Ernst Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen (17 December 1707 in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

– 13 August 1745 in

), was a duke of

Saxe-Hildburghausen Saxe-Hildburghausen () was an Ernestine duchy and Imperial Estate of the Holy Roman Empire 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 Distri ...

Young duke

He was the third but eldest surviving son of Ernst Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and

Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach Sophia Albertine, Countess of Erbach-Erbach (30 July 1683, in Erbach – 4 September 1742, in Eisfeld), was Countess of Erbach-Erbach by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen. From 1724 to 1728, she was Regent of Saxe-Hildbu ...

. At the age of 16, he succeeded his father as Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1724. As a result, his mother, the Dowager Duchess Sophia Albertine, acted as a regent on his behalf until he reached adulthood five years later.

Appointments

In 1743 he received an Infantry Regiment from

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) was a German nobleman of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He became Count Palatine of Sulzbach at the age of six following the death of his father J ...

as a Lieutenant-General. Later,

Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII (6 August 1697 – 20 January 1745) was elector of Bavaria from 26 February 1726 and Holy Roman Emperor from 24 January 1742 to his death. He was also King of Bohemia (as Charles Albert) from 1741 to 1743. Charles was a member of th ...

appointed him Quartermaster-General. Always ailing in body and mind, he was helpless in the face of the problems of the duchy. In the meantime, the indebtedness of the duchy had become so high that total public revenues did not even cover the interest.

Family

In Fürstenau on 19 June 1726 Ernst Frederick married Caroline of Erbach-Fürstenau (d. July 1745). They had four children: #

Ernst Frederick III Karl, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen Ernst is both a surname and a given name, the German, Dutch, and Scandinavian form of Ernest. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adolf Ernst (1832–1899) German botanist known by the author abbreviation "Ernst" * Anton Ernst (born ...

(b. Königsberg, 10 June 1727 – d. Seidingstadt, 23 September 1780). # Frederick August Albrecht (b. Hildburghausen, 8 August 1728 – d. Hildburghausen, 14 June 1735) Died in childhood. # Frederick Wilhelm Eugen (b. Hildburghausen, 8 October 1730 – d. Öhringen, 4 December 1795), married on 13 March 1778 to his niece Caroline of Saxe-Hildburghausen (daughter of Ernst Frederick III). Their marriage was childless. # Sophie Amalie Caroline (b. Hildburghausen, 21 July 1732 – d. Öhringen, 19 June 1799), married in 1749 to Ludwig of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein-Öhringen.

Ancestors

References

* Johann Samuel Ersch (Hrsg.): ''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste'', 1. Sektion, 37. Teil, Leipzig, 1842, S. 300
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* Heinrich Ferdinand Schoeppl: ''Die Herzoge von Sachsen-Altenburg.'' Bozen 1917, Neudruck Altenburg 1992 * Georg Hassel: ''Allg. Europäisches Staats u. Address: Handbuch'', 1816, etc, Band 1-2, Weimar, 1816, S. 324
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ernest Frederick 02 Of Saxe-Hildburghausen, Duke 1707 births 1745 deaths People from Hildburghausen House of Saxe-Hildburghausen Dukes of Saxe-Hildburghausen People from Saxe-Hildburghausen Knights of the Golden Fleece of Austria Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)