Partition contract to Hildburghausen

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The Hildburghausen partition contract was signed on November 12, 1826 - on the basis of the preliminary contract to Liebenstein of August 11, 1826. It was the basis for the last of a whole series of divisions within the Ernestine family ruling Thuringia .

prehistory

Friedrich IV died childless.

With the death of Friedrich IV. , The last Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg , in February 1825 , this ducal line of the Wettins became extinct . The heirs were the dukes Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen , Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Friedrich von Saxe-Hildburghausen . The extinction of the Gotha house had been foreseeable for a long time; Friedrich IV. Was a sick man who spent a long time on spa stays outside his country. He had hardly ruled himself and, like his brother and predecessor August , who died in 1822 , had no male descendants.

Negotiations about the expected inheritance had been held since 1819, in which the Gotha Duke himself participated in addition to the heirs. On October 7, 1821, Duke August called the three dukes entitled to inheritance to Arnstadt in order to discuss the proposal for a new division of the Ernestine duchies under the leadership of Minister Bernhard von Lindenau . This proposal provided for a generous streamlining of the area: Meiningen was to come into the possession of the Principality of Gotha in exchange for the transfer of the Oberland, Coburg-Saalfeld was to receive the Meininger Oberland and the Principality of Hildburghausen, and the Duke of Hildburghausen should exchange his Principality for the Principality of Altenburg. This territorially quite sensible proposal was rejected by the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, who as agnate of the now oldest branch, after the extinction of the main line, urged the entire Duchy of Gotha-Altenburg to be claimed. The Duke relied on the provisions of federal law , according to which no federal state may be divided.

After the failure of the proposal, further attempts were made under the leadership of Lindenau, which were unsuccessful. Only at the end of May 1822 was it possible to reach an agreement that the duchy should take possession of the duchy in the common name when the inheritance occurred, which followed on February 11, 1825 in practice. Just two days later, on February 13, 1825, the Duke of Meiningen had an announcement published, according to which he would not suspend his exclusive rights by jointly taking possession of it. The Duke of Coburg, who by marrying Luise , the only daughter of the penultimate Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, was also able to assert a claim that was justified, became the Meininger's strongest opponent. Only Duke Friedrich von Sachsen-Hildburghausen held back with his claims.

Friedrich August the Just was able to mediate.

In the dispute over the inheritance, the man from Coburg called on the Austrian State Chancellor Metternich , who, like the Gotha Minister Lindenau, took his side. In March 1825 he was also able to win the Saxon king over to divide the country. Another attempt to interest the King of Bavaria in the Coburg plans was rejected in December 1825. The Meininger was not inferior to the Coburg and was able to win the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar for himself. The family relations of the Weimar court with Russia and Prussia should now also draw wider circles, but came to nothing, since both courts did not want to stand in the way of Metternich's plans. In view of the attempts to find allies that were unfavorable for Meiningen and the success of the Coburg party to persuade the Weimar Grand Duke to withdraw from the negotiations, Duke Bernhard relented and declared himself ready to reach an amicable settlement through the mediation of King Friedrich August the Just .

After the sole occupation of Gotha-Altenburg was not feasible, the Meininger Geheime Ratskollegium made a last desperate attempt to achieve the greatest possible. It submitted the proposal to create a closed north Franconian duchy including the principality of Coburg. Understandably, the Coburg resident did not agree to this proposal to cede his royal seat and it was only thanks to the efforts of the Saxon king that after tough negotiations on August 11, 1826, the preliminary agreement of Liebenstein could be concluded.

Conclusion of contract

Ernestine duchies from 1826 to 1918.

The preliminary contract provided for the Duke of Coburg-Saalfeld to receive the Principality of Gotha and the former Hildburghausen offices of Sonnefeld and Königsberg in Franconia in return for the cession of the Principality of Saalfeld. The Duke of Hildburghausen , who later became Friedrich von Sachsen-Altenburg , was to exchange his duchy for the Altenburger Land , as planned from the beginning . Duke Bernhard von Meiningen was awarded the heartland of Hildburghausen, the Meininger Oberland , the Principality of Saalfeld, the County of Camburg and the rule of Kranichfeld .

The ratification of the treaty was delayed by objections from the Coburg court, which on the one hand criticized the cession of the Principality of Saalfeld and on the other hand it criticized the disadvantage in terms of population figures. Since the dukes of Meiningen and Hildburghausen came together against the Coburger's claims and the settlement reached at his instigation threatened to fail entirely, Ernst I gave in. On November 12, 1826, the dukes in Hildburghausen Castle signed the final division contract based on the preliminary contract of August 11, 1826. On November 15, 1826 the contract was put into practice and the division was legally enforced.

Due to the division in 1826, the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen was significantly enlarged in terms of area without any assignment of territory. The new Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg was created as well as the dual duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, ruled in personal union . The division of Saxony-Coburg-Saalfeld and Saxony-Hildburghausen came to an end in 1826 .

The contract of 1826 also stipulated that all claims arising from previous divisions and inheritances had to be settled. In addition, the construction of a road from Schalkau via Eisfeld and Kahlert to Neustadt am Rennsteig was suggested, which should create a better connection between Coburg and Gotha . The treaty determined the free passage of the Coburg military and civil servants on this road as well as the passage of stately goods without levying customs. In return, Meininger officials were assured free passage through the Coburg-Gotha area.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "The History of the States of the Ernestine House of Saxony" by Karl Heinrich Ludwig Pölitz
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Ulrich Heß: Research on the constitutional and administrative history of the Duchy of Saxony-Coburg-Meiningen 1680-1829 (PDF; 31.4 MB), Volume I, 1954, pp. 80–83, accessed 13. April 2016

literature