Countess Sophia Albertine of Erbach-Erbach


Sophia Albertine, Countess of Erbach-Erbach, was Countess of Erbach-Erbach by birth and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Hildburghausen. From 1724 to 1728, she was Regent of Saxe-Hildburghausen during the minority of her son.

Birth and early life

Sophia Albertine was born on 30 July 1683 in Erbach, Odenwald, Germany as the youngest daughter of General Count George Louis I of Erbach-Erbach and his wife Countess Amalia Katharina of Waldeck-Eisenberg. Her father, along with his surviving younger brothers George IV and George Albert II inherited the Erbach lands after the death of their elder half-brother George Ernest, Count of Erbach-Wildenstein in 1669, and ruled until 1672, when was made the formal division of their possessions: Sophia's father received the districts of Erbach, Freienstein and Wildenstein. At the death of Sophia's uncle George IV in 1678, having no surviving issue forced another division in the Erbach patrimony; this time George Louis received the districts of Michelstadt and Breuberg until his own death in 1693.
Sophia had 15 siblings, three of whom reached adulthood. They were:

Marriage and issue

She married on 4 February 1704 in Erbach to Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, the eldest son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Countess Sophie Henriette of Waldeck. The couple had 14 children, eleven of whom died before reaching adulthood. They were:
  1. Ernest Louis Hollandinus.
  2. Sophie Amalie Elisabeth.
  3. Ernest Louis.
  4. Ernest Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
  5. Frederick August.
  6. Louis Frederick, married on 4 May 1749 to Christine Luise von Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön. This marriage was childless.
  7. Stillborn daughter.
  8. Stillborn daughter.
  9. Elisabeth Albertine, married on 5 May 1735 to Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Herr of Mirow.
  10. Emanuel Frederick Charles.
  11. Elisabeth Sophie.
  12. Stillborn daughter.
  13. George Frederick William.
  14. Stillborn son.
Sophia Albertine was responsible for the education of their children because her husband was largely devoted to the life of a soldier outside the country.

Regency and later life

After her husband's death in 1724 Sophia Albertine acted as regent for her minor son, Ernest Frederick II of Saxe-Hildburghausen. She managed to reduce the national debt by savings and cuttings. A large part of the court was dismissed and the costly Guard was dissolved. She reduced the number of taxes from 16 to 8. In an attempt to obtain cash, she sold off the valuable ducal library.
Her husband had sold the District of Schalkau to the Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen in 1723, in order to raise money. She regarded this sale as illegal. Influenced by Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen, who was in Hildeburghausen at the time, Sophia Albertine declared war on Saxe-Meiningen and had Schalkau occupied militarily on 11 July 1724.
After a fire in the town of Hildeburghausen in 1725, she played a major role in support of those affected. The main hall in the Hildburghausen Palace was equipped with an inlaid floor with a design in a star shape, in the center of which were the Duchess's initials "SA".
After her son took over government in 1728, she retired to her Wittum seat of Eisfeld, where she died on 4 September 1742 of unspecified causes. She was buried in the District of Hildburghausen, Thüringen, Germany.