Who is that Golden horseman ? A chess player.

King August II The Strong (German August II der Starke, Polish August II Mocny) (May 12, 1670 - February 1, 1733) was an influential Saxon nobleman and monarch. He held the titles Elector of Saxony and King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Born in Dresden, Saxony, August was the son of John George III Wettin who was born in 1647 to the house of Wettin. He was the Elector of Saxony, one of the electors of the Holy Roman Empire. His tropps defeated the Turks at Vienna which marked the end of their invasion in Europe.

August´s mother was Anne Sophie of Denmark. In 1694, he became Elector of Saxony as Prince-Elector Friedrich August I. von Sachsen. Following the death of the Polish king John III Sobieski, August was converted to Catholicism and elected king of Poland in 1697 with the help and support of Russia and Austria. The legality of the election was questioned by some Poles.

As a result of defeats in the war with Sweden and the pro-Swedish party in Poland, August had to abdicate in 1706 in favour of Stanis³aw Leszczyñski. But after the Swedish defeat in the Battle of Poltava, he was reintroduced as King of Poland in 1709. One of his sons, Friedrich August II. followed him first as Elector of Saxony , then as August III of Poland, King of Poland.

August II was called August the Strong for his bearlike strength and also for his numerous offspring. It is sometimes written that he sired 365 children. Although this figure would be extremely difficult to verify, August II did father a very large number of illegitimate children, the most famous of whom was Maurice de Saxe (with Aurora von Königsmarck), the brilliant French military commander.

He successfully set out to discover the secret of the "White Gold", as the porcelain he produced in Dresden and Meissen was called. He also gathered many of the best architects and painters from all over Europe in Dresden, and his rule marks the beginning of Dresden's development as a leading centre of technology and art. August's body was buried in Poland --all but his heart, which is in Dresden castle.