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Frederick Augustus III of Saxony

This article is about King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. For the elector Frederick Augustus III, see Frederick Augustus I of Saxony.

Frederick Augustus III (German: Friedrich August III.; 25 May 1865 – 18 February 1932) was the last King of Saxony (1904–1918). Born in Dresden, Frederick Augustus was the eldest son of King George of Saxony and his wife, Maria Anna of Portugal.

Frederick Augustus III
Frederick Augustus III (1914)
King of Saxony
Reign15 October 1904 – 13 November 1918
PredecessorGeorge
SuccessorMonarchy abolished
Born(1865-05-25)25 May 1865
Dresden, Kingdom of Saxony
Died18 February 1932(1932-02-18) (aged 66)
Sibyllenort, Landkreis Oels, Province of Lower Silesia, Free State of Prussia, Weimar Republic
(present-day Szczodre, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland)
Burial
Katholische Hofkirche, Dresden
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1891; div. 1903)​
Issue
Names
German: Friedrich August Johann Ludwig Karl Gustav Gregor Philipp
English: Frederick Augustus John Louis Charles Gustav Gregory Philip von Wettin
HouseWettin
FatherGeorge of Saxony
MotherMaria Anna of Portugal
ReligionRoman Catholicism
SignatureFrederick Augustus III's signature

Frederick Augustus served in the Royal Saxon Army before becoming king, and later was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall. Though well-loved by his subjects, he voluntarily abdicated as king on 13 November 1918, after the defeat of the German Empire in World War I. He died in his Sibyllenort Palace in Lower Silesia (now Szczodre in Poland) and was buried in Dresden.

Military career

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Frederick Augustus entered the Royal Saxon Army in 1877 as a second lieutenant, despite being only twelve years old. Given his royal status, he advanced rapidly through the ranks. He served initially with the Royal Saxon 1. (Leib-) Grenadier Regiment Nr. 100. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1883, captain in 1887, major in 1889 and lieutenant colonel in 1891. By 1891, he was commander of the 1st Battalion of Schützen (Füsilier)-Regiment Nr. 108. He was promoted to colonel on 22 September 1892 and took command of the Schützen (Füsilier)-Regiment Nr. 108 on the same day. On 20 September 1894, the 29-year-old prince was promoted to Generalmajor and given command of the 1st Royal Saxon Infantry Brigade Nr. 45 (Saxon higher units usually bore two numbers: one their Saxon Army number and the other their number in the Prussian Army order of battle). On 22 May 1898, he was promoted to Generalleutnant and given command of the 1st Royal Saxon Infantry Division Nr. 23. He commanded this division until 26 August 1902, when he took command of the XII (1st Royal Saxon) Corps. He was promoted to General der Infanterie one month later, on 24 September. He remained in command of the corps until October 1904, when he became king. His military career effectively ended with his accession to the throne, but he was promoted subsequently to Generaloberst and then to Generalfeldmarschall (on 9 September 1912).

Following his father's accession, he was in July 1902 appointed à la suite of the German Marine Infantry by Emperor Wilhelm II during a visit to Kiel.[1]

Abdication

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When the German Revolution of 1918 broke out in November, Frederick Augustus made no attempt to defend the Saxon monarchy. Knowing that it was futile to continue the war, he demurred when asked to quell a worker-sponsored uprising in the Altmarkt with troops still loyal to the king, and instead quietly left Dresden Castle through a side-gate to Moritzburg Castle.

While seeking refuge in Guteborn, he received news that Hermann Fleissner had proclaimed the Free State of Saxony on 10 November. Three days later, he signed his abdication on a single sheet of paper that consisted of one sentence: "I renounce the throne". Frederick Augustus then relieved all Saxons of their oath of loyalty to the monarchy, calling for unity and urging the citizens to work towards the better good of the state, whereupon he withdrew to Sibyllenort Palace, which he privately owned, near Breslau.

Family

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Frederick Augustus married Archduchess Louise of Austria, in Vienna on 21 November 1891. They were divorced in 1903 by the royal decree of the King after she ran away while pregnant with her last child. Luise's flight from Dresden was due to her father-in-law's threatening to have her interned in a mental asylum at the Sonnenstein Castle for life. Her brother supported her in her wish to escape from Saxony. Emperor Franz-Josef of Austria-Hungary did not recognise the divorce.

They had seven children:

Their two eldest sons, Friedrich August and Friedrich Christian, were both born in 1893, but were not twins. Friedrich August was born in January, and Friedrich Christian was born in December.

Quotes

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Frederick Augustus was a popular monarch who was not particularly given to the formalities and luxuries of royalty. He often dressed in civilian clothes, was comfortable speaking in the vernacular Upper Saxon dialect, and was sometimes seen playing skat with his subjects in the pubs of Dresden. Several instances of his self-effacing sense of humour have been recorded.

  • When standing in uniform on a station platform, he was asked by a lady to move her trunk. He is reported to have replied, "Madam, I am not a porter; I only look like one."[2]
  • When the German Republic was proclaimed in 1918, he was asked by telephone whether he would abdicate willingly. He said: "Oh, well, I suppose I'd better."[3]
  • When cheered by a crowd in a railway station several years after his abdication, he stuck his head out of the train's window and shouted "You're a fine lot of republicans, I'll say!"[3]

Decorations and awards

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Coat of Arms of the King of Saxony

Ancestry

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Latest intelligence - the German Emperor and Saxony". The Times. No. 36812. London. 5 July 1902. p. 7.
  2. ^ "In Saxony". Time. 10 August 1925. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Milestones, Feb. 29, 1932". Time. 29 February 1932. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rangliste de Königlich Preußischen Armee (in German), Berlin: Ernst Siegfried Mittler & Sohn, 1903, p. 139 – via hathitrust.org
  5. ^ Staatshandbuch für den Freistaat Sachsen (1878) (in German), "Königliche Ritter-Orden", p. 3
  6. ^ a b "Friedrich August III. Johann Ludwig Karl Gustav König von Sachsen". the Prussian Machine. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  7. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Baden (1888), "Großherzogliche Orden" pp. 62, 74
  8. ^ Hof und Staatshandbuch für den Königreich Bayern (1906) (in German), "Königliche Orden", p. 7
  9. ^ Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (1890), "Herzogliche Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden" p. 46
  10. ^ "Ludewigs-orden", Großherzoglich Hessische Ordensliste (in German), Darmstadt: Staatsverlag, 1914, p. 5 – via hathitrust.org
  11. ^ "Schwarzer Adler-orden", Königlich Preussische Ordensliste (in German), vol. 1, Berlin, 1886, p. 9 – via hathitrust.org{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ Staatshandbuch für das Großherzogtum Sachsen / Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach Archived 6 September 2020 at the Wayback Machine (1900), "Großherzogliche Hausorden" p. 16
  13. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Württemberg (1907), "Königliche Orden" p. 29
  14. ^ "Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, pp. 50, 52, 55, retrieved 2 November 2019
  15. ^ a b Justus Perthes, Almanach de Gotha (1923) pp. 108–109
  16. ^ Sveriges Statskalender (in Swedish), 1915, p. 671, retrieved 6 January 2018 – via runeberg.org
  17. ^ Royal Thai Government Gazette (23 March 1899). "พระราชทานเครื่องราชอิสริยาภรณ์ ที่ประเทศยุโรป" (PDF) (in Thai). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2019. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. ^ "Caballeros extranjeros del collar de la Orden de Carlos III", Guía Oficial de España (in Spanish), 1920, p. 213, retrieved 12 July 2020
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Frederick Augustus III of Saxony
Born: 25 May 1865 Died: 18 February 1932
Regnal titles
Preceded by King of Saxony
15 October 1904 – 13 November 1918 		Monarchy abolished
Titles in pretence
Loss of title
 — TITULAR —
King of Saxony
13 November 1918 – 18 February 1932 		Succeeded by
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