IX. BRUNSWICK, (BRAUNSCHWEIG.) Regent. Prince Albrecht, born May 8, 1837, son of the late Prince Albrecht of Prussia, brother of the first German Emperor Wilhelm I., and Marianne, daughter of the late William I., King of the Netherlands, Field-Marshal in the German Army. Married April 19, 1873, to Princess Maria, Duchess of Saxony, daughter of Duke Ernst of Saxe-Altenburg. Unanimously elected regent of the duchy by the Diet, October 21, 1885; assumed the reins of government November 2, 1885. The children of the Regent are: 1. Prince Friedrich Heinrich, born July 15, 1874; 2. Prince Joachim Albrecht, born September 27, 1876; 3. Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, born July 12, 1880. The last Duke of Brunswick was Wilhelm I., born April 25, 1806, the second son of Duke Friedrich Wilhelm and of Princess Marie of Baden; ascended the throne, April 25, 1831, and died October 18, 1884. The ducal house of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, extinct on the death of Wilhelm I., was long one of the most ancient and illustrious of the Germanic Confederation. Its ancestor, Henry the Lion, possessed, in the twelfth century, the united duchies of Bavaria and Saxony, with other territories in the north of Germany; but having refused to aid the Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa in his wars with the Pope, he was, by a decree of the Diet, deprived of the whole of his territories with the sole exception of his allodial domains, the principalities of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Their possessions were, on the death of Ernest the Confessor, divided between the two sons of the latter, who became the founders of the lines of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Elder Line, and Brunswick-Lüneburg, Younger Line, the former of which was represented in the ducal house of Brunswick, while the latter is merged in the royal family of Great Britain. The Brunswick Regency law of February 16, 1879, enacts that in case the legitimate heir to the Brunswick throne be absent or prevented from assuming the government, a Council of Regency, consisting of the Ministers of State and the Presidents of the Landtag and of the Supreme Court, should carry on the government; while the German Emperor should assume command of the military forces in the Duchy. If the rightful heir, after the space of a year, is unable to claim the throne, the Brunswick Landtag shall elect a Regent from the non-reigning members of German reigning families. The late Duke of Brunswick was one of the wealthiest of German sovereigns, having been in possession of vast private estates, including the principality of Oels, in Silesia, and large domains in the district of Glatz, in Prussia. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Constitution of Brunswick bears date October 12, 1832, but was modified by the fundamental laws of November 22, 1851, and March 26, 1888. The legislative power is vested in one Chamber, consisting, according to the law of 1851, of forty-six members. Of these, twenty-one are elected by those who are highest-taxed; three by the Protestant clergy; ten by the inhabitants of towns, and twelve by those of rural districts. The Chamber meets, according to the law of 1888, every two years, and the deputies hold their mandate for four years. The executive is represented by a responsible Staatsministerium or Ministry of State, consisting at present of four departments, namely, of State and Foreign Affairs, of Justice, of Finance, and of the Interior. The budget is voted by the Chamber for the period of two years, but each year separate. For the year 1888 the revenue and expenditure of the State were made to balance at 11,175,000 marks, and of the Domains at 2,445,000 marks. Not included in the budget estimates, as already stated, is the civil list of the Duke, 1,125,000 marks in 1888. The public debt of the duchy, without regard to a premium-loan repayable in rates of 1,200,000 marks yearly till 1924, at the commencement of 1888, was 28,971,000 marks, four-fifths of which debt was contracted for the establishment of railways; the productive capital of the State was at the same time 42,490,000 marks, besides an annuity of 2,625,000 marks till 1934, stipulated at the sale of the railways of the State. The duchy has an area of 1,526 English square miles, with a population of 372,452 inhabitants (186,175 males, 186,277 females), according to the census of December 1, 1885. There were 311,764 inhabitants at the census of December 1, 1871, the increase in the four years 1871-75 being at the high rate of 1.26 per cent. per annum, while it was 1.29 in the five years 1875-80, and 1.32 in 1880-85. Marriages, 1887, 3,219; births, 14,096; deaths, 8,467; surplus, 5,629. Included in the births are 570 (4.04 per cent.) still-born, and 1,600 (11.35 per cent.) illegitimate children. Emigrants, 1882, 786; 1883, 592; 1884, 449; 1885, 279; 1886, 252; 1887, 238. Nearly the whole of the inhabitants of the duchy are members of the Lutheran Church, there being only 12,642 Catholics in 1885. The capital of the duchy, the town of Brunswick, or Braunschweig, had 85,174 inhabitants at the census of Dec. 1, 1885. Brunswick numbered on June 5, 1882, 53,611 agricultural en closures, each under one household, having a population of 113,177, of whom 59,643 were actively engaged on the farms. Of these farms, 34,129 were less than 1 hectare, 14,149 ranged from 1 to less than 10 hectares, 5,168 from 10 to less than 100 hectares, and 165 had an area each of 100 hectares and upwards. There were 255 miles of railway in 1888. British Minister Plenipotentiary.-Sir Edward Malet, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. Consul-General.-Hon. C. S. Dundas (Hamburg). X. SAXE-WEIMAR. (GROSSHERZOGTHUM SACHSEN-WEIMAR.) Karl Alexander, born June 24, 1818, the son of Grand-duke Karl Friedrich and of Grand-duchess Marie, daughter of the late Czar Paul I. of Russia. Succeeded his father, July 8, 1853; married October 8, 1842, to Sophie, born April 8, 1824, daughter of the late King Willem II. of the Netherlands. Children of the Grand-duke. I. Prince Karl August, heir-apparent, born July 31, 1844; married August 26, 1873, to Princess Pauline, born July 25, 1852, eldest daughter of Prince Hermann of Saxe-Weimar, of which union there are offspring two sons, namely, Wilhelm Ernst, born June 10, 1876, and Bernhard, born April 18, 1878. II. Princess Maria, born January 20, 1849; married February 6, 1876, to Prince Heinrich VII., of Reuss-Schleiz-Köstritz; offspring, Heinrich XXXII., born March 4, 1878; Heinrich XXXIII., born July 26, 1879; Sophie, born June 27, 1884; Heinrich XXXV., born August 1, 1887. III. Princess Elisabeth, born February 28, 1854; married Nov. 6, 1886, to Johann, Duke of Mecklenburg Schwerin. Sister of the Grand-duke. Princess Augusta, born September 30, 1811; married June 11, 1829, to Prince Wilhelm, the late Wilhelm I., German Emperor. Cousins of the Grand-duke. I. Prince Eduard, born October 11, 1823, the son of the late Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar; major-general in the British army; married Nov. 27, 1851, to Lady Augusta Catherine, born Jan. 14, 1827, daughter of the fifth Duke of Richmond. II. Prince Hermann, born August 4, 1825, brother of the preceding; married June 17, 1851, to Princess Augusta, born Oct. 4, 1826, youngest daughter of King Wilhelm I. of Württemberg, of which union there are offspring six children. III. Prince Gustav, born June 28, 1827, brotherof the preceding; major-general in the Austrian army; married February 14, 1870, to Pierina Marcochia, Countess von Neupurg. The family of the Grand-duke stands at the head of the Ernestine or elder line of the princely houses of Saxony, which include SaxeMeiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, while the younger, or Albertine line, is represented by the Kings of Saxony. Saxe-Weimar was formed into an independent duchy towards the end of the sixteenth century, when Elector Johann Wilhelm of Saxony divided his territory between his two sons, Friedrich Wilhelm and Johann, giving the former Saxe-Altenburg and the latter SaxeWeimar. At the Congress of Vienna a considerable increase of territory, together with the title of Grand-duke, was awarded to Duke Karl August, known as patron of German literature. The Grand-duke has a large private fortune, part of which he obtained in dowry with his consort, Princess Sophie of the Netherlands. He has also a civil list of 930,000 marks, or 42,000l., amounting to nearly one-seventh of the revenues of Saxe-Weimar. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Constitution of the Grand-duchy was granted May 5, 1816; but slightly altered by the law of October 15, 1850. According to this charter the legislative power is vested in a House of Parliament represented by one Chamber. It is composed of 31 members, of whom one is chosen by the noble landowners; four by other landowners having a yearly income from 3,000 marks upwards; five by other persons of the same income; and twenty-one by all the other inhabitants. The first-mentioned ten deputies are elected directly, the remaining twenty-one indirectly. The Chamber meets every three years. The executive, acting under the orders of the Grand-duke, but responsible to the representatives of the country, is divided into three departments. The budget is granted by the Chamber for a period of three years. That from 1887 to 1889 comprised an annual income of 6,746,544 marks, and an annual expenditure of 6,746,544 marks. The State forests yield a large income, while there is a graduated tax on all incomes, the estimates for which are based on a total income for the population of 82,371,600 marks, or 4,118,5807. The public debt amounted to 5,856,775 marks, on January 1, 1888. The debt is more than covered by the productive capital of the State. The Grand-duchy has an area of 1,390 English square miles, with a population of 313,946 (151,996 males, 161,950 females) at the census of December 1, 1885. During the years from 1875 to 1880 the increase was at the rate of 1-10 per cent. per annum, and 0.28 in 1880-85. Marriages, 1886, 2,505; births, 11,299; deaths, 7,757; surplus, 3,542. Among the births are 424 (3.75 per cent.) still-born, and 1,111 (9.8 per cent.) illegitimate children. Emigrants 1882, 904; 1883, 1,002; 1884, 661; 1885, 424; 1886, 267; 1887, 354. The great majority of the inhabitants are Protestants, there being 10,831 Catholics, 1,313 Jews, in 1885. The town of Weimar, capital and largest town of the Grandduchy, had 21,565 inhabitants at the census of Dec. 1, 1885. There were, altogether, on June 5, 1882, 40,203 agricultural enclosures in the Grand-duchy, with a population of 132,057, of whom 55,417 were actively engaged on the farms. Of these farms 14,632 were less than 1 hectare each, 19,408 ranged from 1 to less than 10 hectares, 6,016 from 10 to less than 100 hectares, and 147 had an area of 100 hectares and upwards. There were 174 miles of railway in 1888. British Minister Plenipotentiary.—Sir Edward Malet, G.C.B., G.C.M.G. Consul-General.-Baron von Tauchnitz (Leipzig). XI. MECKLENBURG-STRELITZ. Reigning Grand-duke. Friedrich Wilhelm I., born Oct. 17, 1819, the son of Grandduke Georg and of Princess Marie of Hesse-Cassel; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, Sept. 6, 1860; married June 28, 1843, to Augusta, born July 19, 1822, the daughter of the late Duke Adolphus of Cambridge. Son of the Grand-duke. Adolf Friedrich, born July 22, 1848; married April 17, 1877, to Princess Elizabeth of Anhalt, born Sept. 7, 1857, of which union there is offspring; Mary Augusta, born May 8, 1878; Jutta, born January 24, 1880; Friedrich, born June 17, 1882; and a son born October 10, 1888. The reigning house of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was founded, in 1701, by Duke Adolf Friedrich, youngest son of Duke Adolf Friedrich I. of Mecklenburg. There being no law of primogeni ture at the time, the Diet was unable to prevent the division of the country, which was protested against by subsequent Dukes of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. The Grand-duke is, however, one of the wealthiest of German sovereigns, more than one-half of the country being his own private property. |