Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Leopold Franz Julius von Saxe-Coburg and Gotha ( born January 31, 1824 in Vienna, † May 20, 1884 ) was a Prince of Saxe- Coburg and Gotha from the Catholic side line Koháry and Austrian Major General.
Life
Leopold was the youngest child of the Duke Ferdinand Georg August of Saxe- Coburg- Saalfeld- Koháry (1785-1851) and his wife, the Hungarian Hereditary Princess Marie Gabriele Antonie of Koháry ( 1797-1862 ). His brother was the Portuguese King Ferdinand II
Leopold was proposed in 1845 by the Spanish regent Maria Christina as a husband of her daughter Queen Isabella II. To this marriage, it did not come, as the French Louis Philippe, the father of Leopold's sister Victoria, the Spanish throne for a member of his house sought. Leopold had risen in the Austrian service to major general. He was awarded the Grand Cross of the Ducal Saxe- Ernestine House Order, as well as the royal Portuguese Tower and Sword Order.
Prince Leopold married on 23 April 1861 in morganatic marriage in Vienna's Scots Church Constance Geiger ( 1835-1890 ), which was collected in 1862 by Duke Ernst II of Saxe -Coburg and Gotha to the "Dame of Ruttenstein ". Between Leopold and Constanze for years a love relationship had already passed. Constance Geiger, a well-known throughout Vienna songwriter and actress who was a close friend of the composer Johann Strauss. The connection was thrust into Leopold's family rejection and was considered an insult of the house. Leopold won out and celebrated his marriage as complex as possible. To the church he went into a state carriage, and since the courtyard and own family ignored the wedding, all members of the Geiger family and numerous actors and theater people were published.
On February 7, 1861 Johann Strauss led the Prince Leopold dedicated Waltz " Grillenbanner Op 247 " in Dianabadsaal in Vienna's Leopoldstadt for the first time. With " Grille ", another term for " mood ", " crazy idea", Strauss was referring to the anticipated anger over this unstandesgemäße link in the then mighty house of Coburg. Between Prince Leopold, Konstanze and Johann Strauss was not until the eighties of the 19th century a close and friendly contact. The couple had met in the old meeting place for artists " Gasthaus zum golden lamb " in Leopoldstadt, Prater Road 7 on the Danube Canal. There the family lived with her Viennese stays here and Prince Leopold also died in 1884. The couple lived also in Castle Frederick Thal near Gotha, and in Paris at the Villa Constance. The music-loving couple socialized with famous artists, including Alexander Girardi, Sarah Bernhardt, Benoît Constant Coquelin and Josefine Gallmeyer.
Leopold in the ducal mausoleum on the Coburg Cemetery on Glockenberg his final resting place.
Progeny
From his socially unacceptable marriage Leopold had a son:
- Franz (1860-1899), Baron of Ruttenstein