Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Gotha

Gotha (town)

Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...

, 12 February 1654 – Gotha

Gotha (town)

Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...

, 17 June 1682), was a German princess member of the House of Wettin in the Ernestine

Ernestine duchies

The Ernestine duchies, also called the Saxon duchies , were a changing number of small states largely located in the present German state of Thuringia, governed by dukes of the Ernestine line of the House of Wettin.-Overview:The...

 branch of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg

Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was a duchy ruled by the Ernestine branch of the House of Wettin in today's Thuringia, Germany.It was nominally created in 1672 when Frederick William III, the last duke of Saxe-Altenburg, died and Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha , inherited the major part of his possessions...

.

She was the twelfth child and fourth daughter of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha

Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha

-Family and children:In Altenburg on 24 October 1636, Ernst married his cousin Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. As a result of this marriage Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Altenburg were unified, when the last duke of the line died childless in 1672. Ernst and Elisabeth Sophie had eighteen children:#...

 by his wife Elisabeth Sophie

Princess Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg

Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg , was a princess of Saxe-Altenburg and, by marriage, duchess of Saxe-Gotha....

, the only daughter of John Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

John Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg

John Philip, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg , was a duke of Saxe-Altenburg.He was the eldest surviving son of Frederick William I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and Anna Maria of the Palatinate-Neuburg, his second wife.-Childhood:When his father died , John Philip and his younger brothers Frederick, John...

.

Life

From her parents' eighteen children, only nine survived infancy. Dorothea Maria was the second surviving daughter by 1657, when four of her siblings died, three as a consequence of smallpox and one of natural causes aged two months of life. After the birth and death of her last sister in 1663, she remained as the youngest daughter of her family.

Little is known about her. Born Princess Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha, after her mother's cousin death in 1672 Duke Ernest I inherited the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Altenburg

Saxe-Altenburg was one of the Saxon duchies held by the Ernestine branch of the Wettin dynasty in present-day Thuringia.-History:The duchy originated from the medieval Burgraviate of Altenburg in the Imperial Pleissnerland , a possession of the Wettin Margraves of Meissen since 1243...

 and assumed his arms and titles; since them, she was named Princess Dorothea Maria of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg.

Dorothea Maria died in her native Gotha

Gotha (town)

Gotha is a town in Thuringia, within the central core of Germany. It is the capital of the district of Gotha.- History :The town has existed at least since the 8th century, when it was mentioned in a document signed by Charlemagne as Villa Gotaha . Its importance derives from having been chosen in...

unmarried, aged twenty-eight. She was buried in the Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha.