Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen

Ernst
Prince of Saxe-Meiningen
Head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen
Tenure 16 January 1928 – 29 December 1941
Predecessor Bernhard III
Successor Prince Georg
Born (1859-09-27)27 September 1859
Meiningen
Died 29 December 1941(1941-12-29) (aged 82)
Altenstein
Spouse Katharina Jensen
Issue Baron Georg Wilhelm
Baroness Elisabeth Helene
Baron Ernst Frederick
Baron Ralf Erich
Baron Sven Hans
Baron Heinrich
Full name
Ernst Bernhard Victor Georg
House Saxe-Meiningen
Father Georg II
Mother Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (Ernst, Prinz von Sachsen-Meiningen; 27 September 1859 29 December 1941) was the head of the house of Saxe-Meiningen from 1928 until his death.

Biography

He was born in Meiningen, the eldest son of the heir apparent to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Prince Georg and his second wife, HSH Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. His father succeeded to the throne in 1866. Ernst pursued a career in the army and retired as colonel in the Prussian cavalry. He received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the University of Jena.

Ernst was married, morganatically, in Munich on 20 September 1892, to Katharina Jensen, daughter of the painter Marie and the poet Wilhelm Jensen. Not permitted to share her husband's dynastic title, his wife was created Baroness von Saalfeld on their wedding day by Ernst's father, Georg II.[1] Despite his unequal marriage, Ernst retained his succession rights to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen.[2]

When his older half-brother, the last reigning duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Bernhard III, died on 16 January 1928, Ernst succeeded him as head of the ducal house, but never reigned, since the monarchy was abolished at the end of World War I in 1918. Rather than his own son, Ernst's nephew Georg, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, succeeded him as head of the house following his death at Schloss Altenstein.

Children

Ernst and Katharina had six children:

Ancestry

References

  1. "Ill Fortune of Half Royal Sons", The Washington Post, 20 April 1908
  2. "Whims of Young William; Zedlitz Sacrificed to Prove the Emperor a Liberal". The New York Times. 20 March 1892. p. 1.
Ernst, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen
Cadet branch of the House of Wettin
Born: 27 September 1859 Died: 29 December 1941
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Bernhard III
 TITULAR 
Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
16 January 1928 – 29 December 1941
Reason for succession failure:
Duchy abolished in 1918
Succeeded by
Georg
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