Bernhard II Erich Freund, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Encyclopedia
Bernhard II Erich Freund, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen (Meiningen
Meiningen
Meiningen is a town in Germany - located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia and is the district seat of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is situated on the river Werra....

, 17 December 1800 – Meiningen
Meiningen
Meiningen is a town in Germany - located in the southern part of the state of Thuringia and is the district seat of Schmalkalden-Meiningen. It is situated on the river Werra....

, 3 December 1882), was a Duke of Saxe-Meiningen.

Family

He was the only son of Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen , was a duke of Saxe-Meiningen.-Family:...

 and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was a German noblewoman. She was duchess and Regent of Saxe-Meiningen.-Family:...

. Bernhard was a younger brother of Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as spouse of William IV of the United Kingdom. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is named after her.-Early life:Adelaide was born on 13 August 1792 at Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany...

 and Ida, Princess Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

Bernhard succeeded his father when he was only three years old (1803); because of this, his mother, the Dowager Duchess Luise Eleonore, acted as regent on behalf of her son until he reached adulthood, in 1821.

Marriage

In Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...

 on 23 March 1825, Bernhard II married Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel
Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel
Princess Marie Frederica Wilhelmina of Hesse-Kassel was a daughter of William II, Elector of Hesse and Princess Augusta of Prussia...

 (or Hesse-Cassel). They had two children:
Name|DeathGeorg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen
Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen , was the penultimate Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, reigning from 1866 to 1914.-Family and early life:...

 
2 April 1826 25 June 1914 married (1) Princess Charlotte Frederica of Prussia
Princess Charlotte Frederica of Prussia
Princess Frederica Louise Wilhelmina Marianne Charlotte of Prussia was the eldest daughter of Prince Albert of Prussia and his wife Princess Marianne of the Netherlands...

; had issue (2) Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Feodora of Hohenlohe-Langenburg
Princess Feodora Victoria Adelaide of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was a daughter of Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Feodora of Leiningen. By her marriage to Georg of Saxe-Meiningen, she would become Duchess consort of Saxe-Meiningen upon his succession in 1866.-Family:Feodora was the...

; had issue (3) Ellen Franz
Ellen Franz
Ellen Franz was a German pianist and actress.-Early life:She was born in Berlin. According to Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt, Ellen Franz made her first appearance in the Hoftheater of Meiningen in 1867.-Marriage:...

; no issue
Augusta Luise Adelaide Karoline Ida
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Augusta Louise Adelaide Caroline Ida of Saxe-Meiningen was the daughter of Bernhard II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his wife Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel. She was the mother of Ernst II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg.-Family and early life:Augusta was the only daughter of the Duke and...

 
6 August 1843 11 November 1919 married Prince Moritz of Saxe-Altenburg


In 12 November 1826, after the redistribution of all the family territories after the death of the last Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany.It was nominally created in 1672 when Frederick William III, the last duke of Saxe-Altenburg, died and Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha , inherited the major part of his possessions...

, Bernhard II received Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen
Hildburghausen is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. It is situated on the river Werra, 20 km south of Suhl, and 25 km northwest of Coburg....

 and Saalfeld.

A very kind family man and proud of his House, Bernhard was a thoughtful husband and father, as long as they obeyed him. In the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the...

, he made a decision to side with the Habsburgs. When the Habsburgs lost the War, it cost Bernhard the Duchy. On 20 September 1866, Bernhard was forced to abdicate all his territories to his only son, Georg. He spent the rest of his days as a private citizen.

Ancestry



External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK