Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Ernest II was Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to his death in 1893. He was born in Coburg to Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His father became Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1826 through an exchange of territories.
Ernest II, c. 1863
Ernest (right) with his younger brother Albert and mother Louise, shortly before her exile from court
A lithograph of Ernest, 1842
Ernest's wife Princess Alexandrine of Baden. She would remain fiercely devoted to Ernest during their marriage, believing that their childlessness was her fault.
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was an Ernestine duchy in Thuringia ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day states of Thuringia and Bavaria in Germany. It lasted from 1826 to 1918. In November 1918, Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, was forced to abdicate. In 1920, the northern part of the duchy was merged with six other Thuringian free states to form the Free State of Thuringia: Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Saxe-Altenburg and Saxe-Meiningen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, as well as the People's State of Reuss. The southern part of the duchy, as southernmost of the Thuringian states, was the only one which, after a referendum, became part of the Free State of Bavaria.
Coburg Fortress
Veste Coburg
Friedenstein Palace, Gotha
Reinhardsbrunn Castle, Gotha