Frederick William II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

Who was Frederick William II, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg?

Frederick William II, was a duke of Saxe-Altenburg.

He was the youngest son of Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar, and Anna Maria of the Palatinate-Neuburg, his second wife. He was born eight months after the death of his father, on 7 July 1602.

Shortly after his birth, Frederick William II and his older brothers inherited Saxe-Altenburg as co-rulers under the guardianship of the Electors of Saxony Christian II and John George I until 1618, when his older brother John Philip assumed the government of the duchy and the guardianship of his younger siblings.

By 1632, two of his three brothers were deceased. Frederick William II and his older brother John Philip began a joint government; but, in fact, John Philip was the real and only ruler of the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg. Frederick William II was only a nominal ruler until the death of John Philip, when he began his personal reign over Altenburg.

At Altenburg Castle on 18 September 1638 Frederick William II married his first wife, Sophie Elisabeth, the only daughter of Christian William of Brandenburg. She died in 1650 after twelve years of childless marriage.

In Dresden on 11 October 1652 Frederick Wilhelm II married secondly with Magdalene Sibylle of Saxony, Dowager Crown Princess of Denmark and daughter of his former regent, the Elector John George I. They had three children: