Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 13.djvu/557

 SAXE-MEININGEN

495

SAXE-WEIMAR-EISENACH

remaining Catholics were ministered to by the Bene- dictines from the Monastery of Banz (on the Main). At the end of the eighteenth century a small Catholic community was again formed in Coburg. The rela- tions between Church and State were regulated here also in a partial manner by the " Herzoglich-Coburg- ische Regulativ fiir die kirchliche Verfassung der katholischen Glaubensgenossen " of 30 October, 1812. This "Regulativ" has also failed to find recog- nition from the Church. At the request of the Arch- bishop of Bamberg, the Catholics of the Duchy of Coburg were assigned to that see; the duke refused, however, to give his consent to the Decree, pending the results of the negotiations then being conducted by some German princes concerning the formation of a new diocese (Frankfort Conferences), but offered no objection to the provisional assignment of priests and the provisional exercise of episcopal jurisdiction in the duchy. There has been no change in these relations to the present day. The priests take an oath to up- hold the constitution. In 1868 all the Catholics of the duchy were assigned to the parish of Coburg; the parish priest has for some years received a small an- nual allowance from the State (about $12.)). No church tax may be levied. Religious orders which care for the sick are free to enter without State por- mi.ssion. The question of the religious training of the children of mixed marriages is left open in both duchies; until 1900, how(>ver, the principle reliqio sequilur sexum was applied to such children. The public elementary schools of both duchies are Evan- gelical-Lutheran, although religious supervision has been abolished since 18G3, antl a complete separa- tion of Church and State thus effected. Private Cath- olic elementary schools exist in Gotha (since 1857; 100 pupils in 1910) and Coburg (since 1807; 100 pupils in 1910).

Beck, Gesch. des gothaischen Landes (3 vols., Gotha, 1868-76); LoTz, Coburgische Landesgesch. (Coburg, 1892) ; Freisen, Slaat u. kaih. Kirche in den deutschen Landesslaaten, II (Stuttgart, 1900), .361 .sqq.; Idem, Der Aoiftoi. u. protest. Pfarrzwang (P&dcT- born, 1906), 94 sqq.

Herman Sacher.

Saxe-Meiningen, a Saxon-Thuringian duchy. It has an area of 953 sq. miles, and 278,792 inhabi- tants (1910). In 1905 its population of 208,916 included 4870 Catholics (2 per cent), 262,283 Evan- gelicals, and 1276 Jews. The duchy came into exist- ence in 1681, as the result of the various succession agreements among the seven sons of Duke Ernest the Pious of Saxe-Gotha. Later agreements in- creased the territory of the duchy, especially that of 1826, when the previously independent Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen was assigned to it (560 sq. miles, with 70,000 inhabitants). In the Austro- Prussian War of 1866, Duke Bernard II (d. 1882) was the only Thuringian prince of the Saxon house to adhere to Austria or the German Confederation. Prussia therefore occupied his territory and had the government transferred to his son, George II (b. 1826), who is still reigning (1911). The heir apparent is Prince Bernard, who married Charlotte, sister of the German Emperor. In pre-Reformation times the territory of the present Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen belonged to the Diocese of A\'urzburg, to whose care to-day also the few Catholics of the country are committed. The Reformation caused the disap- pearance of Catholicism.

In 1808, in consequence of a treaty between Saxe- Meiningen and the then Grand Duchy of Wurzburg, the Catholic parish of Wolfmannshausen was ceded to Saxe-Meiningen. In the course of the nineteenth century, Catholic pastoral stations were established at Meiningen, Hildburghausen, Poessneck, and Sonne- berg Cseat of the celebrated toy industry). The legal statute of the various parishes or stations is regulated by special treaties between the bishop and

the Government. Before making an appointment, the bishop presents to the ducal Government a priest of the Diocese of Wurzburg provided with the royal Bavarian titulus viensoe, and asks if this cleric is a ■persona grata to the duke. On the approval of the duke, the priest receives episcopal institution, and promises on oath before the ducal Government that he will observe the laws of the land and faithfully fulfil his duty. The State grants a small subsidy towards the payment of the clergy. Several districts are attended as a matter of charity by priests of neigh- bouring dioceses. If Catholic priests wish to exercise their priestly functions outside of their appointed district, they must first inform the Evangelical clergy- man of their intention. In the case of interments, the Catholic priest must, even within their special district, obtain the approbation of the Evangelical clergyman as regards the time. There are no legal ordinances concerning religious orders. For the es- tablishment in Meiningen of the Daughters of the Divine Redeemer from Wlirzbiu-g notice to the po- lice only was necessary. The primary schools are Evangelical Lutheran, although this is not expressly provided for in the law. Religious instruction for the denominations in the minority (and thus for Catholics) must be provided in a manner deemed suf- ficient by the representatives of such churches. A public Catholic ])rimary school exists at Wolf- mannshausen (70 pupils), and a private school with- out state or communal support at Poessneck (since 1883; 31 pupils in 1910). The Primary School Law of 1908 definitively set aside the religious supervision of schools, and effected a sharp division of church and school; even the supervision of religious in- struction no longer pertains to the parish priest.

BrCtkner, Landeskunde des I/erzogtums Meiningen (2 vols., Meiningen, 1851-53); Zertel, Kleine Landeskunde (Hildburg- hausen, 1903); Freisen, Der Aotfc. und evang. Pfarrzwang (Pa- derborn, 1906).

Hermann Sacher.

Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach, a grand duchy in Thu- ringia, also known in recent times as the Grand duchy of Saxony. It has an area of 1397 sq. miles, and consists of three non-contiguous parts: Weimar (678 sq. miles); Eisenach (-165); and Neustadt (254). In 1910 the grand duchy had 417,166 inhabitants; in 1905 it had a population of 388,095, including 18,049 Catholics (5 per cent), 367,789 Protestants, and 1412 Jews. Like the other Saxon-Thuringian minor states, the grand duchy originated in the partitions among the heirs of the House of Wettin, which ruled in Saxony. The House of Saxe-Wettin divided in 1485 into the Ernestine and Albertine lines. John Frederick the Magnanimous, of the former line, lost in the Witten- berg Capitulation of 1547 (see Saxony), in addition to his electoral dignity, his estates with the exception of Thuringia. Even under the sons of John Fred- erick Thuringia began to be divided up into separate principalities. Since the division of 1672 the Ernes- tine line is represented by two main branches — the Weimar (now the grand ducal) line which rules in Saxe- Weimar-Eisenach, and the Gotha line, from which three ducal lines have issued, ruling to-day in Saxe- Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-]Meiningen, and Saxe-Altenburg respectively. The Weimar line also divided into three branches — the lines of Weimar, Jena, and Eisen- ach; the last two lines however became extinct, so that the three duchies were reunited in 1741. The best- known ruler of the grand-duchy is Charles Augustus (1758-1828), who made his capital, Weimar, the intel- lectual centre of Germany by attracting to liLs court the most famous Germans of his day; the poets Goethe, Schiller, Wieland, and Herder shed lustre on his reign. In the war between Prussia and France (1806) Charles Augustus first espoused the cause of Prussia, but to save his domains he was compelled to join the Rhein- bund formed by Napoleon after the defeat of Prussia