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SAXONY (Ger. Provinz Sachsen)

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 273 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SAXONY (Ger. Provinz Sachsen) , one of the central provinces of the See also:kingdom of See also:Prussia, consists mainly of what was formerly the See also:northern See also:part of the kingdom of Saxony, which was ceded to Prussia in 1815, but also comprises part of the duchy of See also:Magdeburg and other districts, the connexion of which with Prussia is of earlier date. The See also:area of the See also:province is 9751 sq. m. It is bounded W. by See also:Hesse-See also:Nassau, See also:Hanover and See also:Brunswick, N. by Hanover and See also:Brandenburg, E. by Brandenburg and See also:Silesia, and S. by the kingdom of Saxony and the small Thuringian states. It is, however, very irregular in See also:form, entirely surrounding parts of Brunswick and the Thuringian, states, and itself possessing several exclaves, while the northern portion is almost severed from the See also:southern by the duchy of See also:Anhalt. The See also:major part belongs to the See also:great See also:North-See also:German See also:plain, but the western and See also:south-western districts include parts of the Harz, with the See also:Brocken, its highest See also:summit, and the Thuringian See also:Forest. About nine-tenths of Prussian Saxony belongs to the See also:basin of the See also:Elbe, the See also:chief feeders of which within the province are the See also:Saale, with its tributary the Unstrut, and the See also:Mulde, but a small See also:district on the See also:west drains into the See also:Weser. Saxony is on the whole the most fertile province of Prussia and excels all the others in its produce of See also:wheat and beetroot for See also:sugar, but the nature of its See also:soil is very unequal. The best See also:crop-producing districts See also:lie near the See also:base of the Harz Mountains, such as the " Magdeburger Borde " (between Magdeburg and the Saale) and the " Goldene Aue," and See also:rich pasture lands occur in the See also:river valleys, but the sandy plains of the Altmark, in theinorth part of the province, yield but a scanty return. Of the See also:total area 61 % is occupied by arable See also:land, 8 % by meadows and pastures and 21 % by forests. Wheat and See also:rye are exported in considerable quantities. The beetroot for sugar is grown chiefly inthe district to the north of the Harz, as far as the Ohre, and on the See also:banks of the Saale; and the amount of sugar produced is nearly as much as that of all the See also:rest of Prussia together.

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Flax, hops and oil-seeds are also cultivated, and large quantities of excellent See also:fruit are grown at the See also:foot of the Harz and in the valleys of the Unstrut and the Saale. The See also:market-gardening of See also:Erfurt and Quedlinburg is well known throughout See also:Germany. The province is comparatively poor in See also:timber, though three are some See also:fine forests in the Harz and other hilly districts. See also:Cattle-rearing is carried on with success in the river valleys, and more goats are met with here than in any other part of Prussia. The See also:principal underground See also:wealth of Prussian Saxony consists of its See also:salt and its See also:brown See also:coal, of both of which it possesses larger stores than any other part of the German See also:empire. The chief See also:rock-salt mines and brine springs are at See also:Stassfurt, See also:Schonebeck and See also:Halle. The brown coal region extends from See also:Oschersleben by Kalbe to See also:Weissenfels; it is also found in the neighbourhood of See also:Aschersleben, See also:Bitterfeld and See also:Wittenberg. Prussian Saxony also possesses three-fourths of the wealth of Germany in See also:copper. The copper mines are found chiefly in the Harz district. The other See also:mineral resources include See also:silver (one-third of the total German yield), See also:pit-coal, See also:pyrites, See also:alum, See also:plaster of See also:Paris, See also:sulphur, See also:alabaster and several varieties of See also:good See also:building-See also:stone. Numerous mineral springs occur in the Harz. In addition to the See also:production of sugar the most important See also:industries are the manufactures of See also:cloth, See also:leather, See also:iron and See also:steel wares, chiefly at Erfurt, See also:Suhl and Sommerda; See also:spirits at See also:Nordhausen, chemicals at Stassfurt and Schonebeck, and See also:starch.

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Beer is also brewed extensively. See also:Trade is facilitated by the great waterway of the Elbe as well as by a See also:complete See also:system of See also:railways. The chief articles are See also:wool, See also:grain, sugar, salt, See also:lignite and the principal manufactured products named above. The See also:population of the province of Saxony in 1905 was 2,979, 221, an See also:average of 305 persons to the square mile; they were almost equally divided between See also:urban population and rural. There were 2,730,098 Protestants, 230,860 See also:Roman Catholics and Soso See also:Jews. The bulk of the inhabitants are of unmixed German stock, but many of those in the See also:east part have Wendish See also:blood in their See also:veins. Prussian Saxony is divided into the three See also:government districts of Magdeburg, See also:Merseburg and Erfurt. The principal towns are Magdeburg, Halle, Erfurt, See also:Halberstadt, Nordhausen, Miihlhausen, Aschersleben, Weissenfels and See also:Zeitz. Magdeburg is the headquarters of an See also:army See also:corps. The provincial See also:chambers meet at Merseburg. The province sends twenty members to the Reichstag and See also:thirty-eight to the Prussian Abgeordnetenhaus (See also:house of representatives). Magdeburg is the seat of an Evangelical See also:consistory; the Roman Catholics belong to the See also:diocese of See also:Paderborn.

The university of Halle holds high See also:

rank among German seats of learning. See the Handbuch der Provinz Sachsen (Magdeburg, 1900) ; and See also:Jacobs, Geschichte der in der preussischen Provinz Sachsen vereinigten Gebiete (See also:Gotha, 1884).

End of Article: SAXONY (Ger. Provinz Sachsen)

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