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| Province of Saxony Provinz Sachsen (German) | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Province of Prussia | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1816–1944 | |||||||||||||||||||
 Flag
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.svg) Saxony (red), within the Kingdom of Prussia (white), within the German Empire | |||||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Magdeburg | ||||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||||
| • Coordinates | 52°8′N 11°37′E / 52.133°N 11.617°E | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1939 | 25,529 km2 (9,857 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||||||
• 1816 | 1,197,053 | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1905 | 2,978,679 | ||||||||||||||||||
• 1939 | 3,662,546 | ||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||
• Established | 1816 | ||||||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1944 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political subdivisions | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Germany | ||||||||||||||||||
The Province of Saxony (German: Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony (Preußisches Sachsen), was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg.
It was formed by the merger of various territories ceded or returned to Prussia in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna: most of the former northern territories of the Kingdom of Saxony (the remainder of which became part of Brandenburg or Silesia), the former French Principality of Erfurt, the Duchy of Magdeburg, the Altmark, the Principality of Halberstadt, and some other districts.
The province was bounded by the Electorate of Hesse (the province of Hesse-Nassau after 1866), the Kingdom of Hanover (the province of Hanover after 1866) and the Duchy of Brunswick to the west, Hanover (again) to the north, Brandenburg to the north and east, Silesia to the south-east, and the rump kingdom of Saxony and the small Ernestine duchies to the south. Its shape was very irregular and it entirely surrounded enclaves of Brunswick and some of the Ernestine duchies. It also possessed several exclaves, and was almost entirely bisected by the Duchy of Anhalt save for a small corridor of land around Aschersleben (which itself bisected Anhalt). The river Havel ran along the north-eastern border with Brandenburg north of Plaue but did not follow the border exactly.
The majority of the population was Protestant, with a Catholic minority (about 8% as of 1905) considered part of the diocese of Paderborn. The province sent 20 members to the Reichstag and 38 delegates to the Prussian House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus).