Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen
Ernst von Sachsen- Hildburghausen ( born July 12, 1655 in Gotha, † October 17, 1715 in Hildburghausen ) was Duke of Saxe- Gotha -Altenburg, and first Duke and founder of the line of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Life
Origin
Ernst was the sixth of the seven sons of Duke Ernst I of Saxe- Gotha (1601-1675) from his marriage to Elizabeth Sophia (1619-1680), the only daughter of Duke Johann Philipp of Saxe- Altenburg.
First Duke of Saxe- Hildburghausen
Initially ruled the seven sons of Ernest the Pious commonly Saxe-Gotha -Altenburg. Ernst was initially under the tutelage of his older brother Frederick. On February 24, 1680 came through a contract of Brothers to the division of the state. Ernst thereby the founder and first Duke of Saxe- Hildburghausen was. He received the offices and cities Hildburghausen, Heldburg and ice rink and the Office Veilsdorf and half the office Schalkau. After a comparison with his brother Frederick, he received in 1683 in addition the Office Königsberg from the possession of his brother Henry, and after the death of his brother Albrecht in 1699, the office Sonnenfeld. To Albertina palace he had come with his brother Bernhard greatly in dispute and resigned in 1705 in comparison with Sonnenfeld. The land was enlarged in 1714 after the death of Henry of Römhild to the Office Behrungen that 's fief Real and spleen. 1702 the land had been released from the " Nexus Gothanus " and Ernst received by full sovereign's sovereignty.
Ernst began 1685 in Hildburghausen with the palace and the installation of an associated garden. Until the completion of the residence in 1695, he had lived in the castles in ice rink and Heldburg. In 1710 the duke authorized under an urban expansion plan the construction of the New Town with the settlement of French Huguenots families in Hildburghausen, who were expelled after the repeal of the Edict of Nantes in France and Ernst endowed with special privileges. In the same year Primogeniturordnung was confirmed in the Principality that Ernst had specified in his will in 1703 by the emperor. Duke Ernst in 1706 the kingdom vote, which was come from the county of Henneberg, awarded at the Imperial Diet in Regensburg. In 1714 he founded a school in Hildburghausen and died the following year on " apoplexy ". Ernst the tomb was buried in the royal crypt of Hildburghäuser Castle Church, 1925 moved to the cemetery of Hildburghausen.
The establishment of the new residence, which also includes the construction of the ducal summer and hunting palace Seidingstadt belonged, of the court and the government, but also by his costly campaigns and maintenance for a Leibregiment, began as his brothers heavy indebtedness of the Principality which also always greater control surveys could not be reduced. For the castle in Hildburghausen alone the extra taxes had been increased from five to fourteen.
Military career
Ernst began in 1675 his military services. As a captain of cavalry, he fought with his father in 1683 at the relief of Vienna, in 1685, during the persecution of the retreating Turkish troops at Gran and in the conquest of Neuhäusel. Later Ernst was in Dutch service against Louis XIV As Colonel, he was involved in the capture of Kaiserwerth and participated in the Battle of Fleurus.
Marriage and issue
On November 30, 1680 married Ernst in Arolsen Countess Sophia Henriette ( 1662-1702 ), daughter of the Count ( 1682 Prince ) Georg Friedrich of Waldeck, with whom he had the following children:
- Ernst Frederick I (1681-1724), Duke of Saxe- Hildburghausen
- Sophie Charlotte (1682-1684)
- Sophie Charlotte (1685-1710)
- Karl Wilhelm (1686-1687)
- Joseph Friedrich (1702-1787), Field Marshal