Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg

Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg
Born	(1660-08-04)4 August 1660 Merseburg
Died	2 August 1686(1686-08-02) (aged 25) Saalfeld
Noble family	House of Wettin
Spouse(s)	Johann Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Father	Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg
Mother	Christiana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg

Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg (4 August 1660 - 2 August 1686), was a German noblewoman member of the House of Wettin and by marriage Duchess of Saxe-Saalfeld.

Born in Merseburg, she was a child of Christian I, Duke of Saxe-Merseburg and his wife Christiana of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg.

Life

In Merseburg on 18 February 1680 Sophie Hedwig married Johann Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. Both belonged to the House of Wettin: she was a member of the Albertine line while her husband belonged to the Ernestine branch. Three years before (1677) one of Sophie Hedwig's sisters, Christiane, married Christian, Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg, in turn one of Johann Ernest's older brothers, so probably this marriage was instrumental for her future wedding.

The union produced five children, of whom only two survive adulthood:

• Christiane Sophie (b. Saalfeld, 14 June 1681 – d. Saalfeld, 3 June 1697).
• Stillborn daughter (Saalfeld, 6 May 1682).
• Christian Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (b. Saalfeld, 18 August 1683 – d. Saalfeld, 4 September 1745).
• Charlotte Wilhelmine (b. Saalfeld, 4 May 1685 – d. Hanau, 5 April 1767), married on 26 December 1705 to Philip Reinhard, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg.
• Stillborn son (Saalfeld, 2 August 1686).

Sophie Hedwig died in childbirth in Saalfeld, two days before her twenty-six birthday.