01

1

A headless knight

A head with a golden helmet and a bodkin beard peeps down from the tower to a black spot on the upper market. The figure is said to represent Konrad von Kauffungen, a Saxon knight, and the black spot is where his head fell after his decapitation. With some accomplices he abducted two Saxon princes, but was captured and punished. The two princes, Ernst and Albrecht, grew up and ruled together over Saxony until they divided their territory; the areas assigned to Albrecht included the region around Meissen.
One of Albrechts descendants is Frederick Augustus I, better known as Augustus II the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. His corpse was buried in several parts, too – besides the traditional burial place of his family dynasty, the House of Wettin, in Freiberg, also in Krakow, Warsaw and Dresden.