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Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Herzogtum Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg
State of the Holy Roman Empire,
State of the Confederation of the Rhine,
State of the German Confederation
Saxe-Gotha
 
Blason Duché de Saxe-Altenbourg
1680–1826 Flagge Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (1911-1920)
 
Flagge Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (1826-1911)
VlagSGA Blason Duché de Saxe-Altenbourg
Flag Coat of arms
SajoniaGothaAltenburg
Territories of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg within the Ernestine duchies of Thuringia, before 1826
Capital Gotha
Government Principality
Historical era Early modern Europe
 -  Union of Saxe-Gotha
    and Saxe-Altenburg
 
1672
 -  Duchy established 1680
 -  Partitioned between
    Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
    and
    Saxe-Hildburghausen
1826

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (German: Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg) was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany.

It was nominally created in 1672 when Frederick William III, the last duke of Saxe-Altenburg, died and Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha (who had married Frederick William's cousin, Elisabeth Sophie), inherited the major part of his possessions. It was common for the Ernestine duchies to merge and split; Ernest's combined duchy was divided again after his death in 1675, and the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg proper came into existence in 1680 with the completion of this division and the accession of his eldest son, Frederick to the subdivision centered on the towns of Gotha and Altenburg.

Frederick's residence remained at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha. He decisively secured his family's possessions with the implementation of the primogeniture in 1685. Nevertheless when the last dukes Emil August and his brother Frederick IV had both died without male heirs, the house of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct in 1825 and quarrels arose between the three remaining Ernestine lines about the succession.

As a result of an arbitration issued by King Frederick Augustus I of Saxony in 1826, the Ernestine duchies were rearranged and Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was again split:

After the abolition of German monarchies in the course of the German Revolution of 1918–1919, all former duchies became part of the newly created state of Thuringia in 1920.

Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg[]

  • Ernest I the Pious (1640–1675), inherited Saxe-Altenburg in 1675
  • Frederick I (1675–1691), son of previous; first to bear the title Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
  • Frederick II (1691–1732), son
  • Frederick III (1732–1772), son
  • Ernest II (1772–1804), son
  • Emil August (1804–1822), son
    • Frederick IV (1822–1825), brother, line extinct.

Divided between the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Saxe-Hildburghausen

House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg legally restored in 2017 to direct male heir.

  • Gregory I (current)

See also[]

References[]

  • Handbook of Imperial Germany AuthorHouse, Sep 1, 2009 pg. 87


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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