Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach was a duchy within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. It existed during two fairly short periods: 1572-1596 and 1633-1638. Its territory was part of the modern states of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

History

The duchy was created by the

Division of Erfurt The Ernestine duchies (), also known as the Saxon duchies (, although the Albertine appanage duchies of Weissenfels, Merseburg and Zeitz were also "Saxon duchies" and adjacent to several Ernestine ones), were a group of small states whose numb ...

in 1572 which implemented a decision of the Diet of Speyer in 1570 to separate

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 ...

and

Eisenach Eisenach () is a town in Thuringia, Germany with 42,000 inhabitants, located west of Erfurt, southeast of Kassel and northeast of Frankfurt. It is the main urban centre of western Thuringia and bordering northeastern Hessian regions, situat ...

from the Duchy of

Saxe-Weimar Saxe-Weimar (german: Sachsen-Weimar) was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia. The chief town and capital was Weimar. The Weimar branch was the most genealogically senior extant bra ...

and give them to John Casimir and

John Ernest John Ernest (May 6, 1922 – July 21, 1994) was an American-born constructivist abstract artist. He was born in Philadelphia, in 1922. After living and working in Sweden and Paris from 1946 to 1951, he moved to London, England, where he lived and w ...

, the two sons of John Frederick II. However, because the two princes were still minors at the time, the country was at first ruled by

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

. In 1586 the guardianship and regency ended, and John Casimir and John Ernest began to jointly to rule the duchy. John Ernest soon withdrew and returned to his hunting lodge in

Marksuhl Marksuhl is a village and a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since July 2018, it is part of the municipality Gerstungen. Geography Marksuhl is located in the center of the Wartburgkreis district, approximat ...

. In 1590 he formally renounced all of his participation in the government of the duchy for five years. After the end of this period, the two brothers agreed to split the country. John Casimir kept

Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Coburg (german: Sachsen-Coburg) was a duchy held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in today's Bavaria, Germany. History Ernestine Line When Henry IV, Count of Henneberg – Schleusingen, died in 1347, the possessions of the ...

, while John Ernest received

Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Eisenach (german: Sachsen-Eisenach) was an Ernestine duchy ruled by the Saxon House of Wettin. The state intermittently existed at three different times in the Thuringian region of the Holy Roman Empire. The chief town and capital of all th ...

. When John Casimir died childless in 1633, John Ernest inherited his possessions and

and

were combined again for a short period. When John Ernest died childless as well in 1638, the line of the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach ended and the country was divided between Saxe-Weimar and

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 kilometer ...

, the other two Ernestine duchies existing at that time. Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Eisenach would not again belong to a common state, until all Ernestine duchies merged to form

in 1920.

Rulers

:* John Casimir, co-Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1572–1596), Duke of Saxe-Coburg (1596–1633) :* John Ernest I, co-Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1572–1596), Duke of Saxe-Eisenach (1596–1638), of Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1633–1638) States and territories established in 1680 Coburg-Eisenach House of Wettin Former states and territories of Bavaria Dukes of Saxe-Coburg Coburg Eisenach 1572 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1596 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1633 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1638 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Early Modern history of Germany 1680 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire {{Germany-hist-stub