Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

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}} Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (German: Sachsen-Gotha-Altenburg) was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany.

It was nominally created in 1672 when Frederick William III, the last duke of Saxe-Altenburg, died and Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha (who had married Frederick William's cousin, 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 to the subdivision centered on the towns of Gotha and Altenburg.

Frederick's residence remained at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha. He decisively secured his family's possessions with the implementation of the primogeniture in 1685. Nevertheless when the last dukes Emil August and his brother Frederick IV had both died without male heirs, the house of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg 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 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 the Pious (1640–1675), inherited Saxe-Altenburg in 1675
• Frederick I (1675–1691), son of previous; first to bear the title Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
• Frederick II (1691–1732), son
• Frederick III (1732–1772), son
• Ernest II (1772–1804), son
• Emil August (1804–1822), son
  • Frederick IV (1822–1825), brother, line extinct.

Divided between the Dukes of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld and Saxe-Hildburghausen

See also

• Ernestine duchies

References

• Handbook of Imperial Germany AuthorHouse, Sep 1, 2009 pg. 87

Ernestine duchies after the Division of Erfurt (1572) Saxe-Weimar (1572–1806) Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach (1572–1596, 1633-1638) Saxe-Coburg (1596–1633, 1681–1699) Saxe-Eisenach (1596–1638, 1640–1644, 1672–1806) Saxe-Altenburg (1603–1672, 1826–1918) Saxe-Gotha (1640–1680) Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1681–1826) Saxe-Marksuhl (1662–1672) Saxe-Jena (1672–1690) Saxe-Eisenberg (1680–1707) Saxe-Hildburghausen (1680–1826) Saxe-Römhild (1680–1710) Saxe-Saalfeld (1680–1735) Saxe-Meiningen (1681–1918) Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1735–1826) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1806–1918) Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826–1918)

Upper Saxon Circle (1512–1806) of the Holy Roman Empire Electorates Brandenburg Saxony Ecclesiastical Cammin Secular Principality of Anhalt Bernburg Köthen Zerbst Barby Hatzfeld-Gleichen Pomerania Further Hither Querfurt Reuss Elder Junior Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Coburg Saxe-Eisenach Saxe-Gotha Saxe-Weimar Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Prelates Gernrode Quedlinburg Abbey Walkenried Abbey Counts / Lords Hohnstein Lohra / Klettenberg Mansfeld Schönburg (Saale) Stolberg Stolberg Wernigerode Rossla Circles est. 1500: Bavarian, Swabian, Upper Rhenish, Lower Rhenish–Westphalian, Franconian, (Lower) Saxon Circles est. 1512: Austrian, Burgundian, Upper Saxon, Electoral Rhenish     ·     Unencircled territories

States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) Rank elevated by Napoleon Kingdoms Bavaria Saxony Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Duchies Nassau States created Kingdoms Westphalia Grand Duchies Berg Frankfurt1 Würzburg Principalities Aschaffenburg2 Leyen Regensburg2 Pre-existing states Saxon duchies Coburg-Saalfeld Gotha-Altenburg Hildburghausen Meiningen Weimar3 Eisenach3 Weimar-Eisenach4 Other duchies Anhalt (Bernburg Dessau Köthen) Arenberg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Principalities Hohenzollern Hechingen Sigmaringen Isenburg-Birstein Liechtenstein Lippe-Detmold Reuss Ebersdorf Greiz Lobenstein Schleiz Salm5 Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck 1 from 1810 2 until 1810 3 until 1809 4 from 1809 5 until 1811

States of the German Confederation (1815–66) Empires Austria1 Kingdoms Prussia1 Bavaria Saxony Hanover Württemberg Electorates Hesse Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Luxembourg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Bernburg2 Dessau2 Köthen3 Brunswick Holstein Limburg4 Nassau Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg5 Coburg-Saalfeld6 Coburg-Gotha5 Gotha-Altenburg6 Hildburghausen6 Meiningen Principalities Hesse-Homburg Hohenzollern Hechingen7 Sigmaringen7 Liechtenstein Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck and Pyrmont City-states Bremen Frankfurt Hamburg Lübeck Unrecognized 1 w/o areas listed under other territories 2 Merged with Anhalt from 1863 3 until 1847 4 from 1839 5 from 1826 6 until 1826 7 until 1850 8 1849–60 9 as of 1849 10 until 1837 11 until 1829 12 until 1848/57 13 until 1848 14 as of 1848 15 as of 1829 16 as of 1864