List of the burgraves of Meissen


This is a list of the burgraves of Meissen.
The Burgraviate of Meissen was first mentioned in 1068, when King Henry IV installed a burgrave in the imperial castle of Meissen. The burgraves of Meissen were royal officials appointed to document the king's claims to power. They acted as a counterbalance to the margrave and bishop of Meissen and were based at a castle on the site of the Albrechtsburg at Meißen. The lordship of the burgrave included quite a few of the villages in the surrounding area. The Vogtland was not part of the burgraviate, but the two territories had the same lord. The burgraves came from the House of Meinheringer and, from 1426, the House of Plauen.
The Burgraviate of Meissen should not be confused with the Bishopric of Meissen and the Margraviate of Meissen.

List (incomplete)

With the extinction of the Older Line of the advocates of Plauen in 1572 the family line of the burgraves of Meißen ended. After the Plauens had never reigned as burgraves, the title now went to the prince-electors of Saxony.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of the burgraves had a black saltire on a gold field. On the helmet is a gold rectangular shield board, on which is a cross, which is adorned at the corners with 5 peacock feathers. The mantle is gold and black. This coat of arms was also carried by the burgraves of Merseburg, Naumburg, Neuenburg near Freyburg and Osterfeld.

Literature