The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Saxe-Altenburg
(sks-l´tnbrg) (KEY) , Ger. Sachsen-Altenburg, former duchy, Thuringia, central Germany. Altenburg was the capital. Created a separate duchy in 1603, it was ruled by an Ernestine line of the house of Wettin. It passed (1672) to the dukes of Saxe-Gotha, but from 1826 to 1918 it was again a separate duchy under the collateral line of Saxe-Hildburghausen. In 1920 it was incorporated into Thuringia.