Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels

Christian, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels (Weissenfels, 23 February 1682 – Sangerhausen, 28 June 1736), was a duke of Saxe-Weissenfels-Querfurt and member of the House of Wettin.

He was the sixth (but second surviving) son of Johann Adolf I, Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, and Johanna Magdalena of Saxe-Altenburg.

Christian inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Weissenfels after the death of his older brother Johann Georg without surviving male issue on 16 March 1712 and continued the policy of patronage and promotion of the sciences, education, and culture of his predecessors; in this tradition he created the Seminarium illustre in Weissenfels in 1716. His liberal spending, which far exceeded the resources of his small duchy, led to a complete financial collapse in 1719. To deal with the crisis, the Electorate of Saxony created a debit commission that controlled the finances of the duchy until its male line was extinct (both the duke and his brother had no male descendants). The commission was requested by the Emperor Charles VI of Austria; it substantially limited the duke's capacity to shape political policies.

For his 31st birthday in the year 1713, the composer Johann Sebastian Bach wrote the famous cantata Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 (The lively hunt is all my heart's desire) as occasional music with a pastoral character. It was performed in Weissenfels in the evening after a hunting party. Christian is named four times in Salomon Franck's libretto for the cantata and equated with the classical deity Pan. The hunt is characterized as an activity suitable for princes.

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