücke, the Alberthafen, the Albertplatz and the Albertinum.

In 1879, he initiated the reconstruction of the Saint Afra School in Meissen. In 1897, he was appointed arbitrator between the claimants for the Principality of Lippe.

Marriage and succession

In Dresden on 18 June 1853, Albert married Princess Carola, daughter of Gustav, Prince of Vasa and granddaughter of Gustav IV Adolf, the second to last king of Sweden of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. The marriage was childless although Carola miscarried many times. They included:

Albert died at his Sibyllenort Palace on 19 June 1902 and was succeeded by his brother, who became King George. He was buried in Dresden on 23 June, among the mourners present were both the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. [1]

Honours, decorations and awards

Coat of Arms of the King of Saxony Coat of Arms of the Kingdom of Saxony 1806-1918.svg
Coat of Arms of the King of Saxony

The King of Saxony bird-of-paradise was named in Albert's honour; the Queen Carola's parotia was named for his wife.

German honours

Foreign honours

Ancestry

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References

  1. ↑ "Latest intelligence - Funeral of the King of Saxony". The Times. No. 36802. London. 24 June 1902. p. 5.
  2. ↑ Sachsen (1866). Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen: 1865/66. Heinrich. pp. 3, 6, 37.
  3. 1 2 "Albert, King of Saxony". Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary: In 86 Volumes (82 Volumes and 4 Additional Volumes) (in Russian). St. Petersburg: F. A. Brockhaus. 1890–1907. (in Russian)
  4. 1 2 3 "Friedrich Augustus Albert König von Sachsen". the Prussian Machine. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
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  6. ↑ Lehmann, Gustaf (1913). Die Ritter des Ordens pour le mérite 1812–1913 [The Knights of the Order of the Pour le Mérite] (in German). Vol. 2. Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn. p. 422.
  7. ↑ Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1847), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 27
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  15. ↑ Staats- und Adreß-Handbuch des Herzogthums Nassau (1866), "Herzogliche Orden" p. 8
  16. ↑ Württemberg (1873). Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreichs Württemberg: 1873. pp. 32, 71.
  17. ↑ Hof- und Staatshandbuch des Großherzogtums Oldenburg: 1878. Schulze. 1878. p. 34.
  18. ↑ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch für des Herzogtum Anhalt (1883), "Herzoglicher Haus-Orden Albrecht des Bären" p. 16
  19. ↑ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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  21. ↑ "Ritter-Orden: Militärischer Maria-Theresien-Orden". Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie. 1868. p. 42. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  22. ↑ Cibrario, Luigi (1869). Notizia storica del nobilissimo ordine supremo della santissima Annunziata. Sunto degli statuti, catalogo dei cavalieri (in Italian). Eredi Botta. p. 113. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  23. ↑ V. M. Shabanov (2004). Military Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George: A Nominal List, 1769-1920. Moscow. ISBN   5-89577-059-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  24. ↑ H. Tarlier (1854). Almanach royal officiel, publié, exécution d'un arrête du roi (in French). Vol. 1. p.  37.
  25. ↑ "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III". Guía Oficial de España. 1887. pp. 149, 158. Retrieved 21 March 2019.
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  27. ↑ Sveriges statskalender (in Swedish). 1881. p. 378. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2018– via runeberg.org.
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  30. ↑ Militaire Willems-Orde: Sachsen, Friedrich August Albert Anton Ferdinand Joseph Karl Maria Baptist Nepomuk Wilhelm Xaver Georg Fidelis van (in Dutch)
  31. ↑ Shaw, Wm. A. (1906) The Knights of England, I, London, p. 62
  32. ↑ 刑部芳則 (2017). 明治時代の勲章外交儀礼 (PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. p. 143. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 September 2020.
  33. ↑ "พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ ที่ประเทศยุโรป" (PDF). Royal Thai Government Gazette (in Thai). 23 March 1899. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
Albert, King of Saxony
Born: 23 April 1828 Died: 19 June 1902
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Saxony
1873–1902		Succeeded by
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