Philipp Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Philipp Josias Maria Joseph Ignatius Michael Gabriel Raphael Gonzaga Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (also Prince Philipp Josias Kohary ; * August 18, 1901 Walterskirchen Castle ; † October 18, 1985 ibid) was the last majorate of the Saxe-Coburg-Koháry family .

Life

Philipp Josias was the third son of Prince August Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Archduchess Karoline of Austria-Tuscany (1869–1945).

Fideikommissherr

The possessions of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry covered 83,000 hectares and were summarized in two entails. Ferdinand Georg , the founder of the Koháry line, stipulated that both Fideikommisse should be led by a Fideikommisse master in personal union and accepted the title Duke for himself and his successors. The Coburgs were the third largest landowners in the Kingdom of Hungary at the turn of the century . After the end of the Danube Monarchy in 1918, the Coburg-Koháryschen estates suddenly found themselves in three different countries: in Hungary around 40,000 yokes (23,000 hectares), in Austria 3,000 yokes (= 1,730 hectares) and in Czechoslovakia 100,000 yokes (57,550 hectares). With the Treaty of Trianon 1920, a large part of the goods located in Slovakia was lost.

After the death of his only son Leopold Clemens in 1916, Fideikommissherr Philipp von Sachsen-Coburg appointed his great-nephew Philipp Josias as heir in his will. After Philip's death in 1921, in view of the fact that the property had been reduced by more than half and the difficult economic situation, Philipp Josias cut all allowances to family members. With the connection to the Third Reich in 1938, all entails that still existed in Austria were dissolved . Philipp Josias shared the real estate in Austria, which had now become his private property, with his brother Ernst (1907–1978). The property located in Hungary was expropriated after the end of World War II.

Resistance to National Socialism

Kohary supported German emigrants in Austria and resistance fighters in the German Reich financially. Therefore it was of course kept in the files of the party chancellery of the NSDAP . In 1934 he had entrusted the active resistance fighter with him, Eugen Kogon, with the management of his large estate, who, as his authorized representative, also took on the tasks of active support. In 1936 and repeatedly in 1937, Kohary's friend and authorized representative Kogon was arrested on the journey to the German Reich and was only allowed to leave the country and return to Austria after a court conviction as a representative of Kohary, fined 10,000 Reichsmarks . But Kohary's agent Kogon was a well-known opponent of the Hitler regime on the Gestapo's black list . After Austria was annexed to the German Reich, Kogon was arrested in Vienna in March 1938 and finally taken to Buchenwald concentration camp after imprisonment in September 1939 .

Grave of Philipp Josias of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and his wife Sarah Aurelia in the Hietzingen cemetery

family

In 1944 he married Sarah Aurelia Hálasz (1914–1994) with whom he had a son. After 1945 he lived mainly at Walterskirchen Castle in Lower Austria, where he also died in 1985. The couple's common grave is in the Hietzinger Friedhof in Vienna. Descendants still live in Austria today.

Individual evidence

1. ^ C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings: A Royal Genealogy, in 3 volumes (London, UK: Garnstone Press, 1973), volume 1, page 279 (The Peerage, A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe) Philipp Josias Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of September 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), p. 4.
3. ↑ August Wilpert: Brief history of the Catholic, so-called "Koháry" line of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Munich 1990, p. 4.
4. ↑ Joseph Tafler, Rudolf Eisler:  Messages from the audience. (…) Explanation. In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 21711/1925, February 22, 1925, p. 10 middle. (Online at ANNO ). .
5. ^ ^{A b} August Wilpert: Brief history of the catholic, so-called "Koháry" line of the ducal house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , Munich 1990, p. 22, http://gateway-bayern.de/BV014584282
6. ^ ^{A b} Vanessa Conze: The Europe of the Germans: Ideas of Europe in Germany between imperial tradition and western orientation (1920-1970) . Oldenbourg 2005, p. 228.
7. ^ Helmut Heiber: files of the party chancellery of the NSDAP . R. Oldenbourg 1983, p. 769.
8. ^ David A. Hackett: The Buchenwald Report: Report on the Buchenwald concentration camp near Weimar . Verlag CH Beck 2010, p. 38.
9. ↑ http://koeniglicherbeobachter.blogspot.co.at/2014/09/philipp-august-prinz-von-sachsen-coburg.html
10. ↑ Royalty (travel) guide: Wien / Vienna Friedhof Hietzing (accessed on September 28, 2015)
11. ↑ http://genealogy.euweb.cz/wettin/wettin15.html

predecessor	Office	successor
Philip of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha	Majoratsherr of the Sachsen-Coburg-Koháry family 1921–1938	Dissolution of Fideikommisse in 1938