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| offtopic:saxony [2019/03/29 15:13] – external edit 127.0.0.1 | offtopic:saxony [2023/04/26 18:00] (current) – max_sinister |
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| ====== Saxony ====== | ====== Saxony ====== |
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| The name "Saxony" can be applied for a variety of things, which leads into bewildering amounts of confusion. The various varieties of Saxonies therefore deserve a lengthy explanation here: | The name "Saxony" (German: //Sachsen//) can be applied for a variety of things, which leads into bewildering amounts of confusion. The various varieties of Saxonies therefore deserve a lengthy explanation here: |
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| ==== Old Saxony === | ==== Old Saxony === |
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| ==== Electorate / Kingdom / Free State of Saxony ==== | ==== Electorate / Kingdom / Free State of Saxony ==== |
| The final entity to be called "Saxony" is the modern German state of the same name and its predecessors. It is however "the" Saxony that will come into the mind of most Germans when they hear the word. By ethnicity and language, the state is utterly unrelated with old Saxony. The original population of the area (the Margraviate of Meissen, also known as the Thuringian March) was actually West Slavic. To a small degree, it still is today, in the shape of the Sorbian minority. The distinct Saxon dialect (which is something the state is infamous for, and ridiculed on by the rest of Germany) is actually a highly aberrant Middle German dialect, derived from Frankish and not from Old Saxon. This schizophrenia comes from the fact that "Elector of Saxony" sounds more funky than "Margrave of Meissen". Under Napoleon, the Electorate was elevated to the status of Kingdom, which it remained until monarchy was abolished in Germany in 1918, when it became the Free State of Saxony. | The final entity to be called "Saxony" is the modern German state of the same name and its predecessors. It is however "the" Saxony that will come into the mind of most Germans when they hear the word. By ethnicity and language, the state is utterly unrelated with old Saxony. The original population of the area (the Margraviate of Meissen, also known as the Thuringian March) was actually West Slavic. To a small degree, it still is today, in the shape of the Sorbian minority. The distinct Saxon dialect (which is something the state is infamous for, and ridiculed by the rest of Germany) is actually a highly aberrant Middle German dialect, derived from Frankish and not from Old Saxon. This schizophrenia comes from the fact that "Elector of Saxony" sounds more funky than "Margrave of Meissen". Under Napoleon, the Electorate was elevated to the status of Kingdom, which it remained until monarchy was abolished in Germany in 1918, when it became the Free State of Saxony. |
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| ==== Province of Saxony / Saxony-Anhalt === | ==== Province of Saxony / Saxony-Anhalt === |
| The Prussian province of Saxony was established after the Napoleonic Wars and incorporated territory previously part of the Kingdom of Saxony, hence the name. After World War II, Provincial Saxony (minus the areas that were given to Thuringia) was merged with the state on Anhalt to form Saxony-Anhalt. | The Prussian province of Saxony was established after the Napoleonic Wars and incorporated territory previously part of the Kingdom of Saxony, hence the name. After World War II, Provincial Saxony (minus the areas that were given to Thuringia) was merged with the state of Anhalt to form Saxony-Anhalt. |
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| ==== Thuringian States === | ==== Thuringian States === |
