Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Ernst II Bernhard Georg Johann Karl Frederick Peter Albert, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg (b. Altenburg, 31 August 1871 - d. Schloß Fröhliche Wiederkunft, 22 March 1955), was the last reigning duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

He was the fourth child but only son of Prince Moritz the youngest son of Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg and Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen.

The death of his father on the 13 May 1907 made him first in the line of succession to the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg. He inherited the dukedom when his uncle and namesake Ernst I, died without surviving male issue, on the 7 February 1908.

On the 27 February 1898 In Bückeburg Ernst married firstly with Adelaide of Schaumburg-Lippe. They had four children:
# Charlotte Agnes Ernestine Augusta Bathildis Marie Therese Adolfine (b. Potsdam, 4 March 1899 - d. Hemmelmark bei Eckernförde, 16 February 1989), married on 11 July 1919 to Prince Sigismund of Prussia.
# Wilhelm Georg Moritz Ernst Albert Frederick Karl Konstantin Eduard Max (b. Potsdam, 13 May 1900 - d. Rendsburg, 13 February 1991).
# Elisabeth Karola Viktoria Adelaide Hilda Luise Alexandra (b. Potsdam, 6 April 1903 - d. Breiholz, 30 January 1991).
# Frederick Ernst Karl August Albert (b. Potsdam, 15 May 1905 - d. Rosenheim, 23 February 1985).

When Germany lost World War I, all the German princes lost their titles and states. Ernst was forced to abdicated the government of the duchy on 13 November 1918, and spent the rest of his life like a private citizen. Two years later, in 1920, his marriage ended in divorce.

In Schloß Fröhliche Wiederkunft on 15 July 1934 Ernst married secondly (and unequally) with Maria Triebel. They had no children.

Ernst became the only former reigning German prince who accepted German Democratic Republic citizenship after World War II, refusing an offer to leave his beloved Schloß Fröhliche Wiederkunft and relocate to the British occupation zone. The Schloß had been confiscated by the Soviet occupiers, but Ernst had been granted free use of it until his death. In March 1954, with the death of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he became the last survivor of the German princes who had reigned until 1918. One year later, on March 22, 1955, he died at his Schloß.

Ancestry

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1= Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
2= Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg
3= Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen
4= Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
5= Marie Luise of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
6= Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
7= Marie Fredericka of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel)
8= Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg
9= Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
10=Friedrich Ludwig, Hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
11=Elena Pavlovna of Russia
12=Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
13=Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
14=William II, Elector of Hesse
15=Princess Augusta of Prussia

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