Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1800–1831)

Louise, Princess of Saxe -Gotha -Altenburg (full name Princess Luise Pauline Charlotte Friederike Auguste of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg, born December 21, 1800 Gotha; † August 30, 1831 in Paris) was a by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Coburg -Saalfeld.

Life

Louise was born as the only daughter of Duke Augustus of Saxe -Gotha -Altenburg and his first wife Louise Charlotte of Mecklenburg- Schwerin on December 21, 1800 at 12:45 clock in Castle peace stone. She lost her mother shortly after she was born and grew up in Gotha on her father and his second wife Karoline Amalie of Hesse- Kassel court. On December 20, was the engagement with the then Duke Ernst I of Saxe- Coburg- Saalfeld, followed on July 31, 1817 in Castle Friedensstein the wedding at the age of 16 years with almost 17 years older than Ernst. Your obviously arranged for political reasons marriage began to kriseln after the birth of her first son Ernst. A year later her second son Albert was born. The couple lived apart. Ernst had several mistresses and Louise 1823 an affair with the Kammerjunker Gottfried von Bülow and in summer 1824 a liaison with the travel equerry Maximilian Alexander von Hanstein. It finally came to the separation from her husband, which led to some unrest in the Coburg population. In the separation agreement Luise was assigned a castle in Altenburg.

After 1822 her father, Duke Augustus, died, she gave up her other claims. Their property rights were transferred to the sons. On September 2, 1824 Louise had to leave at midnight without her two sons Coburg. As a new residence was her St. Wendel in the Principality of Lichtenberg, the Duke Ernst had received because of his merits in the struggle against Napoleon in the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, assigned. However, they suffered greatly from the separation from her two sons. Pictures of the children and visitation rights were denied her. Louise's lover, Baron Alexander von Hanstein moved to St. Wendel. The divorce against their will followed on March 31, 1826, but she called herself still Luise Duchess of Saxony.

Alexander von Hanstein was appointed to the creation of civil moderate conditions for a marriage with Louise on July 19, 1826 by Duke Friedrich of Saxe- Altenburg, for their goods in Altenburger Land, to the Earl of Pölzig and Beiersdorf. On October 18, 1826 married Louise and Alexander and lived until February 1831 in St. Wendel. Louise took large share of the social life and was worshiped in the Principality as mother of the nation.

On February 16, 1831 Louise was traveling with her ​​husband due to an increasingly poorer health status for the purpose of investigations to Paris. It was found an incurable uterine cancer. Bedridden Luise died on August 30, 1831 in Paris. In 1832 she was buried in a crypt of the village church of Pfeffelbach. 1846 was transferred to the ducal vault at the Coburg Morizkirche and 1860 it was held in the newly built ducal mausoleum on the Coburg Cemetery on Glockenberg their final resting place.

Progeny

From the marriage with Duke Ernst I. Louise had two sons:

• Duke Ernst II of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha (* June 21, 1818; † August 23, 1893 ) ∞ Princess Alexandrine of Baden ( 1820-1904 )
• Prince Albert ( * August 26, 1819, † December 14, 1861 ), Prince Consort of Great Britain ∞ Queen Victoria (1819-1901 ).

In St. Wendel even the Luis Road and the restaurant Luise remember the former princess.