mobile View, to the German Version tap the flag

 

Province of Saxony

 

Contents

Flags

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flags

Flagge Fahne flag Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
Colours of the country,
ratio = 3:5




Flagge Fahne flag Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
1875–ca.1920,
Official flag (doubtful),
ratio = 3:5




Flagge Fahne flag Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
ca.1922–1934,
Official flag (doubtful),
ratio = 3:5



hoch/up


Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The colours of the flag of the Province of Saxony black and yellow (gold), have their roots in the saxonian blazon. A coat of arms was adopted for the country on 9th of January in 1817. It was the coat of arms of Saxony, divided ten times between black and gold with a green diamond wreath on it. In the year 1864 the coat of arms was changed. The sequence of colors in the shield became reversed so that gold was on the top. Interestingly, this was not reflected in the arrangement of the colors on the flag. Actually, yellow should have been on top, too.

From 1875, the provinces of Prussia could largely operate in self-governing. There was a provincial parliament and a provincial government (Provincial Committee). Each province had its own colors (Landesfarben), which were also used as flag, and they had also their own coat of arms. If the provincial governments put for official purposes (official flag) their coats of arms on a flag with the provincial colors is not handed down beyond doubt and not for all provinces.

Another incident for the flag was the seizure of power by the National Socialists in the German Empire in 1933. All official non-swastika flags, that refered to federalism, regional references or the old German Empire were abolished between 1933 and 1935. For the National Socialists, the federal structure of the German Empire, its historically grown countries, was considered as outdated, as relics of a past to be overcome. In this sense, several laws were enacted, on 31st of March in 1933 the 'Provisional Law for the phasing of the countries with the Empire', on 7th of April 1933 the 'Second Law for the phasing of the countries with the Empire' and finally, on 30th January in 1934 the 'Law on the rebuilding of the empire'. Thus, the federal structure of the German Empire was replaced by the gau-structure of the NSDAP, the countries became meaningless. From now on, offices and authorities had to use the swastika flag as official flag, until September 15th in 1935, when by the flag-law was legislated a new created official flag for all the offices and authorities of the empire. The prime ministers of the countries, which latest in 1933 all came from the NSDAP – now mostly called Reichsstatthalter (maybe translated as 'governor') – however remained in office until 1945. This was then also applied on the provinces of the state of Prussia. Their sovereign duties were taken over by the Gau structure of the NSDAP, which sometimes coincided with the borders of the provinces and sometimes they were new created. The respective provincial flags disappeared. The corresponding country colours continued, with restrictions, but definitly not in the form of flags. They were used, for example, occasionally on uniforms of the SA or in some ranks of the Hitler Youth in the breast cord.

After the war, the administration within the German Empire was rebuilt, but locally, following the structure of the countries.These have been partly old countries, and some new countries were created. Sometimes they bethought the old country colours and reactivated them – or they created new ones – for limited sovereign duties, which were under the control of the Allies. With the founding of the FRG and the GDR, an internal country-structure was finalised for both entities and corresponding official flags were introduced for these countries.

Source: Volker Preuß, Jürgen Kaltschmitt, Uniform-Fibel

hoch/up


Coat of Arms


Wappen coat of arms Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
1817–1864,
Coat of arms of the Province of Saxony,
Quelle, nach: Deutsche Wappen Rolle


Wappen coat of arms Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
1864–1920(?),
Coat of arms of the Province of Saxony,
Quelle, nach: Deutsche Wappen Rolle


Wappen coat of arms Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
1920(?)–1922(?),
Coat of arms of the Province of Saxony,
(zweifelhaft),
Source, by: Jürgen Kaltschmitt


Wappen coat of arms Provinz Sachsen Province of Saxony
1920(?)–1933,
Coat of arms of the Province of Saxony,
Source, by: Jürgen Kaltschmitt

hoch/up


Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the Province of Saxony has its roots in the saxonian blazon. The Prussian kings of the house of Hohenzollern used the merits of their country to liberate Germany from the reign of Napoleon, to compensate for themselves by making ample territorial gains. They annexed Danzig (Gdansk), Posen (Poznan), the Altmark, areas in Westphalia and on the Lower Rhine. They hoped also to be able to incorporate whole Saxony, whose king tragically failed at Napoleon's side. His Grand Duchy of Warsaw had already been divided between Prussia and Russia. At last, Prussia limited itself by cutting large pieces out of the Saxon cake, annexing large areas of Saxony in the north, northwest and northeast and uniting them with the Altmark to form the "Duchy of Saxony", the later "Province of Saxony". A coat of arms was adopted for the country on 9th of January in 1817. It was of course the coat of arms of Saxony, divided ten times between black and gold with a green diamond wreath on it. In the year 1864 the coat of arms was changed – to better distinguish it from the Kingdom of Saxony (the anger against the country seemed to have subsided) – the sequence of colors in the shield became reversed so that gold was on the top. Interestingly, this was not reflected in the arrangement of the colors on the flag. Actually, yellow should have been on top, too.

Source: Volker Preuß

hoch/up


Map


Source: Hand-Atlas für die Geschichte des Mittelalters und die neueren Zeit, 1880, von Spruner and Menke, modyfied by: Volker Preuß

The historical map shows the province of Saxony between the years 1815 and 1866, within a red border.

hoch/up


Numbers and Facts

Area: 9.746 square miles (1890)

Inhabitants: 2.580.000 (1890)

Density of Population: 265 inh./sq.mi. (1890)

Capital: Magdeburg

Source: Brockhaus Konversationslexikon

hoch/up


History

1816 · creation of the Province of Saxony from the following territories:
 • from the Kingdom of Saxony to Prussia ceded territories
 • the Prussian territories Altmark and Magdeburg Town
 • the formerly to Mainz belonging possessions Erfurt Town and Eichsfeld

1944 · partition of the Province of Saxony into the Provinces of Magdeburg and Halle-Merseburg, the Governmental District of Erfurt came to Thuringia

1945 · unification of the Provinces of Magdeburg and Halle-Merseburg, with the country Anhalt to the country Province of Saxony - Anhalt

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Volker Preuß, Discovery '97

hoch/up


Origin of the Country's Name

The name of the province goes back to that territories, which were ceded from the Kingdom of Saxony to Prussia in 1816, which is the bigest part of the provinze. The Altmark Area, the town of Magdeburg and the town of Erfurt and the Eichsfeld Area were additionally annexed.

Source: Volker Preuß

hoch/up









 

 

to start page click here