Princess Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen (Ernestine Friederike Sophie; 22 February 1760,

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 ...

– 28 October 1776,

Coburg Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...

), was a Princess of Saxe-Hildburghausen by birth, and by marriage she became the Hereditary Princess of

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld () was one of the Saxon Duchies held by the Ernestine line of the Wettin Dynasty. Established in 1699, the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield line lasted until the reshuffle of the Ernestine territories that occurred following the extinct ...

Life

Sophie was born on 22 February 1760. She was the daughter of Duke Ernest Frederick III 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 ...

(1727–1780) and

Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar Princess Ernestine Auguste Sophie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (4 January 1740, in Weimar10 June 1786, in Hildburghausen) was a princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Life Ernestine Auguste Sophie was a dau ...

(1740–1786). Her godparents were the Danish royal couple, the King of Poland, and the Regents of the houses of Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg and Württemberg. On 6 March 1776, Sophie married at the age of 16 (in

) the Hereditary Prince (and later Duke) Francis Frederick Anthony of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. At the time, Francis was already in love with his future wife

Countess Augusta Reuss of Ebersdorf Countess Augusta Caroline Sophie Reuss-Ebersdorf () (19 January 1757 – 16 November 1831), was by marriage the Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was the maternal grandmother of Queen Victoria and the paternal grandmother of Albert, Prince ...

, but he was unable to break off his engagement with her. Sophie died of influenza just seven months later, on 28 October 1776. She remained childless. She was buried in the crypt of the St. Moritz Church in Coburg.

Ancestry

References

* Heinrich Ferdinand Schöppl: ''Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg'', Bolzano, 1917, reprint Altenburg, 1992 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sophie of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Princess House of Saxe-Hildburghausen House of Wettin 1760 births 1776 deaths Duchesses of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Princesses of Saxe-Hildburghausen