Andreas Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Andreas Michael Armin Siegfried Hubertus Friedrich-Hans Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (born March 21, 1943 at Casel Castle in Lower Lusatia ) has been head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha since 1998 and, according to family tradition and GHdA, also becomes Duke of Saxony designated. He is the godfather of Madeleine of Sweden , the daughter of his paternal cousin Carl XVI. Gustaf King of Sweden.

Life

Kasel Castle , 2010

Andreas Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is the first-born son of Friedrich Josias Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1918–1998) and his first wife Viktoria Luise Countess of Solms-Baruth (1921–2003). In 1946 his parents divorced. In 1949 he moved with his mother and her second husband, an American occupation officer who was stationed in Berchtesgaden , to New Orleans in the USA , where he spent his childhood and attended school.

In 1965 he moved to Coburg to avoid being drafted into the American army ( Vietnam War ). He did his military service in the Bundeswehr from 1966 to 1968 with the 6th Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion in Eutin ( Schleswig-Holstein ). After traineeships in the wood industry, Prince von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha completed an apprenticeship as a wood merchant in Hamburg from 1969 to 1971 . During his apprenticeship in northern Germany, he met his future wife.

According to tradition and the house law of 1855, the marriage took place with the consent of the then head of the house, Friedrich Josias. On June 18, 1971, the marriage between Andreas Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha and Carin (born July 16, 1946), daughter of the factory owner Adolph Dabelstein and his wife Irma Callisen, took place in Hamburg. The marriage resulted in three children: Stephanie (born January 31, 1972), Hubertus (born September 16, 1975) and Alexander (born May 4, 1977).

From 1996 to 2002 Andreas Prince of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha was a member of the Coburg City Council for the CSU . In 1997 he was one of the patrons of the Bavarian State Exhibition under the title A Duchy and Many Crowns - Coburg in Bavaria and Europe . Over ten thousand visitors came to the exhibition.

The House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha operates forestry in Bavaria , Thuringia and Austria . In addition, the family takes care of the maintenance and viewing of their two castles, Callenberg in Coburg and Greinburg in Grein an der Donau in Upper Austria .

Callenberg Castle , Coburg
Greinburg Castle , Upper Austria

After a long-standing restitution dispute in 2001, in an amicable investment agreement between the State of Thuringia and the House of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha or its foundations, they waived their restitution claims in Thuringia and were compensated with extensive forest holdings from state property. A retransfer of Reinhardsbrunn Castle failed because it had already been sold to investors. The Herzog-von-Sachsen-Coburg - & - Gotha'sche Foundation for Art and Science , which was established in 1928, holds the remaining art and cultural assets of the house. It is made permanently accessible to the public as the “Ducal Art Property SCG” in the castles of Callenberg and Greinburg and is the subject of permanent and special exhibitions there. Both locks are exemplary maintained. In 2006 the remaining five volumes of the Ottheinrich Bible were taken abroad. Shortly before the auction planned for December 2007, the Free State of Bavaria acquired it for the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek .

Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is involved in numerous associations and associations, especially in the areas of art and culture as well as the promotion of sports. In 2002 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Gotha for his services in reaching the amicable investment agreement between the Free State of Thuringia, the city of Gotha and the ducal foundations .

literature

One duchy and many crowns. Coburg in Bavaria and Europe. Catalog for the 1997 state exhibition of the House of Bavarian History and the art collections of the Veste Coburg in cooperation with the Foundation of the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and the Gotha family and the city of Coburg. Veste Coburg and Callenberg Castle, June 3 to September 28, 1997. Edited by Michael Henker , Evamaria Brockhoff, Margot Hamm, Pia Haertinger, Renate Weber and Peter Wolf. Publications on Bavarian history and culture No. 36/97, Bavarian State Chancellery, House of Bavarian History, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-927233-56-0 , p. 51 Biographical entry with illustrated oil painting
Harald Sandner : The House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha: a documentation for the 175th anniversary of the parent company in words and pictures . 1826 to 2001. Neue Presse, Coburg 2001, ISBN 3-00-008525-4 (there pp. 254-259).
Franz Haarmann: The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Börde-Verlag, Werl 2006, ISBN 3-9810315-5-5 .

Web links

Commons : Andreas Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Stiftung Deutsches Adelsarchiv (Hrsg.): Genealogical manual of the nobility - Princely houses . tape XIV . CA Starke Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3-7980-0700-0 .

predecessor	Office	successor
Friedrich Josias	Head of the House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha since 1998	---

personal data
SURNAME	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Andreas Prince of
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Andreas Michael Armin Siegfried Hubertus Friedrich Hans Prince von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German timber merchant and head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
DATE OF BIRTH	March 21, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH	Casel Castle , Lower Lusatia

[1] Stiftung Deutsches Adelsarchiv (Hrsg.): Genealogical manual of the nobility - Princely houses . tape XIV . CA Starke Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3-7980-0700-0 .