Joseph Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (27 August 1789, 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 riv ...

– 25 November 1868, in

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

), was a Duke of

Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Altenburg (german: Sachsen-Altenburg, links=no) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in present-day Thuringia. It was one of the smallest of the German states with an area of 1323 square kilomete ...

Biography

He was the second but first surviving son of Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (of Saxe-Altenburg from 1826) and Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Joseph succeeded his father as Duke of Saxe-Altenburg after his death in 1834. In 1814, he and his brother George fought with the allies against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

. Later, he was a General Major in Saxon services. He implemented several buildings in Altenburg, but his government was considered conservative and resistant to reform; for this, he was forced to abdicate during the civil revolution of 1848.

Marriage and issue

Kirchheim unter Teck Kirchheim unter Teck (Swabian: ''Kircha'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen. It is located on the small river Lauter, a tributary of the Neckar. It is 10 km (6 miles) near the Teck castle, approximately ...

on 24 April 1817, Joseph married

Amelia of Württemberg Amelia may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Amélia'' (film), a 2000 Brazilian film directed by Ana Carolina * ''Amelia'' (film), a 2009 film based on the life of Amelia Earhart Literature * '' Amelia (magazine)'', a Swedish ...

, a daughter of

Duke Louis of Württemberg Duke Ludwig Friedrich Alexander of Württemberg (; 30 August 1756, in Treptow an der Rega20 September 1817, in Kirchheim unter Teck) was the second son of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg (1732–1797) and Margravine Sophia Dorothea of Br ...

. They had six daughters: * Marie (b. Hildburghausen, 14 April 1818 – d. Gmunden, 9 January 1907), married on 18 February 1843 to King

George V of Hanover en, George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , mother = Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , birth_date = 27 May 1819 , ...

. * Pauline (b. Kirchheim unter Teck, 24 November 1819 – d. Hildburghausen, 11 January 1825). * Therese (b. Hildburghausen, 9 October 1823 – d. Altenburg, 3 April 1915). * Elisabeth (b. Hildburghausen, 26 March 1826 – d. Oldenburg, 2 February 1896), married on 10 February 1852 to

Peter II, Grand Duke of Oldenburg , issue = Frederick Augustus IIDuke Georg Ludwig , house = House of Holstein-Gottorp , father = Augustus , mother = Princess Ida of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym , birth_date = , birth_place = Ol ...

. *

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

'upon her marriage, she took the name Alexandra Iosifovna in a Russian Orthodox baptism''(b. Altenburg, 8 July 1830 – d. St. Petersburg, 6 July 1911), married on 11 September 1848 to

Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (21 September 1827 – 25 January 1892) was the Emperor's Viceroy of Poland from 1862 to 1863. Early life Konstantin Nikolayevich was born as the second son of Nicholas I and his wife, Charlotte ...

. *Luise (b. Altenburg, 4 June 1832 – d. Hummelshain, 29 August 1833).

Ancestry

Honours

He received the following orders and decorations:''Staatshandbücher für das Herzogtum Sachsen-Altenburg'' (1855), "Genealogie des Herzoglichen Hauses
pp. 3
4

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg 1789 births 1868 deaths House of Saxe-Altenburg Dukes of Saxe-Altenburg People from Hildburghausen German military personnel of the Napoleonic Wars Generals of Infantry (Prussia) Princes of Saxe-Altenburg Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Russia) Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 1st class Military personnel from Thuringia