The youngest son of Saxony's King Johann "der Wahrhaftige" of Saxony (d. 1873) and Queen Amelia, he was likewise the father of Friedrich August III. the last king of Saxony. From an early age he received a careful scientific and military training, and in 1846 joined an artillery unit as a lieutenant. 

     During the Austro- Prussian War of 1866 he commanded a Saxon cavalry brigade, and in the early part of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 he was a divisional commander. He later commanded the Saxon XII. Army Corps, distinguishing himself during the battles of St. Privat and at Beaumont.

     When his brother Albert became Saxony's king, Georg was named Commander-in- Chief of the Saxon Army, and in 1888 was made a Prussian field marshal by the Kaiser Wilhelm I. Since King Albert's marriage was childless, Georg succeeded on his death in 1902 to the throne of Saxony. He died on 15 October 1904 at Pillnitz.