Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg


Frederick, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, was duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

Early life

He was the youngest child, but only son, of Ernst Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, by his third wife, Princess Ernestine of Saxe-Weimar.

Education

The prince was initially educated by the city clergyman Johann Ulrich Röder, who sent him to the Gotha court in 1778 for further training under the privy councillors von Lichtenstein and Johann Karl von der Becke. In 1779, Frederick went to Vienna and was introduced to the court there by his great-grand uncle, Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen.

Regency

Frederick succeeded his father as Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen in 1780, when he was seventeen years old; because of this, his great-grand uncle, Prince Joseph of Saxe-Hildburghausen, assumed the regency on his behalf. His great-grand-uncle had a significant influence on him, and through his mediation, he married Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Reign

Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen

Prince Joseph died on 4 January 1787, after which Frederick assumed full authority. One of his first official acts was the establishment of a customs union between himself, George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, as agreed at the Rodach Conference. This union enabled free trade between the two states. This was followed by reforms in guilds, welfare, and the police, road construction, and medicine. He improved the school system and, in 1795, founded a teachers' college in Hildburghausen under Ludwig Nonne, followed by the Gymnasium illustre and an industrial school for the poor in 1812.
After Prussia and Austria declared war on France in 1791, Frederick provided a contingent of troops that occupied the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Until 1806 he was subject to the restrictions of the imperial debit commission, which had placed the duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen under official administration, because of his predecessors' dissolute financial policy.
In 1806, Frederick joined the Confederation of the Rhine, and in 1815, the German Confederation. In 1818, he, in collaboration with Karl Ernst Schmid, gave the duchy a new constitution. The improved financial situation enabled the purchase of the Eishausen manor.
Frederick was considered popular and intelligent. During his reign, along with his wife, Charlotte, cultural life in the small town reached its zenith. So many poets and artists spent their time there that Hildburghausen was nicknamed "Klein-Weimar". When the last duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg died without issue in 1825, the other branches of the house decided on a rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies, and as agreed in the Preliminary Treaty of Liebenstein on 11 August 1826, Frederick left the Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 17 November 1826. The Duchy fell to Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and from then on he ruled the re-established Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg as Frederick I, with the exception of the district of Camburg.

Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

file:Schloss Altenburg 02.JPG|thumb|right|Altenburg Castle
When Frederick moved to Altenburg on 23 November 1826, the resident was in less than perfect condition. He often stayed at Hummelshain Castle while Altenburg Castle underwent restoration.
On 14 September 1830, following street fighting in the ducal capital, Frederick granted the duchy its first constitution from the town hall of Altenburg. The constitution officially came into force on 23 April 1831. Throughout his reign, the Duke expanded the country's infrastructure, abolished the hunting levy, and improved the administration. He joined the German Customs and Trade Union in 1833.

Death and succession

Frederick died on 29 September 1834 at the Hummelshain Hunting Lodge in Hummelshain at the age of 71. He was succeeded by his son Joseph.

Marriage and issue

In Hildburghausen on 3 September 1785, Frederick married Duchess Charlotte Georgine of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. She was a niece of Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who was the wife of King George III. Two of her sisters later became the queens of Prussia and Hanover, respectively. They had twelve children:
  1. Joseph Georg Karl Frederick died in infancy.
  2. Katharina Charlotte Georgine Fredericka Sofie Therese, married on 28 September 1805 to Prince Paul of Württemberg.
  3. Caroline Auguste died at birth.
  4. Joseph Georg Friedrich Ernst Karl, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.
  5. Fredericke Luise Marie Caroline Auguste Christiane died in infancy.
  6. Therese Charlotte Luise Friederike Amalie, married on 12 October 1810 to King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
  7. Charlotte Luise Fredericka Amalie Alexandrine, married on 24 June 1813 to Wilhelm, Duke of Nassau.
  8. Franz Frederick Karl Ludwig Georg Heinrich died in childhood.
  9. Georg, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.
  10. Frederick Wilhelm Karl Joseph Ludwig Georg died unmarried without issue.
  11. Maximilian Karl Adolf Heinrich died in infancy.
  12. Eduard Karl Wilhelm Christian.