House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

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Large national coat of arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is a German aristocratic family , a younger branch of the Ernestine Wettins . The name comes from the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha , which is located on the territory of what is now the states of Thuringia and Bavaria and was ruled by the family from 1826 to 1918. By election and a clever marriage policy, members of the princely family from the politically largely insignificant Saxe-Coburg-Gotha came to a number of European thrones, with which the family gained importance throughout Europe. Today members of the House still rule in Belgium and the United Kingdom , although the latter has been under the name House of Windsor since 1917 .

history

Prehistory: The Wettin House

The ancestor of the Wettins is a Count Dietrich , who died in 982. Among his descendants, the House of Wettin rose to become one of the most important royal houses in Central Germany, alongside the Ascani and Hohenzollern , which at times ruled large parts of today's federal states of Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia and Brandenburg . Milestones in this rise were the acquisition of the Margraviate of Meißen in 1089 by Heinrich I von Eilenburg , the Landgraviate of Thuringia in 1264 by Heinrich the Illustrious and finally the acquisition of the Saxon electoral dignity in 1423 by Friedrich the arguable .

In 1485, the Wettins divided into an Ernestine and an Albertine line ( Leipzig division ). Both lines still exist today. The electoral dignity initially remained with the older Ernestine line, but fell to the Albertines in 1547 in the course of the Schmalkaldic War ( Wittenberg surrender ). While these rose to kings in Saxony and temporarily also in Poland , the Ernestines were limited to Thuringia. The Ernestines sank into political insignificance as a result of continued division of the country. In addition to the main line, the dukes, later (since 1815) Grand Dukes of Saxony-Weimar and from 1741 Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , there were still several younger Ernestine subsidiary lines with partially only limited sovereignty (see Ernestine duchies ).

Establishment of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

In 1825, the last Duke Friedrich IV died without a male heir in one of these small states, the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg . The Ernestine branch line that ruled there was thus extinguished. Inheritance disputes over the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg immediately broke out under the remaining Ernestine lines, which were finally resolved in 1826 by an arbitration ruling by the Saxon King Friedrich August I, the Just . In the course of this complicated arbitration award, the previous duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was split up in the preliminary treaty of Liebenstein : Altenburg became, as in its history, an independent duchy and fell on the branch line of Saxe-Hildburghausen . It existed as the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg until the abdication of the German Emperor in 1918. Gotha, on the other hand, was given to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld . Its property, however, was also divided up: while it was able to keep Coburg , Saalfeld had to cede it to another branch line, the House of Sachsen-Meiningen .

The monarch ruling in Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld at that time, Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Saalfeld, became the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and the previous House of Saxe-Saalfeld was called Saxe-Coburg and Gotha around. The Sachsen-Saalfeld house itself was created in 1680 when, after the death of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Gotha, his land was divided up among his seven sons. So Sachsen-Saalfeld was a younger line of the House of Sachsen-Gotha, which in turn was a younger branch line of Sachsen-Weimar , the main line of the Ernestines , created in 1640 .

Because of the rule of Greinburg in Upper Austria acquired by Duke Ernst I in 1823 , the Coburg-Gotha ducal house from then on (as one of three sovereign houses) held a hereditary seat in the manor house of the Austrian Empire until 1918 . Greinburg Castle is still one of the family's residences today.

The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the German home of the dynasty

Members of the Catholic branch of Saxony-Coburg-Koháry , around 1875

Ernst I was followed by his son Ernst II (1818–1893) in 1844 . Ernst II was the only German prince who took the March Revolution really seriously and put a constitutional law into force in 1849 . This gave Saxony-Coburg and Gotha the most progressive constitution in Germany at that time.

Ernst II had several illegitimate children, but his marriage to Princess Alexandrine of Baden (1820–1904) remained childless. After his death, the duchy fell to the British branch line of the house (see below), which had been formed in the meantime. Since the next named Eduard, Prince of Wales , was also in first place in the British line of succession and was not prepared to renounce the throne of the British Empire for the insignificant German duchy, he renounced in favor of his younger brother, Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to the duchy, who eventually ascended the throne there as Alfred von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha .

Alfred's son (also named Alfred) had committed suicide in 1899. When Alfred died in 1900, the ducal throne therefore fell again to British relatives; the new duke was his nephew, the Duke of Albany , the eldest son of Leopold Georg, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria . He ruled as Duke Carl Eduard until 1918, the end of the monarchy in the German Empire and its constituent states.

The ducal house's residences were Friedenstein Castle in Gotha, where the family lived in an apartment until 1945, Ehrenburg Castle in Coburg, Callenberg Castle near Coburg, and Greinburg Castle in Upper Austria , which has been used as a hunting seat since 1823 . The latter two belong to the family to this day. The members of the house bear the name Prince / Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke / Duchess of Saxony .

House Order

In memory of his father, Duke Ernst the Pious, Duke Friedrich I of Saxe-Gotha founded the "Order of German Righteousness", which today is considered the first German secular knightly order with the motto Fideliter et Constanter ("Faithful and steadfast") . From it later emerged the Saxony-Ernestine House Order, which was awarded until 1935. It represented one of the most prestigious German merit awards. In 2006, Andreas Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, as head of the entire House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, co-founded the Duke Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House Order based on the expired Saxe-Ernestine House Order the outstanding services to the common good and the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha are honored.

coat of arms

The House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha knows three different coats of arms:

  • Large national coat of arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826–1918)
  • Small national coat of arms ; it was run by all ruling lines of the House of Wettin (until 1918)
  • Family coat of arms ; it was bestowed by Queen Victoria on her fourth and youngest son, Prince Leopold, 1st Duke of Albany , as a personal coat of arms. Victoria's grandson, Duke Carl Eduard von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha , eventually took over. His descendants continue to run it today.

Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Surname Life dates Government data married to Remarks
Ernst I. 1784-1844 1826-1844 first marriage Dorothe Luise , b. Duchess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg,
second marriage to Marie , b. Princess of Württemberg 		1806–1826 Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Ernst II 1818-1893 1844-1893 Alexandrine , b. Princess of Baden
Alfred 1844-1900 1893-1900 Maria Alexandrovna , b. Grand Duchess of Russia also (British) Duke of Edinburgh
Carl Eduard 1884-1954 1900-1918 Viktoria Adelheid , b. Princess of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg until 1905 under regency

until 1917 also (British) Duke of Albany.
1918 Abolition of the monarchy

Heads of the House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha since 1918

Surname Domination
Carl Eduard 1918-1954
Friedrich 1954-1998
Andreas since 1998

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha abroad

Members of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were elected ( Belgium , Bulgaria ) or married ( Portugal , Great Britain ) to various European thrones, some of which they still rule today.

All lines come from the sons of Duke Franz Friedrich Anton von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750–1806). The eldest son of Ernst I . (1784–1844) became the progenitor of the British royal family through his son Albert . The second oldest Ferdinand Georg (1785-1851) founded the Saxon-Coburg-Koháry line by marrying Maria Antonia Koháry , from which the Portuguese and Bulgarian royal houses emerged. The youngest son Leopold (1790–1865) was elected King of the Belgians and the progenitor of the Belgian royal family.

Belgium

Coat of arms of the kings of Belgium from the House of Saxony-Coburg-Gotha (with the Saxon coat of arms as a heart shield)

In 1830 the Belgian Revolution took place , during which the country fought for independence from the Netherlands. The National Congress now elected in Belgium decided, following the fashion of the time, to establish a constitutional monarchy in Belgium , although republican currents were well represented in the Congress. Since there was no ancestral dynasty, the choice of a royal family became necessary.

Initially, it was considered to put a younger prince from the Dutch royal house of Orange on the throne. However, the royal house had robbed itself of its chances due to the continued resistance of the Dutch king against Belgian independence. A younger son of the French king Ludwig Philipp from the house of Orléans was also considered. However, this solution failed due to resistance from Great Britain, which saw the European equilibrium endangered. Ultimately, the choice fell on Prince Leopold , a younger brother of Duke Ernst I, who ruled in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

Leopold had already had the prospect of the thrones of several countries in his life. In 1815 he married the British heir to the throne, Charlotte Augusta , so he should have been the British Prince Consort . However, his wife died giving birth to her son in 1817 without ever ascending the British throne. Leopold was thus deprived of the prospect of rule in Great Britain, but soon came to terms with the situation. He arranged the marriage of his sister Victoria von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld to Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn , a younger son of the British king. From this marriage the future Queen Victoria emerged, whose own marriage with another member of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also brought this to the throne in Great Britain (see below).

Leopold stayed in the UK even after his wife died. There he was offered the Greek royal crown in 1830 . Greece had fought for its independence from the Ottoman Empire , the major European powers had decided in the London Protocol to install a hereditary monarchy in the country as compensation for their support in the war of independence. Leopold turned down this offer, however, as he considered the political conditions in Greece to be too unstable. The crown there then fell to the German Wittelsbach dynasty .

His family ties made Leopold acceptable to Great Britain, his service in the Napoleonic Wars ( General of the Russian Army , Field Marshal in the United Kingdom ) made him popular in Belgium, and so Leopold became the first King of the Belgians in 1831. The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha still rules Belgium today.

Kings of the Belgians

Surname Life dates Government data married to Remarks
Leopold I. 1790-1865 1831-1865 first marriage Charlotte Augusta of Wales , second marriage Karoline Bauer , third marriage Louise , b. Princess of Orléans born as Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Leopold II. 1835-1909 1865-1909 first marriage Marie Henriette , b. Archduchess of Austria and royal princess of Hungary , second marriage to Blanche Zélia Joséphine Delacroix 1885–1908 also sovereign of the Congo Free State
Albert I. 1875-1934 1909-1934 Elisabeth , b. Duchess in Bavaria  
Leopold III. 1901-1983 1934-1951 first marriage Astrid , b. Princess of Sweden , second marriage to Mary Lilian Baels 1945–1950 under the reign, abdicated in 1951
Baudouin 1930-1993 1951-1993 Fabiola de Mora y Aragon  
Albert II * 1934 1993-2013 Paola Ruffo di Calabria resigned on July 21, 2013
Philippe * 1960 2013– Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz  

Congo Free State

The Congo Conference of 1884 created the Congo Free State as a private property of the then Belgian King Leopold II, independent of Belgium. The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha ruled over one of the largest states in Africa. Leopold exploited the private colony with an unprecedented ruthlessness - even for the circumstances at the time. Only when the criticism of the colonial administration he set up in the country became too strong, the Belgian king had to cede the Free State to Belgium in 1908; Belgian Congo emerged from which Zaire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo later developed.

Portugal

Coat of arms of Ferdinand II of Portugal from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

The House of Braganza had ruled Portugal since 1640 . During the Miguelistenkrieg (1832-1834) this divided into an older Miguelist and a younger line. The older line lost the throne, and its head has since lived in exile in the former German monastery of Bronnbach .

The last monarch from the younger line was Queen Maria II (1819-1853, ruled 1828 and 1834-1853). In 1836 she married the German Prince Ferdinand of the Saxon-Coburg-Koháry family , who later became King Ferdinand II.

Traditionally, the ruling dynasty changed after a female monarch . According to the old conception, the woman entered the man's family through marriage. Therefore, the woman also took the name of the man, who then became the name of their children. This rule was also observed in Portugal, the children of Maria II and Ferdinand II were therefore not given the name of their mother (Braganza), but that of their father (i.e. Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) in Portuguese , the name of the new dynasty was " Dinastia Saxe-Coburgo-Gota ”.

Ferdinand was the son of Ferdinand von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld-Koháry and grandson of Duke Franz von Sachsen-Coburg-Saalfeld , who was also the father of Ernst I, the above-mentioned first Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The "Koháry" in the name comes from Ferdinand's mother, the Hungarian Princess Maria Antonie Gabriele von Koháry .

Unlike in other Western European monarchies, Ferdinand II was crowned king in Portugal, so he was not 'just' a prince consort, but ruled together with his wife, but in his own right.

The rule of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Portugal was tragic. A king ( Karl I. ) was shot together with his heir apparent in 1908, and a revolution in 1910 ended the monarchy in Portugal and with it the rule of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The last king, Emanuell II, died childless in British exile in 1932 , and the Portuguese line of the house was definitely extinguished. The claim to the Portuguese throne fell back to the older line of the House of Braganza, which had been in exile since the Miguelist War.

Kings of Portugal

King Emanuel II of Portugal (1908-1910)

With the death of King Emanuel II, the Portuguese line of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family died out.

Bulgaria

Coat of arms of the Tsars of Bulgaria from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha

Bulgaria belonged to the Ottoman Empire since the end of the 14th century. Since 1876, the country tried, through uprisings from the dominion of the Ottomans to solve. In 1878, after the end of the Russo-Ottoman War , the country initially gained its independence, through the Berlin Congress it again became tributary to the Ottoman Empire, but was given autonomy under its own prince. Since Bulgaria no longer had an ancestral dynasty, the princely throne of the country fell to the House of Battenberg , a morganatic line of the House of Hesse .

Ex-King Simeon II of Bulgaria

In 1886 Alexander I from Battenberg had to resign because of domestic political problems; Even if Bulgaria was still formally part of the Ottoman Empire, Austria, the new supremacy in the Balkans, succeeded Ferdinand from the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The house of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha also had the Hungarian name Coburg-Koháry , after a Hungarian property of the family (see Koháry ).

Ferdinand was the son of the Austrian general August von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha and thus nephew of the Portuguese king Ferdinand II and great-nephew of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. He took up his post as Prince Regent for the Bulgarian royal throne, which had been orphaned since the resignation of the Battenberger, was able to enforce the country's complete independence in 1908 and thereupon accepted the title of king (in Bulgarian " Tsar "). His successors ruled until 1946 when the communists abolished the monarchy.

The last King Simeon II was only 9 years old when the monarchy was abolished in 1946. In 2001 he was elected Bulgarian Prime Minister under the Bulgarian real name "Simeon Sakskoburggotski", which testifies to the continued influence of the Bulgarian line of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha there. He held this office until 2005 and is the only deposed monarch in history to regain political power in a democratic election.

Kings of Bulgaria

United Kingdom

The House of Hanover ruled in Great Britain since 1714 , a branch of the German aristocratic family of Welfs . Also since 1714 Great Britain was connected with the Electorate of Hanover, since 1814 Kingdom of Hanover , through personal union. This ended when Queen Victoria ascended the throne in Great Britain in 1837 . Since, unlike in Great Britain, the Salian right of succession to the throne in Hanover did not provide for female succession to the throne, the two countries separated again, in Hanover another line of the Welfs came to power.

Coat of arms of Edward VII (1901–1910), the first "Coburg" on the British throne, as Prince of Wales

Victoria married her maternal cousin Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840 , a younger son of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. According to the rule explained in the section on Portugal, she entered the Saxon-Coburg-Gotha house, her children had this name, no longer “Hanover”. Saxe-Coburg-Gotha thus became the name of the new ruling dynasty in Great Britain. The house continues to rule, however, during the First World War , King George V felt compelled to rename the all too German-sounding name to Windsor (after the royal residence Windsor Castle ) by decreeing a name change . Without this change, Queen Elisabeth II would still be called Elisabeth Alexandra Mary of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

With the current Queen Elizabeth II the problem arises again. She married Philip Mountbatten in 1947 . According to the rule described above, the children of the British monarch would therefore have to use the name "Mountbatten", at the latest with the accession of the next British monarch (thus probably Prince Charles ), the rule of the House of Windsor and thus of the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg would be -Gotha finished. The rule would then nominally pass to the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg , a line of the House of Oldenburg . In order to prevent this change of name, Elizabeth II decided in 1960 that her descendants should, if necessary, bear the family name "Mountbatten-Windsor", but that the name of the royal family should continue to be "Windsor".

Kings of the United Kingdom and Emperors of India

Sweden

In Sweden the House of Bernadotte rules , but is closely related to the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, as the eldest daughter of the last Saxon-Coburg-Gotha Duke Carl Eduard, Princess Sibylla , married Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden in 1932 . Their son Carl XVI. Gustaf has been King of Sweden since 1973. Another Coburg ancestor of the king was the wife of his grandfather, Gustav VI. Adolf , Crown Princess Margareta , a granddaughter of Queen Victoria and her husband Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha .

Master list (extract)

  1. Franz (1750–1806), Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
    1. Ernst I (1784–1844), since 1826 Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
      1. Ernst II (1818-1893), Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
      2. Albert (1819–1861) ⚭ 1840 Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland (from the House of Hanover ); British Prince Consort
        1. Edward VII (1841–1910), King of Great Britain and Ireland
          1. George V (1865–1936), King of Great Britain and Ireland ( House of Windsor )
            1. Edward VIII (1894–1972), King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
            2. George VI. (1895–1952), King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
              1. Elisabeth II. (* 1926), Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ⚭ Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (* 1921) (from the house of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg )
                1. Charles, Prince of Wales (* 1948) ( Mountbatten-Windsor House )
        2. Leopold, Duke of Albany (1853-1884)
          1. Carl Eduard (1884–1954), Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
            1. Sibylla von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (1908–1972) ⚭ Gustav Adolf Hereditary Prince of Sweden (1906–1947)
              1. Carl XVI. Gustaf (* 1946), King of Sweden (House Bernadotte )
            2. Friedrich Josias Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1918–1998)
              1. Andreas Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (* 1943), head of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
                1. Hubertus Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (* 1975)
    2. Ferdinand (1785–1851) ⚭ 1816 Maria Antonie Gabriele von Koháry , founder of the Saxe-Coburg-Koháry branch
      1. Ferdinand II. (1816–1885), King of Portugal ⚭ I. 1836 Queen Maria II of Portugal (1819–1853)
        1. Peter V (1853–1861), King of Portugal
        2. Ludwig I (1861–1889), King of Portugal
          1. Charles I (1889–1908), King of Portugal
            1. Ludwig Philipp (1887-1908)
            2. Emanuel II (1908–1910), King of Portugal
      2. August (1818–1881), Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Koháry ⚭ 1843 Clementine of France (1817–1907)
        1. Philipp von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha -Koháry (1844–1921) ⚭ Louise of Belgium (have descendants)
        2. Ludwig August von Sachsen-Coburg and Gotha (1845–1907) ⚭ Leopoldina of Brazil (have descendants)
        3. Ferdinand I (1861–1948), Prince in 1887, Tsar of Bulgaria in 1908
          1. Boris III (1894–1943), Tsar of Bulgaria
            1. Simeon (* 1937), Tsar of Bulgaria
    3. Leopold I (1790–1865), King of the Belgians since 1831
      1. Leopold II (1835–1909), King of the Belgians
      2. Philip of Belgium (1837–1905)
        1. Albert I (1875–1934), King of the Belgians
          1. Leopold III. (1901–1983), King of the Belgians
            1. Baudouin (1930–1993), King of the Belgians
            2. Albert II (* 1934), King of the Belgians
              1. Philippe (* 1960), King of the Belgians

literature

  • One duchy and many crowns. Coburg in Bavaria and Europe. Essays on 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 Castle Callenberg, June 3 to September 28, 1997. Edited by Michael Henker and Evamaria Brockhoff. Publications on Bavarian History and Culture No. 35/97, Bavarian State Chancellery, House of Bavarian History, Augsburg 1997, ISBN 3-927233-55-2
  • 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
  • Harald Sandner: The House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha 1826 to 2001. A documentation for the 175th anniversary of the parent company in words and pictures. Neue Presse Coburg, Coburg 2001, ISBN 3-00-008525-4
  • Thomas Nicklas: The House of Saxony-Coburg. Europe's late dynasty. Verlag W. Kohlhammer , Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-17-017243-3
  • Franz Haarmann: The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Börde-Verlag, Werl 2006, ISBN 3-9810315-5-5

Web links

Commons : House of Saxony-Coburg and Gotha  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nimmergut, Jörg: Deutsche Orden und Ehrenzeichen bis 1945 , p. 1369, 1999 (occasionally it is even referred to as the "first German order", cf. Burg, Paul, Der Orden der deutschen Redlichkeit, Leipzig 1921)
  2. ^ Illing, Fritz: Orders and decorations of the states of Thuringia 1590-1935, p. 19
  3. ↑ Gerhard Herm : The Balkans. The powder keg of Europe . Econ Verlag, Düsseldorf / Vienna / New York / Moscow 1993, ISBN 978-3-430-14445-2 . P. 318.
  4. ↑ The Windsors were once called Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha. In: Abendblatt.de. November 18, 2002, accessed May 12, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Why the Windsors are actually German. In: handelsblatt.com. March 7, 2011, accessed May 12, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Due to domestic political pressure during the First World War , George V changed the Anglicized name of his dynasty Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the name Windsor, which is still used today .