Doctor Prince Albert of Saxony Duke of Saxony
Doctor Prince Albert of Saxony Duke of Saxony was born in Bamberg on 30 November 1934. He grew up in Bavaria and Austria.
Biography
He was the second eldest son of Margrave Friedrich Christian of Meissen. After having finished school in Bregenz, Prince Albert of Saxony moved with the Margrave’s family to Munich. Margrave Friedrich Christian’s youngest children, Albert and Mathilde, were reunited with their parents in Munich after a long time of separation. The children were looked after by their nanny Maria Schwimmer.
Prince Albert took up his studies at the Ludwigs-Maximilians-University in Munich. He completed his studies at the Philosophical Faculty on 13 February 1961, obtaining a doctorate degree on topics of Saxon history.
Prince Albert married Elmira Henke on 12 April 1980 at Theatine Church in Munich. They had no children. Together with his wife, he managed the “Studiengruppe für sächsische Geschichte und Kultur e.V.” (Study Group on Saxon History and Culture Association) until his death in October 2012. This association was founded by Albert’s father, Margrave Friedrich Christian, his brother Maria Emanuel and himself. The association’s goal is to “conserve and to pass on the lost homeland’s history and tradition”. The compatriots of Saxony, who had been displaced and spread all over Central Germany, should be given a possibility to search for identity and to exchange views in the sense of the old culture and history. Prince Albert was author of several publications on topics of Wettin history, Saxony’s industrialization as well as the common history of Saxony and Bavaria.
After the Peaceful Revolution, Albert and his wife travelled throughout Central Germany tirelessly, giving lectures on the Wettins and the history of Central Germany. Albert initiated the so-called “Wachwitzer Gespräche” (Wachwitz talks) in Wachwitz Castle. In 1997, he and his wife participated in the Pentecost Meeting and in the first conference of all members of the House of Wettin after the fall of the Communist regime. His elder brother Maria Emanuel, the Head of the Royal House, had decided to propose his nephew Prince Alexander of Saxe-Gessaphe to the other family members as his immediate successor. By a unanimous, notarially certified agreement, all family members, including Albert and his wife, gave their consent to the Margrave’s decision. Albert died after a long and serious illness on 6 October 2012 in Munich.
Parents
Prince Friedrich Christian of Saxony Duke of Saxony Margrave of Meissen (* 31 December 1893 in Dresden, † 9 August 1968 in Samedan, Switzerland). He married on 16 June 1923 in Regensburg
Princess Elisabeth Helene of Thurn and Taxis
(* 15 December 1903 in Regensburg, † 22 October 1973 in Munich).
Brother and sisters
Prince Maria Emanuel of Saxony Duke of Saxony
(* 31 January 1926 at Prüfening Castle (Bavaria), † 23 July 2012 in La Tour (Switzerland))
Princess Maria Josefa of Saxony Duchess of Saxony
(* 20 September 1928 in Bad Wörishofen)
Princess Maria Anna Josefa of Saxony Duchess of Saxony (* 13 December 1929 in Bad Wörishofen;
† 13 March 2012 in Munich)
Princess Mathilde Maria Josefa Anna Xaveria of Saxony Duchess of Saxony (* 17 January 1936 in Bamberg)