Prince Bernard of Saxe-Weimar was among the most important military entrepreneurs of the Thirty Years War. Early on, he allied himself with King Gustav Adolphus of Sweden and, after the Peace of Prague, with Catholic France. He pursued further alliances and marital projects in Protestant Europe. He failed in his aim to establish his own territorial rule in the Holy Roman Empire, but his Weimar Army continued to exist.

Astrid Ackermann, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena.