It was the largest of the Thüringian states, and consisted of three
detached districts of Weimar, Eisenach and Neustadt along with twenty
-four scattered exclaves. The total area of the grand-duchy is 1397 sq.
m., of which 678 are in Weimar, 465 in Eisenach and 254 in Neustadt.
The population in 1914 was 442,000 who almost entirely were Lutherans.

Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach was a hereditary constitutional monarchy. The
parliament consisted of one chamber known as the Landtag with thirty
-eight members. There was a four tier voting system with five members
chosen by the largest landholders, five by high-paying taxpayers,
five by the University of Jena, and twenty-three by the rest of the
inhabitants. The franchise was a bit more liberal than some and
included all male citizens over twenty-one-years of age. The Grand
Duchy was represented by one vote in the Bundesrat and by two 
members in the Reichstag .

     

The prominence of the Wettin family in the Slavic marches caused Emperor
Henry IV to invest them with the March of Meissen as a fief in 1089.
The family advanced over the course of the Middle Ages: in 1263 they
inherited the landgraviate of Thuringia (though without Hesse), and in
1423 they were invested with the Duchy of Saxony, centred at Wittenberg,
thus becoming one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. The
family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 when the sons of Frederick
II, Elector of Saxony divided the territories hitherto ruled jointly. The
elder son Ernest, who had succeeded his father as Prince-elector, received
the territories assigned to the Elector (Electoral Saxony) and Thuringia,
while his younger brother Albert obtained the March of Meissen, which he
ruled from Dresden. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony",
his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony.

The older, Ernestine branch remained predominant until 1547 and played an
important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Their
predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic War, which pitted the Protestant
Schmalkaldic League against Emperor Charles V. Although itself Protestant,
the Albertine branch rallied to the Empire's cause; Charles V rewarded them
by forcing the Ernestines to sign away their rights to the Electoral title
and lands to the Albertines. The Ernestine line was thereafter restricted
to Thuringia, and its dynastic unity swiftly crumbled. The Albertine Wettin
maintained most of the territorial integrity of Saxony, preserving it as a
significant power in the region, and using small appanage fiefs for their
cadet branches, few of which survived for significant lengths of time. The
Ernestine Wettin, on the other hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory,
creating an intricate patchwork of small duchies and counties in Thuringia.

The junior Albertine branch ruled as Electors (1547-1806) and Kings of Saxony
(1806-1918) and also played a role in Polish history: two Wettin were Kings
of Poland (between 1697-1763) and a third ruled the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1814)
as a satellite of Napoleon. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Albertine branch
lost about 40% of its lands, including the old Electoral Saxony, to Prussia,
restricting it to a territory coextensive with the modern Saxony).

The Rulers of  Saxe-Weimer-Eisenach

* Carl August..........1809-15;
Duke of Saxe-Weimar and
of Saxe-Eisenach from 1758

The Grand Dukes of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,

* Carl August.........................1815-28
* Carl Friedrich.....................1828-53
* Carl Alexander.................1853-1901
* Wilhelm Ernst......................1901-18

The Heads of the House of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,
1918-present

* Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst.........................1918-23
* Hereditary Grand Duke Carl August..........1923-88
* Prince Michael....................................1988-present