to his brother’s sons, Rudolph II. (d. 1353) and Rupert I. Rupert, who from 1353 to 1390 was sole ruler, gained the electoral dignity for the Palatinate of the Rhine in 1356 by a grant of some lands in upper Bavaria to the emperor Charles IV. It had been exercised from the division of 1329 by both branches in turn. The descendants of Louis IV. retained the rest of Bavaria, but made several divisions of their territory, the most important of which was in 1392, when the branches of Ingolstadt, Munich and Landshut were founded. These were reunited under Albert IV., duke of Bavaria-Munich (1447–1508) and the upper Palatinate was added to them in 1628. Albert’s descendants ruled over a united Bavaria, until the death of Duke Maximilian III. in 1777, when it passed to the Elector Palatine, Charles Theodore. The Palatinate of the Rhine, after the death of Rupert I. in 1390, passed to his nephew, Rupert II., and in 1398 to his son, Rupert III., who was German king from 1400 to 1410. On his death it was divided into four branches. Three of these had died out by 1559, and their possessions were inherited by the fourth or Simmern line, among whom the Palatinate was again divided (see Palatinate).
In 1742, after the extinction of the two senior lines of this family, the Sulzbach branch became the senior line, and its head, the elector Charles Theodore, inherited Bavaria in 1777. He died in 1799, and Maximilian Joseph, the head of the Zweibrücken branch, inherited Bavaria and the Palatinate. He took the title of king as Maximilian I.
In 1623, when the elector Frederick V. (the “Winter King”) was driven from his dominions, the electoral privilege was transferred to Bavaria, and in 1648, by the Peace of Westphalia, an eighth electorate was created for the Wittelsbachs of the Palatinate, and was exercised by the senior branch of the family.
The Wittelsbachs gave three kings to Germany, Louis IV., Rupert and Charles VII. Members of the family were also margraves of Brandenburg from 1323 to 1373, and kings of Sweden from 1654 to 1718.
See J. Döllinger, Das Haus Wittelsbach und seine Bedeutung in der deutschen Geschichte (Munich, 1880); J. F. Böhmer, Wittelsbachische Regesten bis 1340 (Stuttgart, 1854); F. M. Wittmann, Monumenta Wittelsbacensia (Urkundenbuch, Munich, 1857–1861); K. T. Heigel, Die Wittelsbacher (Munich, 1880); F. Leitschuh, Die Wittelsbacher in Bayern (Bamberg, 1894).
WITTEN, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, favourably situated among the coal-fields of the Ruhr, 14 m. E. of Essen and 15 m. N.E. of Elberfeld by rail. Pop. (1905) 35,841. It is an important seat of the steel industry. Other industries are the making of soap, chemicals and beer. Witten was made a town in 1825.
See Hassel, Wittener Ortskunde und Ortsgesetze (Witten, 1903).
WITTENBERG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Saxony, situated on the Elbe, 59 m. by rail S.W. of Berlin, on the main line to Halle and at the junction of railways to Falkenberg, Torgau and Rosslau. Pop. (1905) 20,332. The three suburbs which adjoin the town are not older than 1817. Wittenberg is interesting chiefly on account of its close connexion with Luther and the dawn of the Reformation, and several of its buildings are associated with the events of that time. Part of the Augustinian monastery in which Luther dwelt, at first as a monk and in later life as owner with his wife and family, is still preserved, and has been fitted up as a Luther museum. It contains numerous relics of Luther and portraits and other paintings by the Cranachs. The Augusteum, built in 1564–1583 on the site of the monastery, is now a theological seminary The Schlosskirche, to the doors of which Luther nailed his famous ninety-five theses in 1517, dates from 1439–1499; it was, however, seriously damaged by fire during the bombardment of 1760, was practically rebuilt, and has since (1885–1892) been restored. The old wooden doors, burnt in 1760, were replaced in 1858 by bronze doors, bearing the Latin text of the theses. In the interior of the church are the tombs of Luther and Melanchthon, and of the electors Frederick the Wise, by Peter Vischer the elder (1527), and John the Constant, by Hans Vischer; also portraits of the reformers by Lucas Cranach the younger. The parish church, in which Luther often preached, was built in the 14th century, but has been much altered since Luther’s time. It contains a magnificent painting by Lucas Cranach the elder, representing the Lord’s Supper, Baptism and Confession, also a font by Hermann Vischer (1457). The present infantry barracks were at one tirhe occupied by the university of Wittenberg, founded in 1502, but merged in the university of Halle in 1815. Luther was appointed professor of philosophy here in 1508; and the new university rapidly acquired a considerable reputation from its connexion with the early Reformers. In opposition to the strict Lutheran orthodoxy of Jean it represented the more moderate doctrines of Melanchthon. In the Wittenberg Concord (1536) the reformers agreed to a settlement of the Eucharistic controversy. Shakespeare makes Hamlet and Horatio study at Wittenberg. The ancient electoral palace is another of the buildings that suffered severely in 1760; it now contains archives. Melanchthon’s house and the house of Lucas Cranach the elder (1472–1553), who was burgomaster of Wittenberg, are also pointed out. Statues of Luther (by Schadow), Melanchthon and Bugenhagen embellish the town. The spot, outside the Elster Gate, where Luther publicly burned the papal bull in 1520, is marked by an oak tree. Floriculture, iron-founding, distilling and brewing are carried on. The formerly considerable manufacture of the heavier kinds of cloth has died out.
Wittenberg is mentioned as early as 1180. It was the capital of the little duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg, the rulers of which afterwards became electors of Saxony, and it continued to be a Saxon residence under the Ernestine electors. The Capitulation of Wittenberg (1547) is the name given to the treaty by which John Frederick the Magnanimous was compelled to resign the electoral dignity and most of his territory to the Albertine branch of the Saxon family. In 1760 the town was bombarded by the Austrians. It was occupied by the French in 1806, and refortified in 1813 by command of Napoleon; but in 1814 it was stormed by the Prussians under Tauentzien, who received the title of “von Wittenberg” as a reward. Wittenberg continued to be a fortress of the third class until the reorganization of the German defences after the foundation of the new empire led to its being dismantled in 1873.
See Meynert, Geschichte der Stadt Wittenberg (Dessau, 1845); Stier, Die Schlosskirche zu Wittenberg (Wittenberg, 1860); Zitzlaff, Die Begräbnisstätten Wittenbergs und ihre Denkmäler (Wittenberg, 1897); and Gurlitt, “Die Lutherstadt Wittenberg,” in Muther’s Die Kunst (Berlin, 1902).
WITTENBERGE, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Brandenburg, on the Elbe, near the influx of the Stepenitz into that river, 77 m. N.W. from Berlin by the main line of railway to Hamburg, and at the junction of railways to Stendal, Lüneburg and Perleberg. Pop. (1905) 18,501. The magnificent bridge here spanning the Elbe, one mile in length, was built in 1851 at a cost of £237,500. The chief industries are the manufacture of railway plant, cloth, wool, soap, shoddy, furniture, bricks and cement.
WITTGENSTEIN, LUDWIG ADOLF PETER, Count, prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg (1769–1843), Russian soldier, was descended from a family of formerly independent counts in Westphalia. His father had settled in Russia, and he entered the army, distinguishing himself in the Polish War of 1794–95, and then serving in the Caucasus. In 1805 he fought at Austerlitz, in 1806 against the Turks and in 1807 against Napoleon at Friedland and against the Swedes in Finland. In the war of 1812 he commanded the right wing army of the Russians. In the campaign of 1813 in January he took over the command of the Russian army after Kutúzov’s death. But after the defeats of the Spring campaign he laid down this command and led an army corps during the Dresden and Leipzig campaigns, and at Bar-sur-Aube in the 1814 campaign he was severely wounded. In 1823 he was promoted field-marshal, and in 1828 he was appointed to command the Russian army in the war against Turkey. But ill health soon obliged him to retire. In 1834 the king of Prussia gave him the title of prince. He died on the 11th of June 1843.
