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The House of Wettin
The Wettins are one of the oldest German noble families that can be traced – older than the Hohenzollerns and the Habsburgs – and are named after Wettin Castle on the Saale. In 1089 they became Margraves of Meissen, in 1423 Electors, and in 1806 Kings of Saxony. In 1918 the last king, Frederick Augustus III, abdicated, and in 1945 the family was expropriated.
Their traces in the area
Almost all the great castles and palaces of the region were at some point Wettin seats: the Albrechtsburg in Meissen, the Royal Palace in Dresden, Pillnitz and Moritzburg, the Festung Königstein and the Sonnenstein in Pirna. In the 15th century they took Hohnstein, Wildenstein and Rathen from the Bohemian Berka of Dubá; the Treaty of Eger of 1459 then fixed the border with Bohemia.
As of: 09/2026
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