Andreas, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Andreas Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha, full name: Armin Siegfried Hubertus Andreas Michael Friedrich Hans Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (* March 21, 1943 at Castle Casel in Lower Lusatia ) is since 1998 head of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He is the godfather of Madeleine of Sweden, the daughter of his paternal cousins Carl XVI. Gustaf King of Sweden.
Life
Andreas Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha is the firstborn son of Friedrich Josias Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1918-1998) and his first wife Countess Victoria Louise of Solms- Baruth ( 1921-2003 ). In 1946, his parents divorced. In 1949 he moved with his mother and her second husband, an American occupation officer who was stationed in Berchtesgaden, to New Orleans in the United States, where he spent his childhood and attended school.
In 1965 he moved to Coburg, to escape the convocation in the U.S. Army ( Vietnam War ). His military service in the army he served from 1966 to 1968 in the armored reconnaissance battalion 6 in Eutin (Schleswig -Holstein). After traineeships in the timber industry graduated from Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha 1969-1971 training as a wood merchant in Hamburg. During his training period in northern Germany, he met his future wife know.
The tradition and the House Act of 1855 accordingly, was the marriage with the consent of the then head of the house, Friedrich Josias. On 18 June 1971 the marriage took place in Hamburg between Andreas Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha and Carin (* July 16, 1946 ), daughter of the factory owner Adolph Dabbelsteen and his wife Irma Callisen instead. ( Born May 4, 1977), Stephanie ( born January 31, 1972), Hubertus (born 16 September 1975) and Alexander: The marriage produced three children.
From 1996 to 2002, Andreas of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha to the CSU member in the Coburg City Council. In 1997 he was one of the patrons of the Bavarian State Exhibition under the title " A duchy and many crowns - Coburg in Bavaria and Europe." The exhibition came about ten thousand visitors. The House of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha operates forestry in Bavaria, Thuringia and Austria. In addition, the family provides for the maintenance and operation of their visit two castles Callnberg in Coburg and Greinburg in Upper Austria Grein on the Danube. After a long-standing dispute waived restitution in a 2001 investing amicable settlement between the State of Thuringia and the House of Saxe -Coburg -Gotha and its foundations this compensated for their restitution claims in Thuringia and were for it with extensive forest ownership of land ownership. The resulting 1928 Herzog von Sachsen -Coburg- & - Gotha'sche Foundation for Art and Science holds the remaining artistic and cultural heritage of the house. It is made permanently available to the public as the " Ducal Art possession SCG " in the castles Callnberg and Greinburg and is the subject of the local permanent and temporary exhibitions. 2006, the remaining five volumes of the Ottheinrich Bible were spent abroad. Shortly before the scheduled auction for December 2007 it acquired the Free State of Bavaria for the Bavarian State Library. In addition, farmed Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha also own forest and land in Thuringia and Bavaria.
Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha is involved in numerous organizations and associations, particularly in the areas of art and culture and sports promotion. In 2002 he was awarded for his contribution in the realization of the investment- amicable agreement between the Free State of Thuringia, Gotha and the ducal foundations made an honorary citizen of the town of Gotha.