Ernst I. (Saxony-Altenburg)

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Duke Ernst I.

Ernst I of Saxony-Altenburg (born September 16, 1826 in Hildburghausen ; † February 7, 1908 in Altenburg ) was Duke of Saxony-Altenburg from 1853 to 1908.

Hereditary Prince

Ernst was a son of Duke Georg von Sachsen-Altenburg and his wife Duchess Marie zu Mecklenburg . He studied with his brother Moritz von Sachsen-Altenburg from 1840 at the University of Jena . He was a corps bow bearer of Franconia Jena and Saxo-Borussia Heidelberg (1892). Three years later he continued his training in Lausanne . On his 18th birthday he received the Grand Cross of the Duke of Saxony-Ernestine House Order .

In mid-August 1845 Ernst began his military training with the 2nd company of the ducal Saxon-Altenburg line battalion . On September 29, 1847, he was employed as a second lieutenant in the 6th Jäger Department of the Prussian Army in Breslau . While visiting his cousin Alexandra von Sachsen-Altenburg , he met Alexander II (Russia) , with whom he befriended. After completing his training at the University of Leipzig , the Hereditary Prince became Prime Lieutenant in the Leib Company in the 1st Guards Regiment on foot in Potsdam. Shortly after his appointment as major, he married Princess Agnes of Anhalt-Dessau (1824-1897) on April 28, 1853 in Dessau , daughter of Duke Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau and his wife Princess Friederike of Prussia . Among the wedding guests was Prussia's King Friedrich Wilhelm IV.

Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Ernst I.

Ernst's seriously ill father transferred the business of government to him on May 28, 1853 and died on August 3. Thereupon Ernst I came to rule in the Duchy of Saxony-Altenburg. Shortly afterwards he was awarded the Order of Hubert by the King of Bavaria and on a trip to Berlin he received the Order of the Black Eagle from the King of Prussia .

Ernst hardly appeared politically, loved hunting, but was very open to social problems in the country. He simplified the state administration and Altenburg developed into an important industrial city under his government. In 1868 he regulated the border with the Principality of Reuss Younger Line in a treaty . In 1864 he had the town hall in Altenburg restored, in 1871 the court theater and two years later the state museum opened. On April 29, 1873, the ownership structure of the ducal house and the state were reorganized in a domain entrustment commission . On a trip to St. Petersburg in 1873 he received ownership of the 50th Infantry Regiment "Bialystok" from Tsar Alexander II. The Duke then visited Turkey and Austria-Hungary.

On February 9, 1855, Ernst issued a military law that laid the foundations for close ties to Prussia. A week later he was appointed Prussian major general à la suite and four years later lieutenant general. On March 30, 1862, he concluded a military convention with Berlin and a year later did not take part in the Frankfurt Fürstentag . When the German War broke out between Prussia and Austria, he concluded a military alliance with Prussia on June 21, 1866 , despite the sympathy of many Wettins for Austria. Among other things, he recognized the draft drawn up by Prussia for the new federal order and in return received a guarantee for the independence and integrity of his territory. The required Altenburg contingent was not involved in acts of war. In 1866 Sachsen-Altenburg joined the North German Confederation and the military system was reformed according to the Prussian model.

After the mobilization of the army for the war against France on July 15, 1870, decided by the Federal Council, Duke Ernst traveled to Berlin two days later to declare his loyalty to Wilhelm I. He received permission to join the staff of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . On October 4, 1870, Ernst moved to the staff of the IV. Army Corps , to which he belonged until the end of the war. a. participated in the siege of Paris and the fighting on the Loire . He was also participants of the imperial proclamation in Versailles on 18 January 1871. On 28 September 1907 appointed him Wilhelm II. To Colonel-General with the rank of Field Marshal . He was also the Saxon general colonel and chief of the Jäger Battalions No. 6 and 12 .

In 1873 the duke married his only daughter to the Prussian Prince Albrecht . In 1891 he had a memorial erected in Altenburg for Kaiser Wilhelm I, who was so revered by Ernst.

Club thaler from 1869

Like his predecessor Friedrich , he liked to stay at the Hummelshain hunting lodge , which he had, after a fire in 1872, rebuilt in the neo-renaissance style by the architect Ernst von Ihne from 1880 to 1885.

After an unusually long reign of 55 years, his nephew Ernst II von Sachsen-Altenburg took over the reign after his death in 1908 . Duke Ernst I was considered a close friend of all three German emperors. Wilhelm II remarked on his death:

"I and my house lose a true, sincere friend in the deceased, his country children a caring father, the kingdom a loyal, tried and tested prince, who always puts his long, richly blessed life at the service of the fatherland."

- Wilhelm II.

progeny

Duke Ernst I with wife Agnes

From his marriage, Ernst had a daughter, in addition to a son who died in infancy:

⚭ 1873 Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837–1906)
  • Georg (* / † 1856)

literature

Web links

Commons : Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kösener corps lists 1910, 124/638; 120/1299
  2. ↑ Theodor Toeche-Mittler: The imperial proclamation in Versailles on January 18, 1871 with a directory of the festival participants. Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1896.
  3. ↑ H. Schnaebeli: photographs of the imperial proclamation in Versailles , Berlin 1871st
predecessor Office successor
George Duke of Saxony-Altenburg
1853–1908 		Ernst II
personal data
SURNAME Ernst I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Saxony-Altenburg, Ernst Friedrich Paul Georg Nikolaus von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Hildburghausen
DATE OF DEATH February 7, 1908
Place of death Altenburg