by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2012

In 1697, Friedrich August I, Elector of Saxony converted to Roman Catholicism to obtain the Polish crown. Since that time the Electoral Family of Saxony and then the Royal Family of Saxony were Roman Catholic.

It was not until Friedrich August I’s son Friedrich August II succeeded him as Elector of Saxony in 1733 that the Catholic Court Church (Katholische Hofkirche) was commissioned in 1736, initially under strict secrecy. At first, it was referred to as “a certain building”. Because of the conversion of the ruling family of Saxony, it was necessary to build a Roman Catholic church in Dresden to provide a Roman Catholic burial site for members of the family. The church is now known as the Dresden Cathedral. There are four crypts at Dresden Cathedral: Founders Crypt, Royal Crypt, New Crypt, and the Great Crypt.

• Unofficial Royalty: Dresden Cathedral (Katholische Hofkirche) in Dresden, Germany

Kings of Saxony

• Friedrich August I (reigned 1806-1827)
• Anton (reigned 1827-1836)
• Friedrich August II (reigned 1836-1854)
• Johann (reigned 1854-1873)
• Albert (reigned 1873-1902)
• Georg (reigned 1902-1904)
• Friedrich August III (reigned 1904-1918) abdicated

King Friedrich August I
reigned December 20, 1806 – May 5, 1827

Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich August I, King of Saxony

Friedrich August I was born December 23, 1750, in Dresden, son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony and Maria Antonia of Bavaria. He became Elector in 1763 at his father’s death and became the first King of Saxony in 1806. He married the Countess Palatine Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, sister of King Maximilian I of Bavaria, on January 17, 1769. They had only one daughter who lived to adulthood.

King Friedrich August I died on May 5, 1827. He is buried in the Founders Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Countess Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld

Unofficial Royalty: Amalie of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, Queen of Saxony

Amalie was born May 10, 1752, in Mannheim, the daughter of Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Bischweiler and Countess Palatine Maria Francisca of Sulzbach. She married the future King Friedrich August I on January 17, 1769.

Queen Amalie died on November 15, 1828, in Dresden. She is buried in the Founders Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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King Anton
reigned May 5, 1827 – June 6, 1836

Unofficial Royalty: Anton, King of Saxony

Anton was born December 27, 1755, a younger son of Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony and Maria Antonia of Bavaria. He married Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy on September 29, 1781, in Turin. Maria Carolina died just a year later. Anton married again, on September 8, 1787, the Archduchess Maria Theresia of Austria. The couple had four children, but none survived to adulthood. Anton succeeded his brother Friedrich August I as King of Saxony on May 5, 1827.

King Anton died on June 6, 1836, in Dresden. He is buried in the Great Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy

Unofficial Royalty: Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy, Electoral Princess of Saxony

Princess Maria Carolina of Savoy was born January 17, 1764, the daughter of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia and the Infanta Maria Antonietta of Spain. She married the future King Anton of Saxony on September 29, 1781, but contracted smallpox and died just a year later.

Maria Carolina died December 28, 1782, and is buried in the Great Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Maria Theresia of Austria

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Theresia of Austria, Queen of Saxony

Archduchess Maria Theresia was born January 14, 1767, in Florence, the daughter of the future Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. She married King Anton of Saxony on September 8, 1797. The couple had four children, but none lived to the age of two.

Queen Maria Theresa died in Leipzig on November 7, 1827. She is buried in the Great Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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Friedrich August II
reigned June 6, 1836 – August 8, 1854

Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich August II, King of Saxony

Friedrich August II was born May 18, 1797, the son of Maximilian, Prince of Saxony and Carolina of Bourbon. On September 26, 1819, he married Archduchess Maria Carolina of Austria, daughter of Franz II, Holy Roman Emperor (later Emperor Franz I of Austria). She died in 1822, and he remarried on April 24, 1833, to Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria, daughter of King Maximilian I. Both marriages were childless.

King Friedrich August II was injured when he fell in front of a horse which then stepped on his head, while on a trip to Tyrol. He died on August 9, 1854, and is buried in the Royal Crypt at the Hofkirche. A chapel was built at the site of the accident the following year.

Archduchess Maria Karoline of Austria

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Karoline of Austria, Crown Princess of Saxony

Maria Karoline was born April 8, 1801, in Vienna, daughter of Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (later Emperor Franz I of Austria) and Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies. She married the future King Friedrich August II on September 26, 1819.

Maria Karoline, Crown Princess of Saxony, suffered from epilepsy and ill health. She died on May 22, 1832, in Pillnitz Palace, and is buried in the Great Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Princess Maria Anna of Bavaria

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Anna of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony

Maria Anna was born in Munich on January 27, 1805, the daughter of King Maximilian I and Caroline of Baden. She married the future King Friedrich August II on April 24, 1833.

Queen Maria Anna died September 13, 1877, and is buried in the Royal Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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Johann
reigned August 9, 1854 – October 29, 1873

Unofficial Royalty: Johann, King of Saxony

Johann was born December 12, 1801, the third son of Maximilian, Prince of Saxony and Carolina of Bourbon. He was married on November 10, 1822, to Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. The couple had nine children.

King Johann died in Pillnitz on October 29, 1873. He is buried in the Royal Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria

Unofficial Royalty: Amalie Auguste of Bavaria, Queen of Saxony

Princess Amalie Auguste was born November 13, 1801, in Munich, the daughter of King Maximilian I and Caroline of Baden. (She was the elder sister of Princess Maria Anna who married King Friedrich August II.) She married the future King Johann on November 10, 1822, and had nine children.

Queen Amalie Auguste died November 8, 1877, and is buried in the Royal Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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Albert
reigned October 29, 1873 – June 19, 1902

Unofficial Royalty: Albert, King of Saxony

Albert was born April 23, 1828, the eldest son of King Johann and Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. He married Princess Carola of Sweden on June 18, 1853, but had no children. He was succeeded by his younger brother Georg.

King Albert died at Schloss Sibyllenort on June 19, 1902. He is buried in the New Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Carola of Vasa

Unofficial Royalty: Carola of Vasa, Queen of Saxony

Princess Carola of Vasa was born August 5, 1833, at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the daughter of Crown Prince Gustav of Sweden (son of King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden), and Princess Louise Amelie of Baden. She married the future King Albert of Saxony on June 18, 1853. She would end up as the last Queen Consort of Saxony.

Queen Carola died on December 15, 1907, in Dresden. She is buried in the New Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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Georg
reigned June 19, 1902 – October 15, 1904

Unofficial Royalty: Georg, King of Saxony

Georg was born August 8, 1832, in Dresden, the second son of King Johann and Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. He married the Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal on May 11, 1859, in Lisbon. They had eight children.

King Georg died on October 15, 1904, in Pillnitz. He is buried in the New Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal

Unofficial Royalty: Maria Ana of Portugal, Princess Georg of Saxony

The Infanta Maria Ana was born in Lisbon on August 21, 1843, the daughter of Queen Maria II of Portugal and King Ferdinand II (born Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Kohary). She married the then-Crown Prince Georg of Saxony on May 11, 1859, and had eight children.

Maria Ana died February 5, 1884, in Dresden. She is buried in the Great Crypt at the Hofkirche.

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Friedrich August III
reigned October 15, 1904 – November 13, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Friedrich August III, King of Saxony

Friedrich August III was born May 25, 1865, in Dresden, son of King Georg and Infanta Maria Ana of Portugal. He married Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany, on November 21, 1891. The couple had seven children and were divorced in 1903 after the Archduchess fled while pregnant with her youngest daughter. The King abdicated on November 13, 1918, ending the monarchy in Saxony.

King Friedrich August III died on February 18, 1932, at Schloss Sibyllenort. He is buried in the New Crypt at the Hofkirche.

Archduchess Luise of Austria, Princess of Tuscany

Unofficial Royalty: Luise of Austria, Crown Princess of Saxony

Luise was born December 2, 1870, in Salzburg, daughter of Ferdinand IV of Tuscany and Princess Alice of Bourbon-Parma. She married the future King Friedrich August III on November 21, 1891. The couple was divorced in 1903. Several years later, she married an Italian musician and had a son. At that point, she was stripped of all of her imperial titles by the Austrian Emperor, and her father granted her the title Countess of Montignoso

Luise, the Countess of Montignoso, died in Brussels on March 23, 1947. She is buried at the Hedingen Monastery in Sigmaringen.

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