Regents of Saxony

Saxony was originally a tribal duchy in north western Germany. When its duke Heinrich the Lion lost all of his fiefs 1180 Saxony was considerably reduced in size and given to the House of Askanien, it was later partitioned between two branches of that house into Sachsen-Lauenburg and Sachsen-Wittenberg. The latter was also an electorate, which meant that its duke had the right to participate in the election of Germany’s kings. Sachsen-Wittenberg was 1423 given to Friedrich the Warlike of the house of Wettin and who also was margrave of Meissen. All lands belonging to the house of Wettin would thereafter be called Saxony, and when the landgraviate of Thuringia had been added 1440 had a new large and significant Saxon state had been created outside the area of the original Saxon tribal duchy.

843-864 864-880 880-912 912-936	Saxon Dynasty Liudolf Bruno Otto I Heinrich I der Vogler (the Fowler)
936-961	Otto II der Grosse (the Great)
961-973 973-1011 1011-1059 1059-1072 1072-1106 1106-1127	Billung Dynasty Hermann Bernhard I Bernhard II Ordulf Magnus Lothar (house of Supplinburg)
Houses of Askanien and Welf
1127-1138	Heinrich der Stoltze (the Proud)
1138-1142	Albrecht der Bär (the Bear)
1142-1180	Heinrich der Löwe (the Lion)
1180-1212	Bernhard III
1212-1260	Albrecht I
Saxony is 1260 partitioned between Sachsen-Wittenberg and Sachsen-Lauenburg. The latter is recorded on a separate page.
1260-1298 1298-1356 1356-1370 1370-1388 1388-1419 1419-1422	Albrecht II Rudolf I Rudolf II Wenzel Rudolf III Albrecht III
1423-1428 1428-1464	House of Wettin Friedrich I der Streitbare (the Warlike) Friedrich II der Sanftmütige (the Mild)
1428-1445	Wilhelm III
1464-1485	Ernst
1464-1485	Albrecht der Beherzte (the Brave)
Ernestine Line of the House of Wettin ()
1485-1486 1486-1525 1525-1532 1532-1547 1542-1553 1554-1566 1554-1572 1572	Ernst (elector since 1464) Friedrich III der Weise (the Wise) Johann der Beständige (the Steady) Johann Friedrich der Grossmütige (the Magnanimous) Johann Ernst Johann Friedrich II der Mittlere (the Intermediate) Johann Wilhelm Partitioned into S-Coburg-Eisenach and S-Weimar

Saxony was partitioned 1485 between the brothers Ernst and Albrecht who had been co-regents since 1464. The two new states were first called the Electorate of Saxony (Ernst) and the duchy of Saxony (Albrecht). But the Ernestine line lost the elector title and large parts of its territory to the Albertine line 1547. After that the Ernestine lands were fragmented into numerous small and insignificant duchies through partitions between the different branches of the Ernestine Line. These duchies are recorded on a separate page.

Albertine Line of the House of Wettin (electors from 1547)
1485-1500	Albrecht (duke since 1464)
1500-1539	Georg der Bärtige (the Bearded)
1539-1541	Heinrich der Fromme (the  Pious)	= 1500-1515
1541-1553 1553-1586 1586-1591 1591-1611 1611-1656 1656-1680 1680-1691 1691-1694 1694-1733 1733-1763 1763 1763-1806	Moritz August Christian I Christian II Johann Georg I (called Beer-George by Swedes) Johann Georg II Johann Georg III Johann Georg IV
	Friedrich August I der Starke (the Strong)	-
	Friedrich August II Friedrich Christian Friedrich August III der Gerechte (the Just)	-
Kingdom of Saxony
1806-1827	Friedrich August I (elector 1763-1806)
1827-1836 1836-1854 1854-1873 1873-1902 1902-1904 1904-1918	Anton Friedrich August II Johann Albert Georg Friedrich August III
1918-1952 1952-1990 1990-	Republic (German part state) Divided in three East German districts German part state

Collateral Branches to the Albertine line

When Johan Georg I died 1656 the Albertine part of Saxony was partitioned between his four sons. When these branches died out their lands were reunited with those ruled by the elector.