Electoral Circle

The Electoral Circle, which was renamed in 1807 to the Wittenberg Circle, was a historical territory, that mostly emerged from the heartlands of the former Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg. This Imperial Circle was created in the reign of Frederick the Wise of Saxony in 1499 and was part of the Electorate of Saxony. The German name Kurkreis referred to the electoral dignity or status of the Saxon prince electors to whom this territory was linked.

The region of the Electoral Circle today falls largely within the states of Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt. A smaller portion is located in North Saxony.

The rivers Elbe, Black Elster and, for a short section, Mulde flowed through the Circle. The most important settlement in the Circle was the town of Wittenberg, where the Reformation started.

John Frederick the Magnanimous was defeated by Emperor Charles V in the Schmalkaldic War at the Battle of Mühlberg and was captured there on 24 April 1547. The emperor removed his electoral dignity and part of his electoral estates and enfeoffed them to his cousin Maurice of Saxony. As a result, Saxe-Wittenberg was transferred from the Ernestines to the Albertine line of the family.

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