Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - History

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 Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He received Gotha and changed his name and title to Ernest I, 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, Ernest 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 both duchies excluded the British heir apparent from the ducal thrones if there were other eligible male heirs, although Albert Edward, Prince of Wales had already renounced his claim to the ducal 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. Alfred's next brother Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur of Connaught having renounced the succession. Reigning as Duke Carl Eduard, or Charles Edward, under the regency of the Hereditary Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg until he came of age in 1905, the new duke also continued to use his British title, Duke of Albany. As a result of Charles Edward fighting for Germany against the British in the First World War, he was stripped of his British titles in 1919.

Charles Edward reigned until November 18, 1918 during the German Revolution, when the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Gotha deposed him. The two Duchies, now without 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:

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.