Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
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Saxe-Coburg and Gotha or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (German: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) served as the name of two duchies, Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, in Germany. They were located in what today are the states, Bavaria and Thuringia, respectively, and the two were in personal union between 1826 and 1918.
The name, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, also may refer to the family of the ruling House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. This family played many and varied roles in nineteenth-century European dynastic and political history.
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History
The two duchies, Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, were among the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty. The duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha originated as the personal union of these two duchies in 1826 after the death of the last Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who died without male heirs. His Wettin relations repartitioned his lands. The former husband of Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, the only niece of the last duke, was Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He received Gotha and changed his title to Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha although, technically, the two duchies remained as separate duchies.
Ernst I died in 1844. His elder son and successor, Ernst II, ruled until his own death in 1893. As he died childless, the throne of the duchies would have passed to the male descendants of Ernst's late brother Albert the Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, the constitutions of two the duchies excluded the king and heir apparent of Great Britain from the ducal throne if other eligible male heirs existed,[1] although Albert Edward, Prince of Wales already had renounced his claim to the throne in favour of his next brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.
Alfred's only son, also named Alfred, committed suicide in 1899, so when Duke Alfred died in 1900, he was succeeded by his nephew the Duke of Albany, the sixteen-year-old son of Queen Victoria's youngest son, Leopold. Reigning as Duke Carl Eduard, under the regency of the Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg until he came of age in 1905, Carl Eduard also continued to use the British title Duke of Albany. As Carl Eduard fought for Germany in the First World War, he was stripped of his British titles in 1919.[2]
Carl Eduard reigned until November 18, 1918 during the German Revolution, when the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Gotha deposed him. The two Duchies, bereft of a common ruler, became separate states until shortly thereafter, when they ceased to exist. Saxe-Coburg became a part of Bavaria and Saxe-Gotha merged with other small states in 1920 to form the new state of Thuringia in the Weimar Republic.
The capitals of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were Coburg and Gotha. By 1914 the area and populations of the two duchies were:[3]
| Duchy | Area | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| km² | sq mi | ||
| Saxe-Coburg | 1,415 | 546 | 74,818 |
| Saxe-Gotha | 562 | 217 | 182,359 |
| Total | 1,977 | 763 | 257,177 |
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the only European country to appoint a diplomatic consul to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. This consul, Ernst Raven, was assigned to a position in the state of Texas. Raven applied to the Confederate Government for a diplomatic exequatur on July 30, 1861 and was accepted.[1]
Ruler
According to the House law of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha the full title of the Duke was:
Wir, Ernst, Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha, Jülich, Cleve und Berg, auch Engern und Westphalen, Landgraf in Thüringen, Markgraf zu Meißen, gefürsteter Graf zu Henneberg, Graf zu der Mark und Ravensberg, Herr zu Ravenstein und Tonna usw.
Translation: We, Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Jülich, Cleves and Berg, also Angria and Westphalia, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark and Ravensberg, Lord of Ravenstein and Tonna, et cetera.
Dukes, 1826–1918
- Ernst I 1826–1844
- Ernst II 1844–1893
- Alfred 1893–1900
- Carl Eduard 1900–1918
Heads of the House since 1918
- Carl Eduard 1918–1954
- Prince Friedrich Josias 1954–1998
- Prince Andreas 1998–present
Title and Style of other members of the House
The tradition of the titular dignity of Prince or Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and the attribute of 'Highness' is owed to all male line descendants, without regard to how many generations. Use may, however, be restricted in case of marriage in opposition to House laws or a member renouncing for themselves and their descendants.
See also
- Ernestine duchies
- Palais Coburg in Vienna
References
- ↑ Sandner, Harold. "II.1.4 Prinz Albert" (in German). Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001. Andreas, Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (preface). 96450 Coburg: Neue Presse GmbH. pp. 86. ISBN 3000085254. "Der zukünftige König von England und der vorraussichtliche englische Thronfolger sind von der von Regierung im Herzogtum ausgeschlossen"
- ↑ London Gazette: no. 31255, p. 4000, 28 March 1919. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
- ↑ Sandner, Harold. "I.11 Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha" (in German). Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001. Andreas, Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (preface). 96450 Coburg: Neue Presse GmbH. pp. 27. ISBN 3000085254.
External links
- The Ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha The official website in English.
- The Catholic Encyclopedia: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (article about the duchy, with details of religious issues, written in 1910).
Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). "Saxe-Coburg-Gotha". Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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