In 1696, Magdalena Augusta married her first cousin,
Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, who had become Duke in 1691. The Duchess's letters to her husband, kept in the Gotha library, bear witness to a loving and happy marriage.
Her refusal to let her
youngest daughter be taught
English after she was promised to the presumptive
heir to the British throne shows her rather modest sense. She claimed: "[...] this is completely unnecessary, because since the
Hanover family has been on the English throne for over twenty years, the people in England and especially at court have to speak German as often and as well as English. "
They had twenty children:
Sophie (b. Gotha, 30 May 1697 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 29 November 1703).
Magdalena (b. Altenburg, 18 July 1698 – d. 13 November 1712).
Wilhelm (b. Gotha, 12 March 1701 – d. Gräfentonna, 31 May 1771), married on 8 November 1742 to Anna of Holstein-Gottorp. Their marriage was childless.
Karl Frederick (b. Gotha, 20 September 1702 – d. [of smallpox?] Gotha, 21 November 1703)
Stillborn daughter (b. and d. Gotha, 8 May 1703).
Johann August (b. Gotha, 17 February 1704 – d. Stadtroda, 8 May 1767).
Christian (b. Gotha, 27 February 1705 – d. of smallpox, Gotha, 5 March 1705).
Christian Wilhelm (b. Gotha, 28 May 1706 – d. Stadtroda, 19 July 1748), married on 27 May 1743 to Luise Reuss of Schleiz. Their marriage was childless.
Ludwig Ernst (b. Gotha, 28 December 1707 – d. Gotha, 13 August 1763)
Emanuel (b. Gotha, 5 April 1709 – d. Gotha, 10 October 1710).
Moritz (b. Altenburg, 11 May 1711 – d. Altenburg, 3 September 1777).
Sophie (b. Altenburg, 23 August 1712 – d. Altenburg, 12 November 1712).
Karl (b. Gotha, 17 April 1714 – d. Gotha, 10 July 1715).
Magdalena Sibylle (b. Gotha, 15 August 1718 – d. Gotha, 9 November 1718).
Augusta (b. Gotha, 30 November 1719 – d. Carlton House, 8 February 1772), married on 8 May 1736 to
Frederick, Prince of Wales. They had 9 children; their second child later became King
George III of Great Britain.[1]
Johann Adolf (b. Gotha, 18 May 1721 – d. Friedrichstanneck, 29 April 1799).
Ancestry
Ancestors of Princess Magdalena Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst