Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha


Friedrich Josias, Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was the head of the Ducal Family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and titular Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1954 until his death.

Early life

Friedrich Josias was born at Callenberg Castle, the third son and youngest child of Charles Edward, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and Princess Victoria Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Charles Edward was forced to abdicate on 14 November 1918.
In 1938, he entered the Wehrmacht and participated in the occupation of Czechoslovakia, Poland and France. In 1941, he fought in Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. He fell seriously ill in the winter of 1941. After his recovery, he fought as Oberleutnant in the Caucasus. In 1944, he was an Ordonnanzoffizier under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel on the French coast. He was stationed in June 1944 in Denmark under General von Hanneken, where he was captured by the British in May 1945 but released in autumn 1945.
The third of three sons, Friedrich Josias was not expected to succeed as head of the ducal family. However, his eldest brother, Johann Leopold, married unequally and renounced his rights in 1932, and Hubertus was killed in action in 1943, thus leaving Friedrich Josias as the heir-apparent. He succeeded to the headship on the death of his father on 6 March 1954.

Marriages

In Kassel on 25 January 1942, Friedrich Josias married his first cousin Countess Viktoria-Luise of Solms-Baruth. This marriage ended in divorce on 19 September 1946. The couple had one son:
  1. Andreas Michael Armin Siegfried Friedrich Hans Hubertus.
In San Francisco on 14 February 1948, Friedrich Josias married secondly, Denyse Henrietta de Muralt. Friedrich Josias and Denyse were divorced on 17 September 1964. They had three children:
  1. Maria Claudia Sibylla
  2. Beatrice Charlotte
  3. Adrian Vinzenz Eduard
In Hamburg on 30 October 1964, Friedrich Josias married his third wife, Katrin Bremme. This marriage was childless.
Friedrich Josias died, aged 79, in Amstetten, Austria.

Ancestry