View source for Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

{{Short description|Thuringian duchy (1680–1826)}}
{{Infobox country
|native_name            = {{native name|de|Herzogtum Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg}}
|conventional_long_name = Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
|common_name            = Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
|era                    = [[Early modern Europe]]
|status                 = Vassal
|status_text            = [[States of the Holy Roman Empire|State]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]],<br> [[States of the Confederation of the Rhine|State]] of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]],<br> [[States of the German Confederation|State]] of the [[German Confederation]]
|empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
|government_type        = [[Duchy]]
|title_leader           = Duke
|leader1                = [[Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick I]] {{small|(first)}}
|year_leader1           = 1680–1691
|leader2                = [[Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick IV]] {{small|(last)}}
|year_leader2           = 1822–1825
|year_start             = 1672
|year_end               = 1826
|event_pre              = [[Personal union|Union]] of [[Saxe-Gotha]] and [[Saxe-Altenburg]]
|date_pre               = 1672
|event_start            = Duchy established
|date_start             = 
|event_end              = Partitioned between [[Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]] and [[Saxe-Hildburghausen]]
|date_end               = 
|p1                     = Saxe-Gotha
|flag_p1                = Armoiries Saxe2.svg
|border_p1              = no
|p2                     = Saxe-Altenburg
|flag_p2               = Flag white green 5x3.svg
|s1                     = Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
|flag_s1               = Flagge Herzogtum Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha (1911-1920).svg
|s2                     = Saxe-Hildburghausen
|flag_s2                = Blason Duché de Saxe-Hildbourghausen.svg
|border_s2              = no
|image_flag             = Flag of Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg.svg
|image_coat             = Middle Arms of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg.svg
|coa_size               = 110px
|image_map              = Locator Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1680).svg
|image_map_caption      = Territories of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg within the Ernestine duchies of Thuringia, before 1826
|capital                = [[Gotha (town)|Gotha]]
| stat_year1             = 1800<ref>Wilson, Peter (1998). ''German Armies: War and German Society, 1648–1806.'' London: UCL Press. Page 158. Combined total populations and areas of Gotha and Altenburg.</ref>
| stat_area1             = 3007
| stat_pop1              = 187,000

}}
'''Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg''' ({{Langx|de|Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg}}) was a duchy ruled by the [[Ernestine duchies|Ernestine]] branch of the [[House of Wettin]] in today's [[Thuringia]], [[Germany]]. The extinction of the line in 1825 led to a major re-organisation of the [[Thuringian states]].

==History==
[[File:Schloss-Friedenstein01.JPG|thumb|left|Friedenstein Castle, Gotha]]
In 1640 the sons of the late Ernestine duke [[Johann II, Duke of Saxe-Weimar|John II of Saxe-Weimar]] divided their paternal heritage (''Ernestinische Teilung'') whereby Duke [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha|Ernest the Pious]], a younger son, received the newly established Duchy of [[Saxe-Gotha]]. In 1636 Ernest had married [[Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg|Elisabeth Sophie]], the only child of Duke [[Johann Philipp, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg|John Philip of Saxe-Altenburg]]. Upon her father's death in 1639, the Duchy of [[Saxe-Altenburg]] passed to her uncle Duke [[Friedrich Wilhelm II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg|Frederick William II]] and her cousin [[Friedrich Wilhelm III, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg|Frederick William III]].

The Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was nominally created in 1672, when Duke Frederick William III of Saxe-Altenburg died at the age of 14 and Ernest the Pious, by his marriage with Elisabeth Sophie, inherited the major part of his possessions. It was common for the [[Ernestine duchies]] to merge and split; Ernest's combined duchy was divided again after his death in 1675, and the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg proper came into existence in 1680 with the completion of this division and the accession of his eldest son, [[Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick]] to the subdivision centered on the towns of [[Gotha (town)|Gotha]] and [[Altenburg]].

Frederick had already served as [[regent]] in Saxe-Altenburg since 1672 and assumed responsibility for government affairs from his diseased father two years later. His residence remained at [[Friedenstein Castle]] in Gotha, he also had the [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] palace of [[Friedrichswerth]] built nearby. Frederick I decisively secured his family's possessions with the implementation of the [[primogeniture]] in 1685. His son and successor Duke [[Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick II]] gained further Ernestine territories upon the death of Duke [[Albert V, Duke of Saxe-Coburg|Albert V of Saxe-Coburg]] in 1699 and Duke [[Christian, Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg|Christian of Saxe-Eisenberg]] in 1707.

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg remained one of the mightiest Ernestine duchies under the rule of Duke [[Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick III]] from 1732. He had the palaces and gardens in Gotha rebuilt in a lavish Baroque style and supported the religious refugees of the [[Moravian Church]] in [[Neudietendorf]]. His sister [[Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha|Augusta]] married Prince [[Frederick, Prince of Wales|Frederick of Wales]] in 1736, their first-born son [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] was crowned [[List of British monarchs|King of Great Britain and Ireland]] in 1760. Frederick made his court a centre of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] (''Aufklärung''), continued by his son and successor [[Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Ernest II]], who ruled from 1772. At the instigation of [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]], he promoted the painting oeuvre of [[Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein]]; he also appointed [[Franz Xaver von Zach]] director of the [[Gotha Observatory]] established in 1787.

Nevertheless, when the last dukes [[Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Emil August]], a fervent admirer of the rise of [[Napoleon]], and his brother [[Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick IV]] had both died without male heirs, the house of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg finally became extinct in 1825 and quarrels arose between the three remaining Ernestine lines about the succession. As a result of an arbitration issued by King [[Frederick Augustus I of Saxony]] in 1826, the Ernestine duchies were rearranged and Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was again split: 
*Saxe-Gotha passed to the Duchy of [[Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld]], which had to cede [[Saxe-Saalfeld]] to [[Saxe-Meiningen]]. The territories constituted the newly created Duchy of [[Saxe-Coburg and Gotha]].
*Saxe-Altenburg was given to the Duke of [[Saxe-Hildburghausen]], who in turn passed his own domain to Saxe-Meiningen and again assumed the title of a [[Saxe-Altenburg|Duke of Saxe-Altenburg]].

After the abolition of German monarchies in the course of the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]], all former duchies became part of the newly created state of [[Thuringia]] in 1920.

==Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg==
* [[Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha|Ernest I]] ''the Pious'' (1640–1675), ''inherited Saxe-Altenburg in 1675''
* [[Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick I]] (1675–1691), ''son of previous; first to bear the title '''Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg''' ''
* [[Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick II]] (1691–1732), ''son''
* [[Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick III]] (1732–1772), ''son''
* [[Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Ernest II]] (1772–1804), ''son''
* [[Augustus, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Emil August]] (1804–1822), ''son''
* [[Frederick IV, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg|Frederick IV]] (1822–1825), ''brother'', line extinct

==See also==
* [[Ernestine duchies]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*''Handbook of Imperial Germany'' AuthorHouse, Sep 1, 2009 pg. 87

{{Ernestine duchies}}
{{Upper Saxon Circle}}
{{States of the Confederation of the Rhine}}
{{States of the German Confederation}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1680 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:1826 disestablishments in Europe]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1680]]
[[Category:States of the Confederation of the Rhine]]
[[Category:States of the German Confederation]]
[[Category:Ernestine duchies|Gotha-Altenburg]]
[[Category:Dukes of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg| ]]
[[Category:House of Wettin]]
[[Category:Altenburg]]
[[Category:House of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg| ]]