Province of Saxony

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The Province of Saxony (German:

Provinz Sachsen), also known as
Prussian Saxony (Preußisches Sachsen)
was a province of the Kingdom of
Prussia and later the Free State of
Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital
was Magdeburg.
 Province of Saxony
Provinz Sachsen  (German)

Province of Prussia

1816–1944

Flag Coat of arms

Saxony (red), within the Kingdom of Prussia

(yellow), within the German Empire

Capital Magdeburg
Area
 • Coordinates 52°8′N 11°37′E

• 1939 25,529 km2
(9,857 sq mi)

Population  

• 1816 1197053

• 1905 2978679

• 1939 3662546

History  

• Established 1816

• Disestablished 1944

Political Magdeburg
subdivisions Merseburg
Erfurt
 Preceded by Succeeded by
Duchy of Province of Halle-
Magdeburg Merseburg
Altmark Province of
Electorate of Magdeburg
Mainz Thuringia
Kingdom of
Saxony

It was formed by the merger of various

territories ceded or returned to Prussia in
1815 by the Congress of Vienna: most of
the former northern territories of the
Kingdom of Saxony (the remainder of
which became part of Brandenburg or
Silesia), the former French Principality of
Erfurt, the Duchy of Magdeburg, the
Altmark, the Principality of Halberstadt,
and some other districts.

The province was bounded by the

Electorate of Hesse (the province of
Hesse-Nassau after 1866), the Kingdom
of Hanover (the province of Hanover
after 1866) and the Duchy of Brunswick
to the west, Hanover (again) to the north,
Brandenburg to the north and east,
Silesia to the south-east, and the rump
kingdom of Saxony and the small
Ernestine duchies to the south. Its shape
was very irregular and it entirely
surrounded enclaves of Brunswick and
some of the Ernestine duchies. It also
possessed several exclaves, and was
almost entirely bisected by the Duchy of
Anhalt save for a small corridor of land
around Aschersleben (which itself
bisected Anhalt). The river Havel ran
along the north-eastern border with
Brandenburg north of Plaue but did not
follow the border exactly.

The majority of the population was

Protestant, with a Catholic minority
(about 8% as of 1905) considered part of
the diocese of Paderborn. The province
sent 20 members to the Reichstag and
38 delegates to the Prussian House of
Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus).

History
Early history …

The province was created in 1816 out of

the following territories:

the Prussian lands which lay

immediately to the (south-)west of the
Havel river; those which lay beyond the
Elbe – the Altmark, Principality of
Halberstadt and County of
Wernigerode and the western part of
the Duchy of Magdeburg – had been
part of the Kingdom of Westphalia
from 1807–1813 but had since been
regained
territory gained from the Kingdom of
Saxony after the Battle of Leipzig in
1813 (confirmed in 1815): the towns
and surrounding territories of
Wittenberg, Merseburg, Naumburg,
Mansfeld, Querfurt, and Henneberg;
within the Kingdom of Saxony these
had comprised:
most of the Wittenburg Circle
(excluding the far north around
Belzig which was merged into
Brandenburg)
the northern parts of the Meissen
and Leipzig Circles
the Thuriniga Circle
a small part of the Neustadt Circle
around Ziegenrück, which formed
an exclave within Thuringia
 the County of Stolberg-Stolberg
the Saxon parts of the former
County of Mansfeld (the
remainder had been part of
Magdeburg)
part of the Principality of Querfurt
most of the Saxon portion of the
former County of Henneberg
around Suhl, which formed a
second Thuringian exclave
the former bishoprics of
Merseburg and Naumburg
the County of Barby;
territory given to Prussia after the
Reichsdeputationshauptschluss: lands
around Erfurt (formerly directly
subordinate to the Emperor of the
French as the Principality of Erfurt), the
Eichsfeld (formerly belonging to the
Archbishopric of Mainz), the former
imperial cities of Mühlhausen and
Nordhausen, and Quedlinburg Abbey.
several small territories which were
former Hannovarian enclaves within
the Altmark, centred around Klötze,
and which had been part of the
Kingdom of Westphalia from 1807–
1813
a small amount of territory on the left
bank of the Havel that had previously
belonged to Anhalt-Dessau (Anhalt-
Zerbst before 1796)
Later history …

The provincial arms as part of the Free State of

Prussia after 1918.

The Province of Saxony was one of the

richest regions of Prussia, with highly
developed agriculture and industry. In
1932, the province was enlarged with the
addition of the regions around Ilfeld and
Elbingerode, which had previously been
part of the Province of Hanover.
On 1 July 1944, the Province of Saxony
was divided along the lines of its three
administrative regions. The Erfurt
Regierungsbezirk was merged with the
Herrschaft Schmalkalden district of the
Province of Hesse-Nassau and given to
the state of Thuringia. The Magdeburg
Regierungsbezirk became the Province of
Magdeburg, and the Merseburg
Regierungsbezirk became the Province of
Halle-Merseburg.

In 1945, the Soviet military

administration combined Magdeburg and
Halle-Merseburg with the State of Anhalt
into the Province of Saxony-Anhalt, with
Halle as its capital. The eastern part of
the Blankenburg exclave of Brunswick
and the Thuringian exclave of Allstedt
were also added to Saxony-Anhalt. In
1947, Saxony-Anhalt became a state.

The East German states, including

Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, were
abolished in 1952, but they were
recreated as part of the reunification of
Germany in 1990 (with some slight
border changes; in particular territories
around Torgau, which were part of
Saxony-Anhalt between 1945 and 1952,
passed to Saxony) as modern states of
Germany.

Subdivisions
Prior to 1944, the province of Saxony was
divided into three Regierungsbezirke. In
1945, only the provinces of Magdeburg
and Halle-Merseburg were re-merged.

Regierungsbezirk Magdeburg …

The Province of Saxony before 1918

Urban districts (Stadtkreise)

 1. Aschersleben (1901–1950)
2. Burg bei Magdeburg (1924–1950)
3. Halberstadt (1817–1825 and 1891–
1950)
4. Magdeburg
5. Quedlinburg (1911–1950)
6. Stendal (1909–1950)

Rural districts (Landkreise)

1. Calbe a./S.
2. Gardelegen
3. Haldensleben
4. Jerichow I
5. Jerichow II
6. Oschersleben (Bode)
 7. Osterburg
8. Quedlinburg
9. Salzwedel
10. Stendal
11. Wanzleben
12. Wernigerode
13. Wolmirstedt

Regierungsbezirk Merseburg …

Urban districts (Stadtkreise)

1. Eisleben (1908–1950)
2. Halle a. d. Saale
3. Merseburg (1921–1950)
4. Naumburg a. d. Saale (1914–1950)
5. Weißenfels (1899–1950)
 6. Wittenberg (Lutherstadt)
7. Zeitz (1901–1950)

Rural districts (Landkreise)

1. Bitterfeld
2. Delitzsch
3. Eckartsberga
4. Liebenwerda
5. Mansfelder Gebirgskreis
6. Mansfelder Seekreis
7. Merseburg
8. Querfurt
9. Saalkreis
10. Sangerhausen
11. Schweinitz
 12. Torgau
13. Weißenfels
14. Wittenberg
15. Zeitz

Regierungsbezirk Erfurt …

Urban districts (Stadtkreise)

1. Erfurt (1816–18 and 1872–present)

2. Mühlhausen (1892–1950)
3. Nordhausen (1882–1950)

Rural districts (Landkreise)

1. Hohenstein county
2. Heiligenstadt
3. Langensalza
 4. Mühlhausen
5. Schleusingen
6. Weißensee
7. Worbis
8. Ziegenrück

See also
People from the Province of Saxony

References
Handbuch der Provinz Sachsen,
Magdeburg, 1900.
Jacobs, Geschichte der in der
preussischen Provinz Sachsen
vereinigten Gebiete, Gotha, 1884.
 Die Provinz Sachsen in Wort und Bild,
Berlin, 1900 (reprint: Naumburger
Verlagsanstalt 1990, ISBN 3-86156-
007-0).

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911

Encyclopædia Britannica article
Saxony (province).

Further information (in German)

Administrative subdivision and
population breakdown of Saxony
province, 1900/1910 (in German)
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Last edited 3 months ago by Buidhe

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