by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2025

Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha: In 1675, Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, died. Initially, his seven sons collectively governed the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, as set out in their father’s will. In 1680, the seven brothers concluded a treaty of separation, with each brother getting a portion of the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and becoming a Duke. One of the seven new duchies was the Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld, and Johann Ernst, one of the seven sons of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, became the first Duke of Saxe-Saalfeld.  When two of his brothers died without male heirs, Johann Ernst took possession of Coburg (in 1699) and Römhild (in 1714). In 1699, Johann Ernst’s title changed to Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

In 1825, 145 years after the initial split, another line became extinct, and there was another split between the three surviving duchies. Ernst III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, became Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. For more information on the switch, see Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld/Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Index.

On November 9, 1918, after the German Empire lost World War I, the Workers’ and Soldiers Council of Gotha deposed the last Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Charles Edward, a grandson of Queen Victoria.  Five days later, he signed a declaration relinquishing his rights to the throne. The territory that encompassed the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha is now in the German states of Bavaria and Thuringia.

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Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; Credit – Wikipedia

The wife of Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Anna Sophie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, was born on September 9, 1700, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now located in the German state of Thuringia. She was the ninth of the thirteen children and the sixth of the nine daughters of Ludwig Friedrich I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Anna Sophie of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. Anna Sophie’s paternal grandparents were Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Countess Emilie Juliane of Barby-Mühlingen. Her maternal grandparents were Friedrich I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and Magdalena Sibylle of Saxe-Weissenfels

Anna Sophie had twelve siblings, but it appears that only three of her siblings married:

• Friedrich Anton, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1692 – 1744), married (1) Sophia Wilhelmina of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had three children, but only two survived childhood (2) Christina Sophia of East Friesia, no children
• Amalie Magdalene of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (born and died 1693)
• Sophie Louise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1693 – 1776)
• Sophie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1694 – 1776), a nun at Gandersheim Abbey
• Wilhelm Ludwig of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1696 – 1757), married morganatically, Caroline Henriette Gebauer, had eleven children
• Christine Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1697 – 1698)
• Albrecht Anton of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1698 – 1720)
• Emilie Juliane of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1699 – 1774)
• Sophia Dorothea of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1737)
• Friederike Louise of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1706 – 1787)
• Magdalena Sibylle of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1707 – 1795), a nun at Gandersheim Abbey
• Louis Günther II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1708-1790), married Countess Sophie Henriette of Reuss-Untergreiz, had four children

Franz Josias, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld; Credit – Wikipedia

On January 2, 1723, in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia, Anna Sophie married Franz Josias, the future Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He was the son of Johann Ernst IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and his second wife, Charlotte Johanna of Waldeck-Wildungen. Franz Josias was described as a handsome man, although he lost his left eye while playing a match in the then very popular sport, badminton. Anna Sophie and Franz Josias are the great-great-grandparents of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert.

Anna Sophie and Franz Josias had eight children:

• Ernst Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1724 -1800), married Sophie Antonia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, had five sons and two daughters
• Johann Wilhelm (1726 -1745), unmarried, missing in action during the Battle of Hohenfriedberg
• Anna Sophie (1727 – 1728), died in infancy
• Christian Franz (1730 – 1797), unmarried
• Charlotte Sophie (1731 – 1810), married Ludwig of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, had one son, Friedrich Franz I, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and one daughter, Sophie Friederike, who married Frederik, Hereditary Prince of Denmark – their son was King Christian VIII of Denmark
• Friederike Magdalene (1733 – 1734), died in infancy
• Friederike Caroline (1735 – 1791), married Margrave Karl Alexander of Brandenburg-Ansbach and Bayreuth, no children
• Friedrich Josias (1737 – 1815), married morganatically his housekeeper Therese Stroffeck, had one son

Anna Sophie’s husband, Franz Josias, was not expected to be the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, but family events would change the lives of both Franz Josias and Anna Sophie. Franz Josias served in the army of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1720, after the deaths of his two elder brothers, Franz Josias returned to Coburg upon the request of his father, Johann Ernst IV, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, who had only two surviving sons: Christian Ernst from his first marriage and Franz Josias from his second marriage.

Christian Ernst, Franz Josias’s elder half-brother, fell in love with Christiane von Koss, the daughter of the Saalfeld forestry master. This relationship displeased both his father and his half-brother. Eventually, Christian Ernst’s father consented to the marriage, and the couple was married morganatically in 1724. A morganatic marriage meant that Christiane and any children from the marriage would not be entitled to her husband’s titles and privileges.

As the elder son, Christian Ernst was his father’s heir, but because of his unequal marriage, Franz Josias claimed the sole inheritance of the duchy. However, Johann Ernst decided that both his sons should reign jointly, and upon his death in 1729, his will forced the joint reign. After their father’s death, Christian Ernst resided at Schloss Saalfeld (link in German), and Franz Josias and his wife Anna Sophie, now Duchess of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, lived at Veste Coburg. From 1735, with the support of Karl Friedrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, Franz Josias effectively ruled over Coburg in his own right.

On September 4, 1745, Christian Ernst died at Schloss Saalfeld at the age of 62. Christian Ernst had died childless, and his half-brother, Franz Josias, became the sole Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After his brother died, Franz Josias introduced primogeniture in the duchy so there would be no question about the succession.

Franz Josias died on September 16, 1764, aged 66, at Schloss Rodach in Rodach, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. He was buried in the ducal crypt at the Morizkirche (or Stadtkirche St. Moriz) in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in Bavaria, Germany. Anna Sophie survived her husband by sixteen years, dying on December 11, 1780, at the age of 80 in Römhild, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, now in the German state of Bavaria. She was buried with her husband at the Morizkirche in Coburg.

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Works Cited