Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
| Johann Leopold | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | |||||
 Johann Leopold aged 9 or 10 | |||||
| Born | 2 August 1906 Callenberg Castle, Coburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Germany | ||||
| Died | 4 May 1972 (aged 65) Grein, Austria | ||||
| Spouse |
Feodora von der Horst
(m. 1932; div. 1962)Maria Theresia Reindl
(m. 1963) | ||||
| Issue | Princess Caroline Mathilde Prince Ernst Leopold Prince Peter Albert | ||||
| |||||
| House | Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
| Father | Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha | ||||
| Mother | Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg | ||||
Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (in German: Johann Leopold William Albert Ferdinand Viktor; 2 August 1906 – 4 May 1972) was the eldest son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
Early life
Johann Leopold was born 2 August 1906 at Callenberg Castle in Coburg as the eldest son of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.
He was heir-apparent, from his birth, until the forced abdication of his father on 18 November 1918, to Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The abdication was a result of the German Revolution.
As a youth in Germany's politically unsettled post-World War I period Johann Leopold was involved in right wing paramilitary activity supported by his father.[1]
Marriage
Charles Edward hoped to arrange a marriage between Prince Johann Leopold and Princess Juliana, heir presumptive to his first cousin Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. The match never materialized, with Charles Edward blaming his "useless" son.[1]
Johann Leopold's first wife was Baroness Feodora Marie Alma Margarete von der Horst (1905–1991), who divorced Wolf Sigismund, Baron Pergler von Perglas, in 1931. They married morganatically on 9 March 1932. The prince was forced to cede his own succession rights at the time of the marriage.[2] The couple had three children and were divorced on 27 February 1962. His second wife was Maria Theresa Elizabeth Reindl (1908–1996), whom he married morganatically on 3 May 1963. They had no children.
Issue
| Name | Birth | Death | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| By Baroness Feodora von der Horst | |||
| Caroline Mathilde Adelheid Sibylla Marianne Erika Prinzessin von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha | 5 April 1933; Hirschberg, Thuringia | ||
| Ernst Leopold Eduard Wilhelm Josias Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha | 14 January 1935; Hirschberg, Thuringia | 27 June 1996; Bad Wiessee, by suicide along with his third wife Sabine.[3] | Ernst Leopold married Ingeborg Henig (b. 16 August 1937 in Nordhausen) on 4 February 1961 in Herrenberg. They divorced on 26 March 1963.[4] They had one son, Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha.
He married, secondly, Gertraude Monika Pfeiffer (b. 1 July 1938 in Cottbus) on 29 May 1963, at Regensburg, Germany. They divorced on 20 September 1985.[4] They had five children:: Viktoria, Ernst-Josias, Carl-Eduard, Ferdinand-Christian and Alice-Sybilla.[5] He married, thirdly, Sabine Margarete Biller (25 June 1941 – 27 June 1996 in Kreuth) on 20 January 1986 in Grünwald.[6] They had no children. |
| Peter Albert Friedrich Josias Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha | 12 June 1939; Dresden | ||
Hubertus
Hubertus Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha (b. 8 December 1961) is the eldest son of Ernst-Leopold and his first wife, Ingeborg Henig.[5] He was born at Herrenberg, West Germany, during the Cold War when part of his family's hereditary lands, located in West Germany, were retained by the Coburgs, while other portions were behind the Iron Curtain. Hubertus and his mother lived mostly in Bavaria following his parents' 1963 divorce.[5] He married Barbara Weissmann (b. Kaiserslautern, 21 May 1959), daughter of Eugen Weissmann and wife Renate Spettel, on 9 March 1993 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen and they were divorced on 12 September 2012 in the same city.[5] They have one son - Sebastian Prinz von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha born on 16 Jan 1994, who lived with his mother as of 2015.[5] Hubertus administers family properties and lives in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.[5]
Ancestry
| Ancestors of Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha |
|---|
References
- ^ a b Urbach, Karina (2015). Go-Betweens for Hitler. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 155, 178. ISBN 978-0191008672.
- ^ "House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha". Retrieved 12 February 2025.
Johann Leopold, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Callenberg Castle, near Coburg, 2 August 1906 – Grein, Austria, 4 May 1972) Johann Leopold (Johann Leopold Wilhelm Albert Ferdinand Viktor) gave up his rights in 1932 because of his unequal marriage.
- ^ Aitkenhead, Decca; Karacs, Imre (29 June 1996). "Royal couple could not afford lavish life". The Independent. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- ^ a b C. Arnold McNaughton, The Book of Kings, vol. 1, p. 24.
- ^ a b c d e f Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch der Fürstlichen Häuser. Band I. "Sachsen-Coburg u. Gotha". Verlag des Deutschen Adelsarchivs, Marburg, 2015, pp. 259, 635-636. ISBN 978-3-9817243-0-1.
- ^ Peter W. Hammond, editor, The Complete Peerage or a History of the House of Lords and All its Members From the Earliest Times, Volume XIV: Addenda & Corrigenda (Stroud, Gloucestershire, U.K.: Sutton Publishing, 1998), page 17. Hereinafter cited as The Complete Peerage, Volume XIV.
- ^ Debrett's Peerage 1995 edition, chapter"The Royal Family", "Dukedom of Albany (Duke UK 1881, suspended 1917)", page 129.