House of Wettin Facts for Kids

House of Wettin
Quick facts for kids
Country:	Saxony
Titles:	Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia, Duke of Saxony, Grand Duke of Saxony, Elector of Saxony, King of Saxony
Founder:	Thiedericus
Final Ruler:	Many sovereigns in different states until 1918
Current Head:	Prince Michael, titular Grand Duke of Saxony
Founding Year:	900s A.D.
Dissolution:	1918
Ethnicity:	German
Cadet Branches:	In order of seniority: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Grand Duchy of Saxony) Saxe-Meiningen Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxony (Kingdom of Saxony)

The House of Wettin was a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors (Kurfürsten) and kings that ruled in what is known today as the German states of Saxony and Thuringia for more than 800 years. Members of the Wettin family were also kings of Poland, as well as forming the ruling houses of Great Britain, Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium. Today only the British and Belgian lines still rule their countries, but the last Tsar of Bulgaria, Simeon II, was Prime Minister of Bulgaria between 2001 and 2005. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is the only ex-king who has ever returned to his country as an elected leader.

Origins: Wettins of Saxony
Branches of the House of Wettin
- The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
- List of branches of the House of Wettin
Related pages
Images for kids
See also

Origins: Wettins of Saxony

The oldest known member of the House of Wettin was Thiedericus (died 982). Around 1000, as part of the German conquest of Slavic territory, the family got Wettin Castle and changed their name. It was usual for noblemen to change their name to the name of their territory. Wettin Castle is located in Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt in the Hosgau on the Saale River.

Branches of the House of Wettin

The House split into two main branches, the Ernestine and the Albertine. The descendants of Ernest often subdivided their land and ended up with a lot of small duchies, but one (Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) became very important. Ernest's younger brother was Albert. His descendants became Electors of Saxony, and in 1806, Kings of Saxony

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Descendants of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha have become:

kings of Belgium (from 1831) and
Bulgaria (1908 - 1946)

and also husbands of the queens of

Portugal (Ferdinand II of Portugal) and
the United Kingdom (Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria).

The wife of the Emperor of Mexico (Carlota of Mexico) was also a member of the house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As such, the British, Portuguese, and for a time, Mexican, thrones became a possession of persons who belonged to the House of Wettin.

During World War I the British Royal Family changed the name as well as their personal surnames to Windsor by an Order-in-Council of King George V. The Kings of Belgiums now do not use the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha name, but have never officially changed it.

List of branches of the House of Wettin

Margraves of Meissen
Dukes of Saxony, Landgraves of Thuringia
Electors of Saxony
Dukes of Saxe-Coburg
Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg (first line of Altenburg)
Dukes of Saxe-Weimar
Dukes of Saxe-Eisenach
Dukes of Saxe-Gotha
Dukes of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg (second line of Altenburg)
Dukes of Saxe-Meiningen
Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen, then Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg (third line of Altenburg)
Dukes of Saxe-Coburg (Gotha later added)
Kings and Queen of the United Kingdom (House of Windsor)
Princes of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary
Kings of Portugal (Saxe-Coburg-Braganza, last reigning Royal House of Portugal)
Kings of Bulgaria (sometimes had been known as "Kohary" and as "Sakskoburggotski")
Kings of Belgium
Dukes of "Saxe-Dresden"
Electors of Saxony
Kings of Saxony, currently Prinz/ Prinzessin von Sachsen
Saxe-Zeitz
Saxe-Merseburg
Saxe-Weissenfels
Dukes of Saxony, Landgraves of Thuringia, Dukes of Luxembourg
Saxe-Landsberg
Saxe-Lauenberg

Rulers of Saxony, a list containing many Wettins
Wettin, Saxony-Anhalt, the city from which the Wettin dynasty originated

Images for kids

Wettin Castle in Saxony-Anhalt
Catholic members of the Royal Albertine branch of the House of Wettin buried in the crypt chapel of the Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden
Family tree of the House of Wettin, the royal & ducal house of Saxony, and later Great Britain, Belgium, Portugal, and Bulgaria
Ernest, Elector of Saxony (1441–1486)
Albert, Duke of Saxony (1443–1500)
Altenburg Castle
Saalfeld Castle
Schloss Weimar
Eisenach Palace
Elisabethenburg Palace in Meiningen
Hildburghausen Castle
Dresden Royal Palace
Meissen (near Dresden)
Moritzburg Castle (near Dresden)
Pillnitz Palace (near Dresden)
Weesenstein Castle (near Dresden)
Freudenstein Castle at Freiberg
Augustusburg Hunting Lodge (near Chemnitz)
Hubertusburg Castle (near Leipzig)
Veste Coburg, ancestral seat of the House of Saxe-Coburg
Ehrenburg Palace, Coburg (summer residence)
Friedenstein Castle, Gotha (winter residence)
Reinhardsbrunn Castle, Gotha
Rosenau Castle, Coburg
Callenberg Castle
Wartburg near Eisenach (1250–1406: residence of the Wettins)
Wittenberg Castle, residence of Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1490–96
Hartenfels Castle in Torgau, main residence of the Ernestine Electors since Frederick III, "the Wise", built 1533–40
Moritzburg Palace in Zeitz
Merseburg Castle
Neu-Augustusburg Castle, Weissenfels