Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen

Who was Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen?

Anton Ulrich, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, was a duke of Saxe-Meiningen.

He was the second but first surviving son of Bernhard I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and his second wife, Elisabeth Eleonore of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

When his father died in 1706, according to his will, he inherited the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen with his two older half-brothers, Ernst Ludwig I and Frederick Wilhelm.

But, shortly after, Ernst Ludwig signed a contract between him and his brothers, and they were compelled to leave all the control of the duchy in his hands. Without any power in his duchy, Anton Ulrich decided to travel to the Netherlands.

When Ernst Ludwig died, Anton Ulrich and Frederick Wilhelm took over once again the government of the duchy as guardians of his nephews until 1733. During this time, Anton Ulrich was only nominal regent, because he decided to live apart with his morganatic family.

The deaths of his old half-brothers and nephews made him the next in the line for the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. His wife, Philippine, had died in 1744, only a few weeks before a declaration was published which deprived his children of the succession of the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. In 10 March 1746, Anton Ulrich assumed full control of the duchy after the death of his last surviving half-brother, Frederick Wilhelm.