Prince Albert his Origins from the House of Saxe-Coburg

Prince Albert was very proud of his origins from the Saxon aristocratic family of the Ernestine Wettins, who during the late mediaeval period had provided the Saxon electors and the members of which had been among the most important patrons of Luther and of the Reformation. As an independent Duchy Saxe-Coburg had existed since the late sixteenth century under the rule of Duke Johann Casimir (1564–1633). During the course of the eighteenth century, the duchy – after a number of repeated divisions of the estate – lost some of its political importance and economic power and in the end even stood because of its debts under imperial financial supervision.

Prince Albert's grandfather Franz Friedrich Anton Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1750–1806) was an art lover and collector. He started the Coburger Kupferstichkabinett (Coburg Cabinet of Copperplate Prints) and the Naturkundliches Museum (Museum of Natural Philosophy). He provided the Schlossbibliothek (Palace Library) with substantial holdings. In addition, he acquired the Kammergut (crown land) of Rosenau, Prince Albert's future place of birth.

Franz Friedrich Anton and his wife Auguste Caroline Sophie, born Princess von Reuß (1757–1812) used their nine children (of which two died before reaching adulthood) as part of a well-considered wedding policy. In the course of the nineteenth century, this policy helped family members to make their ways onto diverse European thrones.

Hereditary Prince Ernst, the future Duke Ernst I (1784–1844) first married Louise, Princess of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1779–1831). Two sons were born within this marriage: Ernst (1818–1893) and Albert (1819–1861). The divorce took place in 1826 and the duke received as his former wife's estate the territory of Gotha; as a result, the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha emerged.

As a young prince, Ernst I had steered his land with skill through the time of the Napoleonic Wars and had successfully ensured its continuity at the Congress of Vienna. The then still unknown architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781–1841) he had commissioned back in 1810 with the plans for the modification of his castle Ehrenburg. Schloss Rosenau (Rosenau Palace) was expanded and revived in a romanticising mediaeval style as summer residence.

Albert was carefully brought up as a prince with an equal focus paid on languages, art, music, military knowledge and general education. Albert used his Confirmation in 1835 for an emphatic confession in favour of Lutheranism which had helped Albert's ancestors to establish themselves. Two years of study in Bonn and a grand tour to Italy rounded off his education, before Albert married in 1840 his Cousin Victoria (1819–1901), queen of England.

The partial collections related to Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha available on bavarikon

>> This collection is part of the inventory "Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" in the art collections of the Veste Coburg (Fortress of Coburg).