Saxony

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In 1815 about half of the Saxon territory was annexed by Prussia and incorporated into the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg and Silesia. For many years, Dresden was its capital of Saxony.

The province of Saxony was created in 1816 and was one of the richest regions of Prussia.

Upper Lusatia (Oberlausitz) belongs to Saxony; it consists of hilly countryside rising to the Lausitzer Bergland (Lusatian hills) near the Czech border, which rises even higher to form the Lusatian Mountains (Lužické hory/Lausitzer Gebirge) in the Czech Republic.

Upper Lusatia is characterised by fertile soil and soft hills, as well as historic towns and cities such as Bautzen, Görlitz, Zittau, Löbau, Kamenz, Lubań, Bischofswerda, Hoyerswerda, Bad Muskau. A few big villages in the very south of the Upper Lusatia are a typical attraction of the region, the so-called Umgebindehäuser, half-timbered-houses as a mixture between Franconian and Slavic style. Among those villages are Wehrsdorf, Jonsdorf, Sohland an der Spree, Taubenheim, Oppach, Varnsdorf or Ebersbach.

Most of the portion belonging to Brandenburg is called Lower Lusatia (Niederlausitz), and is characterised by forests and meadows. In the course of much of the 19th and the entire 20th century, it was shaped by lignite industry and extensive open-cast mining. Important towns include Cottbus, Lübben, Lübbenau, Spremberg, Finsterwalde, Senftenberg.

Between the Upper and Lower Lusatia is a region called Grenzwall meaning something like "border-wall". This region has been damaged by the coal-industry with small and big villages destroyed. The former open-cast mines are being regenerated by creating artificial lakes under the name of Lausitzer Seenland.

The Austro-Prussian war was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire (who declared the war) and its German allies against the Kingdom of Prussia and its German allies plus Italy. Most of the German states had sided with Austria against Prussia. Those that sided with the Austria Empire included the Kingdoms of Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Hanover.

The main campaign of the war occurred in Bohemia where the Prussians had planned meticulously for the war. A mobilized Prussian army advanced across the border into Saxony and Bohemia, where the Austrian army was concentrating for an invasion of Silesia. The Prussian victory was near total, and it resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states. Except for Saxony, the other German states allied to Austria played little role in this main campaign.

In 1867, Saxony joined the North German Federation. In 1871 it became part of the German Empire.

1895

Please Note that Rosswein is west of Dresden; That Bischofswerda is north-east of Dresden; That Rothenburg and Lodenau are north-east of Bishofswerda

[Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/K%C3%B6nigreich_Sachsen_1895.jpg ]

1914

About 94% of the inhabitants of Saxony are Protestants; about 12,500 are Jews, and about 4.7%, including the royal family, are Roman Catholics. The Evangelical-Lutheran, or State, church has as its head the minister de evangelicis so long as the king is Roman Catholic; and its management is vested in the Evangelical Consistory at Dresden. Its representative assembly consisting of 35 clergymen and 42 laymen is called a synod (Synode). The Reformed Church has consistories in Dresden and Leipzig. The Roman Catholic Church has enjoyed the patronage of the reigning family since 1697, though it was only the peace of Posen in 1806 which placed it on a level with the Lutherans. By the peace of Prague, which transferred Upper Lusatia to Saxony in 1635, stipulations were made in favour of the Roman Catholics of that region, who are ecclesiastically in the jurisdiction of the cathedral chapter of St Peter at Bautzen, the dean of which has ex-officio a seat in the first chamber' of the diet. The other districts are managed by an apostolic vicar at Dresden, under the direction of the minister of public worship. Two nunneries in Lusatia are the only conventual establishments in Saxony, and no others may be founded. Among the smaller religious sects the Moravian Brethren, whose chief seat is at Herrnhut, are perhaps the most interesting. In 1868 civil rights were declared to be independent of religious confession.