Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (12 June 1655 in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

– 17 October 1715 in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen (IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra river ...

) was a duke of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy in the southern side of the present State of Thuringia in Germany. It existed from 1680 to 1826 but its name and borders are currently used by the District of Hildburghausen. History After the Duk ...

. He was the ninth but sixth surviving son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha and

Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg (10 October 1619 – 20 December 1680), was a princess of Saxe-Altenburg and, by marriage, duchess of Saxe-Gotha. She was born in Halle, the only daughter of Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, and his w ...

. When his father died in 1675, Ernest and his six brothers jointly assumed the government of the duchy; five years later, in 1680, and under the treaty of division of the family lands, he received the towns of

Eisfeld Eisfeld is a town and a municipality in the Hildburghausen (district), district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated on the river Werra, 12 km east of Hildburghausen, and 19 km north of Coburg. The former municipalit ...

Heldburg Heldburg is a town and a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Hildburghausen (district), district of Hildburghausen, in Thuringia, Germany. The municipality was created with effect from 1 January 2019 by the merger of the former municipal ...

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

. Ernest became thereby founder and first duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. After the death of his brothers Heinrich and Albrecht without male descendants, he took the towns of

Sonnefeld Sonnefeld is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Districts of Germany, district of Coburg (district), Coburg in States of Germany, Bavaria in Germany. Geographical Location Sonnefeld lies on Bundesstraße 303 between Coburg and Krona ...

and

Behringen Behringen is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 December 2007, it is part of the municipality Hörselberg-Hainich Hörselberg-Hainich is a municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Ger ...

. Ernest settled his official residence in

and began the building of his castle. In 1710 he approved the building in his lands of a new city of French Huguenot families, who were driven out after the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

from France. As Master of Cavalry he fought in 1683 in the

Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna; pl, odsiecz wiedeńska, lit=Relief of Vienna or ''bitwa pod Wiedniem''; ota, Beç Ḳalʿası Muḥāṣarası, lit=siege of Beç; tr, İkinci Viyana Kuşatması, lit=second siege of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mou ...

, and 1685 in the conquest of Gran and Neuhaeusel, after this he entered the

Dutch States Army The Dutch States Army ( nl, Staatse leger) was the army of the Dutch Republic. It was usually called this, because it was formally the army of the States-General of the Netherlands, the sovereign power of that federal republic. This mercenary army ...

as a Colonel with the conquest of

Kaiserswerth Kaiserswerth is one of the oldest quarters of the City of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 5. It is in the north of the city and next to the river Rhine. It houses the where Florence Nightingale worked. Kaiserswerth has an area of , and 7,923 inh ...

. In the building of his new residence, Ernest acquired a serious indebtedness of the principality to his brothers, which could not be reduced even by ever larger taxations.

Issue

He was married in

Arolsen Bad Arolsen (, until 1997 Arolsen, ''Bad'' being the German name for ''Spa'') is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and t ...

on the 30 November 1680 to

Sophie of Waldeck Sophia Henriette of Waldeck (3 August 1662, Arolsen – 15 October 1702, Erbach) was a Princess of Waldeck by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Life Sophie Henriette was the daughter of Field Marshal Prince Georg Friedr ...

. They had five children: #

Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (21 August 1681 in Gotha – 9 March 1724 in Hildburghausen), was a duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen. He was the eldest son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Countess Sophie Henriette of Wald ...

(b. Gotha, 21 August 1681 – d. Hildburghausen, 9 March 1724). # Sophie Charlotte (b. Arolsen, 23 December 1682 – d. Eisfeld, 20 April 1684). # Sophie Charlotte (b. Hildburghausen, 23 March 1685 – d. Hildburghausen, 4 June 1710). # Karl Wilhelm (b. Arolsen, 25 July 1686 – d. Arolsen, 2 April 1687). # Joseph Maria Frederick Wilhelm (b. Erbach, 5 October 1702 – d. Hildburghausen, 4 January 1787).

Ancestry

References

*Rudolf Armin Human, ''Chronik der Stadt Hildburghausen'', Hildburghausen, 1886 *Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl, ''Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg'', Bozen, 1917, Neudruck Altenburg, 1992. *Johann Samuel Ersch, ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'', p. 300.
Digitalisat
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen 1655 births 1715 deaths House of Saxe-Hildburghausen Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen People from Gotha (town)