Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Dorothea Maria of Saxe Gotha-Altenburg
Born(1654-02-12)12 February 1654
Gotha, Saxe-Gotha, Holy Roman Empire
Died17 June 1682(1682-06-17) (aged 28)
Gotha, Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Holy Roman Empire
HouseHouse of Wettin
FatherErnest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha
MotherPrincess Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg

Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (12 February 1654 in Gotha – 17 June 1682 in Gotha) was a German princess, a member of the House of Wettin in the Ernestine branch of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

She was the twelfth child and fourth daughter of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha by his wife Elisabeth Sophie, the only daughter of John Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg who lived to adulthood.

Life

Of her parents' eighteen children, only nine survived into mature adulthood. Dorothea Maria was the only surviving daughter by the end of 1657, when her two adolescent elder sisters died as a consequence of smallpox. After the birth and death of her last sister in 1663, she remained the only daughter of her family.

Little is known about her. Born Princess Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha, after her mother's cousin's death in 1672, Duke Ernest I inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg and assumed his arms and titles, following she was known as Princess Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Dorothea Maria died unmarried in her native Gotha, aged only twenty-eight. She was buried in the Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha.

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