bavarikon4UPrince Albert and Coburg
Albert had not easily made his good-byes to Coburg. For the rest of his life he would keep a close connection to his brother Ernst and to his hometown. Victoria shared his love to Coburg and wrote during her first visit in 1845 at Schloss Rosenau (Rosenau Palace): "Wäre ich nicht, was ich bin, hätte ich hier mein wirkliches Zuhause/If I were not what I am, here would be my real home." In the 1850s, the queen commissioned several albums with views of Albert’s hometown. Two albums by Francis Bedford (1864–1954) not only bear witness to the wish of creating a visual record of landscape and people in Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, but also to the interest of Albert and Victoria in the modern medium of photography.
With his brother Duke Ernst II (1818–1893), Albert shared political ideas, artistic preferences and the interest in culture, science and economy. The unification of Germany under Prussian guidance was one of their political ambitions. In his home politics, Ernst as well as his brother Albert were devoted to liberal ideas. After his military engagement at Eckernförde in the German-Danish War of 1849, the leading role among the liberal German princes had gone to Ernst II.
Well aware of the importance of culture and scholarship, Albert sponsored during all of his life the expansion of the ducal collections in Coburg. He initiated the collection of autograph manuscripts and every so often added objects to it. He founded a library with first editions of Luther's writings on the Veste (Fortress) and donated a large collection of coins to the collections. When in 1882 Ernst II considered for financial reasons the sale of the important copperplate print cabinet, Albert's sons refused to agree. They understood the importance of such an institution for a small residential city and wished to see Albert's endeavours on behalf of the ducal collections in Coburg appreciated in the long term.
The partial collections related to Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha available on bavarikon
- Prince Albert – his origins from the house of Saxe-Coburg
- Saxe-Coburg Becomes an International Dynasty by Means of its Wedding Policy
- Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Queen Victoria of England
- Prince Consort Albert – his family and his works
- Memoria and succession in Coburg
>> 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).