SAXONY

SAXONY (Germ. Sachsen), a province of the Prussian monarchy, lying between 50. 55. and 53. 5. N. Lat., 9. 22. and 13. 21. E. Long.; bounded on the N.E. by the province of Brandenburg, S. by the kingdom of Saxony and the Saxon duchies, W. and N.W. by Electoral Hesse, Brunswick, and Hanover. Area, 9760 square miles. It has several detached portions lying among the Saxon duchies, and encloses portions of these as well as the duchies of Anhalt and the principalities of Schwartzburg. It is for the most part a flat country, consisting of the land lying between the Thuringian Mountains in the S., the Harz Mountains in the W., and the Elbe in the E. and N. The Harz Mountains belong partly to this province, and within its limits is their highest summit, the Brocken, a granite peak 3508 feet high; and another called Konigsberg, which attains the height of 3100 feet, besides others of less elevation. To that part of the Thuringian mountain which is included in the province belongs the summit of Dolmar, 2100 feet high. The lower portions of the country are watered by the Elbe, which enters the province at its south-eastern extremity, and flows in an irregular course to the north-west, never very far from the borders of Brandenburg, which it touches in the lower part of its

course. This river receives, either directly or indirectly, all the other streams of Saxony. The Saale flows northwards from the Thuringian Mountains into the Elbe; the Mulde, also an affluent of the Elbe, flows in the same direction further east, and nearly parallel to the Saale; and the Unstrut flows from the west and joins the Saale. The whole of the soil of Saxony is not only very fertile, but exceedingly well cultivated; and it enjoys a mild and salubrious climate. The extent of arable land in the province was, in 1852, 3,377,069 acres; of gardens, vineyards, &c., 70,487 acres; of meadows, 424,701 acres; of pasture land, 394,597 acres; of forests, 955,511 acres; and of waste land, 1,403,689 acres. Cattle, sheep, and horses are raised in great numbers in Saxony. There were in 1855, 152,485 horses; 502 mules and asses; 522,380 horned cattle; 1,838,946 sheep; 144,255 goats; and 332,490 pigs in the province. The mineral productions comprise silver, iron, lead, copper, coal, and salt. Marble, alabaster, granite, sandstone, and porcelain clay are also found. Manufactures are actively carried on here, especially those of woolen and cotton cloth. Education is well provided for, and the proportion of the population who have enjoyed its advantages is higher here than in any other province of Prussia. There are in all 2872 public elementary schools, with 3791 teachers and 304,318 scholars; 66 intermediate schools for boys, with 11,480 scholars; 49 girls' schools, with 11,036 scholars; 11 normal seminaries; 4 progymnasia; and 21 gymnasia. Saxony contains also one university, that of Halle, with which the former one at Wittenberg has been united. The great majority of the inhabitants are of German extraction; 1,738,130 belong to the Evangelical Church, 118,064 to the Roman Catholic; 5 to the Greek Church, 16 are Mennonites, and 5320 Jews. Saxony is divided into three circles, as follows:—

The greater part of this province till 1815, formed part of the kingdom of Saxony; but by the congress of Vienna it was annexed to Prussia.