Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Extravagant to a great degree, Ernest had many money troubles throughout his reign. In January 1848, Ernest visited his brother in the midst of political unrest in Germany. Upon his return, he also discovered unrest in Coburg. One of the many concerns related to finances. Although Ernest had a large inheritance, he also had frequent debts.[22] There were increasing calls to nationalize most of his property. Indeed, Albert had to intervene at one point and spare his brother the embarrassment of losing one of his Coburg properties.[22]

During the 1848 turmoil in Germany, Albert had been constructing his own liberal reform plan, under which a single monarch, chancellor, and parliament would unite the German states; in addition, each state would retain its own current ruling dynasty.[22] As this plan pertained to his brother, Ernest was given a copy in the hope that he would develop his own liberal constitution. Ernest subsequently made a few concessions, but his position remained sound, not counting the increasing problem of his debts.[22] A constitution was drafted and promulgated in 1849 in Gotha,[28] though one had existed in Coburg since 1821. In 1852, both constitutions were converged into one, which converted the personal union of the two duchies into a real union; the duchies were now inseparable, with a common set of institutions.[2] During the political turmoil, timely concessions and Ernest's popular habit of mingling with "the people in their pleasures" were instrumental in keeping him from losing his throne.[29] Furthermore, various contemporary sources state that Ernest was an able, just and very popular ruler, which may have also helped keep him in power.[30]

A bust of Ernest at the Landestheater in Coburg. Ernest was a strong enthusiast for music and plays all his life, and was the artistic force behind many that were popular in Germany.

From 1848 to 1864, Denmark and the German Confederation fought over control of the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Historically, the duchies had been ruled by Denmark since medieval times, but there remained a large German majority. This majority was sparked to rebellion after Frederick VII of Denmark announced on 27 March 1848 the duchies would become an integral part of Denmark under his new liberal constitution. Prussia soon became involved, supporting the uprising and beginning the First Schleswig War. Ernest sent 8,000 men initially, adding to the army sent by the German Confederation. He also desired to be given a military job during the war, but was refused, as it was "extremely difficult to offer me a position in the army of Schleswig-Holstein corresponding to my rank", according to his memoirs.[31] He agreed to a smaller command, coming to lead a Thuringian contingent; he commented in a letter to his brother that "I should have declined any other command of the kind, but I could not refuse this one, as, in the present condition of our States, it is important to keep the executive power in our hands".[32] As commander of a German corps, Ernest was instrumental in winning the 5 April 1849 battle of Eckernförde against Danish forces, capturing two frigates.[33] Also at this time, Ernest took an interest in the Frankfurt Parliament and may have hoped to be chosen German Emperor, but instead he urged King Frederick of Prussia to take that position, albeit unsuccessfully. Ernest also brought about a Berlin conference of German princes in 1850; he highly valued such opportunities for the political influence they brought him.[21]

The first war ended in 1851, but would resume in 1864. During this interlude, Ernest fervently opposed the marriage of his nephew Albert Edward, Prince of Wales ('Bertie'), to Princess Alexandra of Denmark, a daughter of the future Christian IX of Denmark (and therefore an enemy of the German states). He believed that such a match flew in the face of German interests.[34] Albert replied angrily: "What has that got to do with you?... Vicky has racked her brains to help us to find someone, but in vain...We have no [other reasonable] choice".[35] Albert agreed there were going to be problems with the match, but as he could find no alternative bride, he wrote to Ernest that keeping the affair a private matter (and outside the realm of government) was "the only way to prevent a break with Prussia and the only way to keep the game in our own hands, impose the conditions that we think necessary, and as far as we can, take off its political edge".[36] Albert also warned his son of Ernest's endeavors to interfere with the match, commenting, "Your uncle...will try his hand at this work. Your best defence will be not to enter on the subject, should he broach it".[37]

Soon after writing these letters, Prince Albert died on 14 December 1861. His death helped Ernest repair his relationship with his sister-in-law, as Victoria had been becoming increasingly angry over Ernest's objections to the Danish match. The two brothers had always been close, whatever their disagreements, and Albert's death left Ernest "wretched", noted Victoria in a letter to her eldest daughter.[38] The death did not solve their argument however; seeing that his direct involvement had failed to persuade Victoria, Ernest tried a new tactic. He began to spread gossip about Alexandra and her family, saying that her mother Princess Louise "had illegitimate children and Alexandra had flirtations with young officers"; he also wrote to Louise herself, warning that Bertie would be an unfortunate choice for a husband.[39] Additionally, Ernest met with his nephew at Thebes, most likely attempting to discourage him from the match in person.[40] In an 11 April letter, Victoria unhappily noted to her eldest daughter, "You did not tell me that Bertie had met Uncle Ernest at Thebes...I am always alarmed when I think of Uncle Ernest and Bertie being together as I know the former will do all he can to set Bertie against the marriage with Princess Alix".[36] Despite Ernest's disapproval, Bertie was duly married to Alexandra on 10 March 1863.

His close relationship with the English court gave him a position of great influence, and the marriage of his niece, Princess Victoria, to Prince Frederick William further strengthened his ties to Prussia, and in 1862 he offered to make his troops available to the King of Prussia in case of war. But his liberalism caused increased suspicion in Germany of the Coburg influence. Prussian conservatives would soon turn against him, and in particular he was opposed by Prussian Minister President Otto von Bismarck.[21]

During the American Civil War, the Duke assigned Ernst Raven to the position of consul in the state of Texas. On 30 July 1861, Raven applied to the Confederate Government for a diplomatic exequatur and was accepted.[41]

A coin depicting Ernest II, 1869. It was issued to commemorate the twenty-fifth year of his reign.

On 23 October 1862, Otto of Bavaria, King of Greece, was deposed in a bloodless coup. The Greeks were eager to have someone close to Britain and Queen Victoria replace Otto; some desired to allow Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (her second son) to succeed as King of Greece.[42] He was elected with 95% of the vote in the Greek head of state referendum of 1862. After his ineligibility was confirmed however, the Greeks began looking for other possible candidates, which included Duke Ernest at the British government's suggestion.[43] To their and Victoria's reasoning, if Ernest were to take the Greek throne, Alfred could immediately take up his inheritance and succeed Ernest as duke (the Prince of Wales having passed his claim to the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha on to his younger brother).[43] Many were in favor of his nomination, including Prime Minister Lord Palmerston as well as Ernest's sister-in-law. In a letter written to her uncle Leopold I of Belgium, Victoria stated her support for a new royal branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (as Leopold had been chosen as King of the Belgians in 1831), as well as her desire for her second son, Alfred, to succeed his uncle in the duchy.[44] As negotiations continued however, she began to lose enthusiasm for the idea.[43]

There were problems to the nomination; Ernest had no legitimate children, and thus would have had to adopt one of the princes of his house to succeed him as King of Greece. To solve this problem, Ernest suggested to Palmerston that he simply take the title Regent of Greece and hold the kingdom in trust for his chosen heir.[44] He also stipulated that if he accepted the throne, it should be subject to certain guarantees by the other powers. The apparent deal-breaker, though, was the fact that Ernest wanted to acquire the Greek throne and still maintain control of his "safer" duchies.[43] In the end, the British cabinet thought the proposed conditions unacceptable. His recommendations having been turned down, Ernest in turn refused. In 1863, the Greek throne was accepted by another member of a royal family: the Princess of Wales' younger brother Prince William of Denmark. Ernest would later comment, "That this cup was spared me, I always regarded as a piece of good fortune".[45]

Ernest, like his brother, was in favor of a unified but federal German state.[46] In seeking to realize this goal, Ernest liked to dabble in whatever political system promised the most success.[22] He subsequently watched the growth of liberalism in Germany with much interest and tried to build links with the movement's leaders. During Albert's lifetime, Ernest took a close interest in the movement for reform, and was perceived as a progressive within Germany.[47] His favorable view of liberalism caused his duchy to become an asylum for political refugees from other German states.[48] In 1863, he attended the liberal Frankfurt Conference, which was openly avoided by more conservative Prussia.[43] Though his attendance made him no friends in Prussia, he developed such strong contacts in Austria that many looked to him as a potential leader in the mounting conflict between the northern and southern powers.[43] He grew tired of the advice he received from Albert on the subject however; as Ernest "was by no means inclined to consent to an energetic rule such as I adopted immediately afterwards for the perfection of the constitutional system", according to Albert's letters.[49]

The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 was triggered by the desire of German conservative leaders to unify, albeit on different terms than their liberal counterparts. Ernest urged Prussian leaders against the impending war, and was an active advocate of the Austrian cause.[43] Though Ernest normally followed more liberal politics than many of his counterparts, he began switching his views to align more closely with Bismarck by the mid-1860s. Despite this change in his private political views, he still had strong publicly known ties to Austria, where his cousin Alexander, Count Mensdorff, was Foreign Minister,[21] and no one foresaw that Ernest would immediately side with the better-equipped Prussians upon breakout of the war. His reasoning is usually understood as acting in the best interests of his duchies, and by extension, of himself.[43] Some influence came from Bismarck, who explained his policy and tactics in a letter to Ernest.[21] Regardless, it was seen as a betrayal of former friends; Queen Victoria commented that Ernest "might have agreed to neutrality—for that might be necessary, but to change colours I cannot think right".[43]

Ernest was fortunate in his support of victorious Prussia; for his services he received the forest of Schmalkalden.[50] Many other petty German dukes, princes, and kings who had supported Austria suffered immensely at Hohenzollern hands. Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Nassau for instance were all annexed to Prussia at the expense of their respective rulers. Though he had only recently changed his political views, Ernest was allowed to ride at the head of his battalion during the victory parade. His eldest niece Prussian Crown Princess Victoria ("Vicky") was for one pleased with his Prussian support and commented "I am not accustomed to hearing so much praise of Coburg here. [Ernest] was not among the crushed and beaten foe, it is sad enough as it is to see so many of one's friends suffering from the effects of their miscalculations".[51] Victoria's husband Crown Prince Frederick William was also pleased with Ernest's decision, writing in his journal 28 September 1871, that the duke's "society always affords me peculiar pleasure, especially...when his heart beats so warmly for Germany".[52]

Ernest's support of the Prussians in the Austro-Prussian War and later Franco Prussian War meant he was no longer the potential leader of a political movement; although it was true that he had been able to retain his duchies, it had come at a price. According to historian Charlotte Zeepvat, Ernest "was increasingly lost in a whirl of private amusements which earned only contempt from outside".[53] Ernest funneled his political thoughts into the private sphere, preferring to write covertly sponsored articles in the Coburg press that became increasingly embittered against England.[54] In 1886, Ernest published Co-Regents and Foreign Influence in Germany, a pamphlet that greatly angered his family; though produced anonymously, no one doubted that it was written by Ernest. It attacked Vicky as a disloyal German that was too dependent on her mother, and declared that she had been too indiscreet in passing along confidential information during both war and peacetime.[55] Queen Victoria was furious, writing to Vicky, "What you told me of Uncle E and that pamphlet is simply monstrous. I assure you that I felt great difficulty in writing to him for his birthday, but I wrote it as short and cool as I could consistently with civility".[55] "Dear Uncle Ernest does us all a great deal of harm by his odd ways and uncontrollable tongue with his very lively imagination".[54]

An equestrian statue of Ernest in the Hofgarten, Coburg. In the 1850s, Ernest dramatically transformed the Hofgarten into an English landscape garden. It opened on 27 April 1857 to the public. The statue was constructed in 1899 in order to commemorate Ernest's contributions.

Later in his reign, Ernest's actions managed to continually anger his sister-in-law. Though Victoria loved Ernest because he was Albert's brother, she was displeased that Ernest was writing his memoirs, worrying about their contents mainly in regard to her dead husband.[56] Despite their disputes, Ernest still met with Victoria and her family occasionally. In 1891, they met in France; Victoria's lady-in-waiting commented "the old Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha has been here today with his wife. He is the Prince Consort's only brother and an awful looking man, the Queen dislikes him particularly. He is always writing anonymous pamphlets against the Queen and the Empress Frederick, which naturally creates a great deal of annoyance in the family".[57]

Throughout his reign, Ernest had been known for his extravagance and womanizing; as he grew older, Ernest enjoyed gossip and was "now a thoroughly disreputable old roué who enjoyed the outrage provoked by his actions", leading Vicky to declare that her uncle "was his own enemy".[54] His behavior and manner of dress increasingly became a joke for younger generations.[56] His great-niece Marie of Edinburgh would later describe Ernest as "an old beau, squeezed into a frock-coat too tight for his bulk and uncomfortably pinched in at the waist, sporting a top hat, lemon coloured gloves, and a rosebud in his lapel".[56] He put on weight and though on paper his wealth was large, he was still constantly in debt.[54]

An excellent musician[29] and amateur composer all his life, Ernest was a great patron of the arts and sciences in Coburg,[58] often giving awards and titles to members of the artistic and scientific world, such as Paul Kalisch, a German opera singer and the English chemist William Ernest Bush. Ernest composed songs, hymns, and cantatas, as well as musical pieces for opera and the stage, including Die Gräberinsel (1842), Tony, oder die Vergeltung (1849), Casilda (1851), Santa Chiara (1854), and Zaïre, which met with success in Germany.[29] He could also draw and play the piano.[59] One of his operas, Diana von Solange (1858), prompted Franz Liszt the following year to write an orchestral Festmarsch nach Motiven von E. H. z. S.-C.-G., S.116 (E. H. z. S.-C.-G. was short for Ernst Herzog zu Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha).[60] However, its production at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in 1890 inspired dismal reviews, with one spectator commenting that its "music was simply rubbish".[61] Ernest was also an avid hunter and sportsman; one contemporary remarked that he was "one of the foremost and keenest sportsman produced by the present century".[62] In addition, Ernest was an enthusiastic patron of everything connected with natural history,[62] for instance traveling to Abyssinia with the German zoologist Alfred Brehm in 1862. That journey was chronicled in a book, Reise des Herzogs Ernst von Sachsen-Koburg-Gotha nach Ägypten, published in 1862. He also published his memoirs in three volumes: Aus meinem Leben und aus meiner Zeit (1888–1890).[50]

Ernest II died at Reinhardsbrunn on 22 August 1893 after a short illness. “When the news of the duke's death reached the secluded Hinter - Riss, the deepest consternation took possession of the people, amongst whom the prince and the duchess had passed, as they often used to say, the happiest days of their long, eventful lives. In him they lost a kind, dear master and a good friend, who was for ever willing to help where help was needed. If it took half a century to win the affection and confidence of these self-retained hardy mountain people, his memory will a century hence be as green as are the firs and pines that cling so tenaciously to their native rock; and the deeds and words of the popular “Herr Herzog” will there be spoken of when in the outer world his name will be remembered only by the historian. The dead sportsman's hunting - knife, which I saw so often in his strong hand, is now lying before me, a cherished memento, kindly sent me by the stricken dowager-duchess a few weeks after the funeral. It will ever remind me, not so much of a sportsman prince, as of a prince among sportsmen.” From the book: Sport in the Alps in the Past and Present, An Account of the Chase of the Chamois, Red Deer, Bouquetin, Roe-deer, Capercaillie, and Black-cock, with Personal Adventures and Historical Notes and Some Sporting Reminiscences of H.R.H. the Late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha – William Adolphus Baillie-Grohman. As fitting as these final words was the act that closed this long and distinguished sporting career, for less than an hour before that fatal attack of apoplexy, his master hand had brought down two royals ![63] A lifelong sportsman, his last words were apparently "Let the drive commence!"[62] His funeral was held in the Morizkirche in Coburg; thousands of spectators came to the funeral, including Emperor Wilhelm II and the Prince of Wales.[64] He is buried in the ducal mausoleum in the Friedhof am Glockenberg which he himself had built in 1853–58.[65]^: 47

Ernest was succeeded by his nephew Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh.

• Baillie-Grohman, William Adolph (1896). Sport in the Alps in the Past and Present: An Account of the Chase of the Chamois, Red-deer, Bouquetin, Roe-deer, Capercaillie, and Black-cock, with Personal References and Historical Notes and Some Sporting Reminisces of H.R.H. the Late Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. London: Scribner.
• Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Duke Ernest II of (1888). Memoirs of Ernest II: Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. London: Remington & Co. Publishers., four volumes.

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