father predecessor successor succession house mother birth_place death_date death_place image_size regent birth_date spouse issue image article_title name reign
ernst frederick ii , duke of saxe-hildburghausen ernest frederick ii frederick duke of saxe-hildburghausen house of saxe-hildburghausen caroline of erbach-fürstenau königsberg , bavaria 23 september 1780 seidingstadt 200px the dowager duchess 10 june 1727 louise of saxe-weimar of denmark christiane sophie charlotte of brandenburg-bayreuth ernestine princess , duke of saxe-hildburghausen juliane princess marie princess ernestine princess christine frederick ernstfriedrichiiicarlsahibutischbein.jpg ernest frederick iii , duke of saxe-hildburghausen
 ernest frederick iii 1745 -- 1780
ernest frederick iii , duke of saxe-hildburghausen

ernst frederick iii karl , duke of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- königsberg in bayern , 10 june 1727 -- seidingstadt , 23 september 1780 -rrb- , was a duke of saxe-hildburghausen .
he was the eldest son of ernst frederick ii , duke of saxe-hildburghausen and caroline of erbach-fürstenau .
he succeeded his father as duke of saxe-hildburghausen when he was only eighteen years old in 1745 ; as a result his mother , the dowager duchess caroline , acted as a regent on his behalf until he reached adulthood , in 1748 .
ernst frederick was considered to be intelligent , talented , and one of the most handsome princes of his time .
he donated a library to the city , but finally his excessive prodigality in exaggerated yard and military splendor drew the attention of the highest places to the financial situation of his country .
the emperor joseph ii created a debit commission under management of the duchess charlotte amalie of saxe-meiningen and prince joseph of saxe-hildburghausen , the granduncle of the duke , to investigate the demands of the creditors and adjust the incomes and expenditures to 1769 .
the financial situation of the country was so disastrous that 35 years duration of this commission could not repair conditions completely .
after he made use in 1757 of the `` münzregal '' -lrb- imperial coinage regale -rrb- , he was entangled in a complaint of the realm treasury .
finally , the huge fire of the city of hildburghausen in 1779 , forced ernst fredercik to move to his hunting residence in seidingstadt , where he died a year later .
in the hirschholm palace , north of copenhagen on 1 october 1749 , ernst frederick was first married to princess louise of denmark , daughter of the king christian vi .
they had one daughter : princess friederike sophie `` juliane '' karoline of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- b. hildburghausen , 5 december 1755 -- d. hildburghausen , 10 january 1756 -rrb- .
in the christiansborg palace , copenhagen on 20 january 1757 , five months after the death of his first wife , ernst frederick was married for the second time to christiane sophie charlotte of brandenburg-bayreuth .
they had one daughter : princess friederike sophie `` marie '' karoline of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- b. seidingstadt , 4 october 1757 -- d. seidingstadt , 17 october 1757 -rrb- .
in bayreuth on 1 july 1758 , nine months after the death of his second wife , ernst frederick was married for the third time to ernestine , a daughter of duke ernst august i of saxe-weimar .
they had three children : princess ernestine frederike `` sophie '' of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- b. hildburghausen , 22 february 1760 -- d. coburg , 28 october 1776 -rrb- , married on 6 march 1776 to franz frederick anton , duke of saxe-coburg-saalfeld .
princess `` christiane '' sophie caroline of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- b. hildburghausen , 4 december 1761 -- d. Öhringen , 10 january 1790 -rrb- , married on 13 march 1778 to her uncle eugen of saxe-hildeburghausen .
frederick , duke of saxe-hildburghausen -lrb- b. hildburghausen , 29 april 1763 -- d. jagdhaus hummelshain , altenburg , 29 september 1834 -rrb- .
