Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Friedrich Josias Carl Eduard Ernst Kyrill Harald; 29 November 1918 – 23 January 1998) was the head of the Ducal Family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and titular Duke of

Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (german: Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha, links=no ), was an Ernestine, Thuringian duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present ...

from 1954 until his death.

Early life

Friedrich Josias was born at

Callenberg Castle Callenberg Castle (''Schloss Callenberg'') is a castle on a wooded hill in Beiersdorf, an ''Ortsteil'' of Coburg, from the town centre. It was a hunting lodge and summer residence and has long been the principal residence of the House of Saxe-Cob ...

, the third son and youngest child of

Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha '' , house = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , father = Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany , mother = Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont , birth_name = Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany , birth_date = , birth_place = Clar ...

, and

Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (german: Viktoria Adelheid Helene Luise Marie Friederike; 31 December 1885 – 3 October 1970) was Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as the consort of Duke Charles Edward fr ...

-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Charles Edward was forced to abdicate on 14 November 1918. In 1938, he entered the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

and participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Poland and France. In 1941, he fought in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. He fell seriously ill in the winter of 1941. After his recovery, he fought as Oberleutnant in the Caucasus. In 1944, he was an Ordonnanzoffizier under Generalfeldmarschall

Erwin Rommel Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...

on the French coast. He was stationed in June 1944 in Denmark under General von Hanneken, where he was captured by the British in May 1945 but released in autumn 1945. The third of three sons, Friedrich Josias was not expected to succeed as head of the ducal family. However, his eldest brother, Johann Leopold, married unequally and renounced his rights in 1932, and his other brother (Hubertus) was killed in action in 1943, thus leaving Friedrich Josias as the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

. He succeeded to the headship upon the death of his father on 6 March 1954.

Marriages and issue

In Kassel on 25 January 1942, Friedrich Josias married his first cousin, Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth (13 March 1921 – 1 March 2003). This marriage ended in divorce on 19 September 1946. The couple had one son: # Andreas Michael Armin Siegfried Friedrich Hans Hubertus (b. 21 March 1943). In San Francisco on 14 February 1948, Friedrich Josias married secondly, Denyse Henrietta de Muralt (14 December 1923 – 25 April 2005). Friedrich Josias and Denyse were divorced on 17 September 1964. They had three children: #Maria Claudia Sibylla (22 May 1949 – 5 February 2016) #Beatrice Charlotte (15 July 1951) #Adrian Vinzenz Eduard (18 October 1955 – 30 August 2011) In

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

on 30 October 1964, Friedrich Josias married his third wife, Katrin Bremme (22 April 1940 – 13 July 2011). This marriage was childless. Friedrich Josias died, aged 79, in Amstetten, Austria.

References

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friedrich Josias Of Saxe-Coburg And Gotha, Prince House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (United Kingdom) Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Princes of the United Kingdom 1918 births 1998 deaths People from Coburg German Army officers of World War II Military personnel from Bavaria