Saxe-Meiningen

Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen (1680–1918) Herzogtum Sachsen-Meiningen Free State of Saxe-Meiningen (1918–20)
Freistaat Sachsen-Meiningen
State of the Holy Roman Empire, State of the Confederation of the Rhine, State of the German Confederation, State of the North German Confederation, Constituent state of the German Empire
1680–1920
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem
Saxe-Meiningen within the German Empire
Capital		Meiningen
Government		Principality
Duke
•	1675–1706	Bernhard I
•	1914–1918	Bernhard III
Historical era		Early modern period
•	Partitioned from Saxe-Gotha	1680
•	Acquired Saxe-Hildburghausen	1826
•	Duchy abolished	1920
Area
•	1905	2,468 km² (953 sq mi)
Population
•	1905 est.	269,000
Density		109 /km²  (282.3 /sq mi)
Preceded by Succeeded by Saxe-Gotha Thuringia

Saxe-Meiningen (/ˈsæks ˈmaɪnɪŋən/; German pronunciation: [ˈzaksən ˈmaɪnɪŋən]) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin dynasty, located in the southwest of the present-day German state of Thuringia.

Established in 1681, by partition of the Ernestine duchy of Saxe-Gotha among the seven sons of deceased Duke Ernst der Fromme (Ernest the Pious), the Saxe-Meiningen line of the House of Wettin lasted until the end of the German monarchies in 1918.

The Wettiner had been the rulers of sizeable holdings in the later states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia since the Middle Ages. In the Leipziger Teilung of 1485, the Wettiner were split into two branches named after their founding princes Albrecht and Ernst (albertinisch and ernestinisch). Thuringia was part of the Ernestine holdings of Kursachsen (the Electoral holdings of Saxony). In 1572, the branches Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach and Saxe-Weimar were established there. The senior line again split in 1641/41 into three duchies, including the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha.