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Duchy of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha Saxe-Coburg
and Gotha or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (German: Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) served as the collective name of two duchies,
Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, in Germany. They were located in what today are the states of Bavaria and Thuringia, respectively,
and the two were in personal union between 1826 and 1918. The Duchy came to an end in 1918 with the other German monarchies,
and the Free State of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was established. This was merged into the new state of Thuringia two years later. The
name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also may refer to the family of the ruling House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which played many varied
roles in nineteenth and twentieth-century European dynastic and political history, branches of which currently reign in Belgium
and the Commonwealth realms. The History of the Duchy The two duchies, Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha, were among the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin
dynasty. The duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha originated as the personal union of these two duchies in 1826, after the death
of the last Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who died without male heirs. His Wettin relations repartitioned his lands. The former
husband of Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, the only niece of the last duke, was Duke Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He
received Gotha and changed his name and title to Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha although, technically, the two duchies
remained as separate duchies. 
Ernst I died in 1844. His elder son and
successor, Ernest II, ruled until his own death in 1893. As he died childless, the throne of the duchies would have passed
to the male descendants of Ernst's late brother Albert, the Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
However, the constitutions of both duchies excluded the British heir apparent from the ducal thrones if there were other eligible
male heirs, although Albert Edward, Prince of Wales had already renounced his claim to the ducal throne in favour of his next
brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. 
Alfred's only son, also named Alfred, committed
suicide in 1899, so when Duke Alfred died in 1900, he was succeeded by his nephew the Duke of Albany, the sixteen-year-old
son of Queen Victoria's youngest son, Leopold. Alfred's next brother Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur
of Connaught having renounced the succession. Reigning as Duke Carl Eduard, or Charles Edward, under the regency of the Hereditary
Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg until he came of age in 1905, the new duke also continued to use his British title, Duke of
Albany.  As a result of Charles Edward fighting for
Germany against the British in the First World War, he was stripped of his British titles in 1919. Charles Edward reigned
until November 18, 1918 during the German Revolution, when the Workers' and Soldiers' Council of Gotha deposed him. The two
Duchies, now without a common ruler, became separate states until shortly thereafter, when they ceased to exist. Saxe-Coburg
became a part of Bavaria and Saxe-Gotha merged with other small states in 1920 to form the new state of Thuringia in the Weimar
Republic.  Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha The capitals of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha were Coburg and Gotha. By 1914 the area and populations
of the two duchies were: Duchy Area Population
km² sq
mi
Saxe-Coburg 562 217 74,818
Saxe-Gotha 1,415 546 182,359
Total 1,977 763 257,177
Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the only European country
to appoint a diplomatic consul to the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. This consul, Ernst Raven,
was assigned to a position in the state of Texas. Raven applied to the Confederate Government for a diplomatic exequatur on
July 30, 1861 and was accepted.  Titles
of The Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha According to the House law of the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha the full Title and Style of the Duke was
as follows: Wir, Ernst, Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg und
Gotha, Jülich, Cleve und Berg, auch Engern und Westphalen, Landgraf in Thüringen, Markgraf zu Meißen,
gefürsteter Graf zu Henneberg, Graf zu der Mark und Ravensberg, Herr zu Ravenstein und Tonna usw. Translation: We, Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Jülich, Cleves and Berg, also
Angria and Westphalia, Landgrave in Thuringia, Margrave of Meissen, Princely Count of Henneberg, Count of the Mark and Ravensberg,
Lord of Ravenstein and Tonna, etc. 
The full Titles of the Duke Duke of Saxe-Coburg und Gotha, Duke of Jülich,
Duke of Kleve, Duke of Berg, Duke of Engern, Duke of Westphalia, Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Meissen, Landgrave of Thuringia,
Prince of Lichtenberg, Princely Count of Henneberg, Palatine of Saxony, Palatine of Thuringia, Count of Römhild, Count
of Landsberg, Count of Brehna, Count of Orlamünde, Count of Altenburg, Count of Eisenberg, Count of Mark, Count of Ravensberg,
Lord Pleissen, Lord of Ravenstein, Lord of Tonna.
The History of the House of Wettin
The
House of Wettin is a dynasty of German counts, dukes, prince-electors (Kurfürsten) and kings that once ruled the area
of today's German states of Saxony, the Saxon part of Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia for more than 800 years as well as holding
at times the kingship of Poland. Agnates of the House of Wettin have, at various times, ascended the thrones of Great Britain,
Portugal, Bulgaria, Poland, Saxony, and Belgium; of these, only the British and Belgian lines retain their thrones today.
The oldest member of the House of Wettin who is known for certain was Thiedericus (died 982), who was probably based in the
Liesgau (located at the western edge of the Harz). Around 1000, as part of the German conquest of Slavic territory, the family
acquired Wettin Castle, after which they named themselves.  Wettin
Castle is located in Wettin in the Hosgau on the Saale River. Around 1030, the Wettin family received the Eastern March as
a fief. The prominence of the Wettin family in the Slavic marches caused Emperor Henry IV to invest them with the March of
Meissen as a fief in 1089. The family advanced over the course of the Middle Ages: in 1263 they inherited the landgraviate
of Thuringia (though without Hesse), and in 1423 they were invested with the Duchy of Saxony, centred at Wittenberg,thus becoming
one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire.  The
family divided into two ruling branches in 1485 when the sons of Frederick II, Elector of Saxony divided the territories hitherto
ruled jointly. The elder son Ernest, who had succeeded his father as Prince-elector, received the territories assigned to
the Elector (Electoral Saxony) and Thuringia, while his younger brother Albert obtained the March of Meissen, which he ruled
from Dresden. As Albert ruled under the title of "Duke of Saxony", his possessions were also known as Ducal Saxony. The older, Ernestine branch remained predominant
until 1547 and played an important role in the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation. Their predominance ended in the Schmalkaldic
War, which pitted the Protestant Schmalkaldic League against Emperor Charles V. Although itself Protestant, the Albertine
branch rallied to the Empire's cause; Charles V rewarded them by forcing the Ernestines to sign away their rights to the Electoral
title and lands to the Albertines.  The Ernestine line was thereafter restricted
to Thuringia, and its dynastic unity swiftly crumbled. The Albertine Wettin maintained most of the territorial integrity of
Saxony, preserving it as a significant power in the region, and using small appanage fiefs for their cadet branches, few of
which survived for significant lengths of time. The Ernestine Wettin, on the other hand, repeatedly subdivided their territory,
creating an intricate patchwork of small duchies and counties in Thuringia. 
The junior Albertine branch ruled as Electors
(1547-1806) and Kings of Saxony (1806-1918) and also played a role in Polish history: two Wettin were Kings of Poland (between
1697-1763) and a third ruled the Duchy of Warsaw (1807-1814) as a satellite of Napoleon. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Albertine
branch lost about 40% of its lands, including the old Electoral Saxony, to Prussia, restricting it to a territory coextensive
with the modern Saxony.  H.R.H. Prince Albert - Prince Consort
of Great Britain Prince
Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel; later The Prince Consort; 26 August 1819 - 14 December
1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and Ireland. He was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. At the age of 20 he married his first cousin, Queen Victoria,
with whom he would ultimately have nine children. At first, Albert felt constrained by his position as consort, which did
not confer any power or duties upon him. Over time he adopted many public causes, such as educational reform and a worldwide
abolition of slavery, and took on the responsibilities of running the Queen's household, estates and office. 
He was heavily involved with the organisation
of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Albert aided in the development of Britain's constitutional monarchy by persuading his wife
to show less partisanship in her dealings with Parliament-although he actively disagreed with the interventionist foreign
policy pursued during Lord Palmerston's tenure as Foreign Secretary. He died at the early age of 42, plunging the Queen into a deep mourning that lasted for the rest of her life. Upon
Queen Victoria's death in 1901, their eldest son, Edward VII, succeeded as the first British monarch of the House of Wettin
(Saxe-Coburg and Gotha), named after the ducal house to which Albert belonged. 
Dukes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - 1826-1918 - Ernst I 1826-1844
- Ernst
II 1844-1893
- Alfred 1893-1900
- Carl Eduard 1900-1918
Heads of the House since - 1918 - Carl Eduard 1918-1954
- Prince Friedrich Josias 1954-1998
- Prince
Andreas 1998-present
The Family Titles and Styles The members of this family bear the titles Prince
or Princess of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duke or Duchess of Saxony together with the formal appellation of His or Her Highness. The Genealogy of the Ducal House 
FRANZ Friedrich Anton, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld 8
Sep 1800 (Coburg 15 Jul 1750-Coburg 9 Dec 1806); m.1st Hildburghausen 6 Mar 1776 Sophie Pss of Saxe-Hildburghausen (Hildburghausen
22 Feb 1760-Coburg 28 Oct 1776); m.2d Ebersdorf 13 Jun 1777 Auguste Gfn Reuss zu Ebersdorf (Ebersdorf 9 Jan 1757-Coburg 16
Nov 1831) 1a) Sophie Friederike Karoline Luise (Coburg 19 Aug 1778-Tuschmitz, Bohemia 8/9 Jul 1835); m.Coburg 23 Feb 1804 Emanuel
Gf von Mensdorff-Pouilly (Nancy 24 Jan 1777-Vienna 28 Jun 1852) 2a)
Antoinette Ernestine Amalie (Coburg 28 Aug 1779-St.Petersburg 14 Mar 1824); m.Coburg 17 Nov 1798 Alexander, Duke of Württemberg
(Mömpelgard 24 Apr 1771-Gotha 4 Jul 1833) 3a)
Juliane Henriette Ulrike, took the name Anna Feodorovna (Coburg 23 Sep 1781-Elfenau 15 Aug 1860); m.St.Petersburg 26 Feb 1796
(div 1820) Constantine, Grand Duke of Russia (Tsarskoie Selo 8 May 1779-Vitebsk 27 Jun 1831) 4a)
ERNST I Anton Karl Ludwig, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, became Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha after the redistribution of the
family territories in 1826 (Coburg 2 Jan 1784-Gotha 29 Jan 1844); m.1st Gotha 31 Jul 1817 (div 1826) Luise Pss of Saxe-Gotha
(Gotha 21 Dec 1800-Paris 30 Aug 1831); m.2d Coburg 23 Dec 1832 his niece, Marie, Dss of Württemberg (Coburg 17 Sep 1799-Gotha
24 Sep 1860)  1b)
ERNST II August Karl Johannes Leopold Alexander Eduard, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Coburg 21 Jun 1818-Reinhardsbrunn 22 Aug
1893); m.Karlsruhe 3 May 1842 Alexandrine Pss of Baden (Karlsruhe 6 Dec 1820-Schloß Callenberg 20 Dec 1904)
1c) [by Fräulein Steinpflug] Helene von Sternheim (Frauenstein 23 Nov 1839-Coburg 31 Dec 1900); m.1st Coburg 18 May
1858 Johann Wolfgang Eduard v.Reutter (Berlin 19 Feb 1826-Saarbrücken 11 Oct 1870); m.2nd Coburg 12 Feb 1874 Kurt Frhr
v.der Trenck gt. v.Königsegg (29 Apr 1832-Hildburghausen 10 Dec 1882)
2c) [by Victorine Noel, stage name
Rosine Stoltz, cr 1871 Gfn v.Ketschendorf (Paris 13 Jan 1815-30 Jul 1903)] Karl Raymond cr 1865 Frhr von Stolzenau, cr 1868
Frhr Stolzenau v. Ketschendorf (Paris 21 Jun 1848-Paris 8 Aug 1900); m.Köln 1872 Agathe v.Rekowski
1d) Ernst
Carl Wilhelm Josef Hubert Frhr v.Ketschendorf, took surname Kerry (b.Coburg 3 May 1873, acc to one source he died in Boer
War, but other sources imply he survived, and d.in England 25 Feb 1952); ?m.London 1898 Hannah Jane Lundie (d.1 Feb 1951)
1e) Marguerite (1901- ); m.1924 Emanuele Cte Conti
2d) Arcadius Carl Berthold Frhr v.Ketschendorf,
took surname Kerry (Coburg 26 Sep 1874- ); m.Alice Maud Morgan  2b)
Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel, "Royal Highness" 6 Feb 1840, cr Pr Consort of Great Britain and Ireland 26 Jun
1857 (Schloß Rosenau 26 Aug 1819-Windsor Castle 14 Dec 1861); m.St.James's Palace 10 Feb 1840 Queen Victoria of Great
Britain and Ireland (Kensington Palace 24 May 1819-Osborne House 22 Jan 1901); he had nine children, for whom see Great Britain;
only those who succeeded to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha are dealt with here 1c)
ALFRED Ernest Albert Pr of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Edinburgh, etc, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha 22 Aug 1893 (Windsor
Castle 6 Aug 1844-Schloß Rosenau 30 Jul 1900); m.St.Petersburg 23 Jan 1874 Marie, Grand Dss of Russia (Tsarskoie Selo
17 Oct 1853-Zürich 25 Oct 1920) 1d)
Alfred Alexander Wilhelm Ernst Albert (Buckingham Palace 15 Oct 1874-Meran 6 Feb 1899) 2d) Marie Alexandra Victoria (Eastwell Park 29 Oct 1875-Sinaia 10 Jul 1938); m.Sigmaringen 10 Jan 1893 King Ferdinand
of Romania (Sigmaringen 24 Aug 1865-Sinaia 20 Jul 1927) 3d) Victoria Melita (Malta 25 Nov 1876-Amorbach 2 Mar 1936); m.1st Coburg 19 Apr 1894 (div 1901) Ernst Ludwig, Grand
Duke of Hesse and the Rhine (Darmstadt 25 Nov 1868-Schloß Wolfsgarten 9 Oct 1937); m.2d Tegernsee 8 Oct 1905 Kirill,
Grand Duke of Russia (Tsarskoie Selo 12 Oct 1876-Neuilly-sur-Seine 13 Oct 1938) 4d)
Alexandra Louise Olga Victoria (Coburg 1 Sep 1878-Schwäbisch-Hall 16 Apr 1942); m.Coburg 20 Apr 1896 Ernst Fst zu Hohenlohe-Langenburg
(Langenburg 13 Sep 1863-Langenburg 11 Dec 1950) 5d) Beatrice Leopoldine Victoria (Eastwell Park 20 Apr 1884-Sanlucar de Barrameda 13 Jul 1966); m.Coburg
15 Jul 1909 Alfonso, Infant of Spain, Duque de Galliera (Madrid 12 Nov 1886-Sanlucar de Barrameda 10 Aug 1975) 2c)
Leopold, Duke of Albany, 7 April 1853 - 28 March 1884; m.Helene Pss zu Waldeck u.Pyrmont (1861-1922); for more details see
Great Britain. 1d)
Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline; née Princess Alice of Albany; 25 February
1883 - 3 January 1981) m. 10 February 1904, at St George's Chapel, Windsor, her second cousin once-removed, Prince Alexander
of Teck (Earl of Athlone):14 April 1874 - 16 January 1957.
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