Prince Ludwig Gaston of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha


Prince Ludwig Gaston of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, known in Brazil as Dom Luís Gastão, was a German prince of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Koháry, and the last surviving grandchild of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.

Biography

Early life

Ludwig Gaston was born at Ebenthal castle in Austria-Hungary, the youngest son of Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Princess Leopoldina of Brazil, the second daughter of Dom Pedro II. His siblings were Princes Peter August, August Leopold and Joseph Ferdinand. Shortly after their mother's death in 1871, Ludwig and his brothers moved to Brazil, where they lived with their maternal grandfather until a military coup d'état in 1889 abolished the monarchy, forcing the imperial family into exile.

Military and later life

Ludwig Gaston went to Wiener Neustadt to study at the Theresian Military Academy, where he successfully graduated in 1892. After that, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant of the Fourth Tiroler Jäger-Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army in Lienz. On 1 May 1896, Ludwig obtained the rank of First Lieutenant; on 29 March 1900, he was given command of the First Tiroler Jäger-Regiment in Innsbruck, and on 1 May 1903, he further advanced to the rank of Captain. He left the army on 8 February 1907.
In Munich, on 1 May 1900, the prince married firstly Princess Mathilde, daughter of King Ludwig III of Bavaria. Their wedding was hosted by her grandfather, Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria. They had two children:
After the death of his first wife in 1906, he married for a second time Countess Anna of :File:Wien_Palais_Trauttmansdorff_Wappen.jpg|Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg, daughter of Karl Johann Nepomuk Ferdinand, Prince von und zu Trauttmansdorff-Weinsberg and Josephine, Markgräfin von Pallavicini, at Bischofteinitz on November 30, 1907. They had one daughter:
Prince Ludwig Gaston died on 23 January 1942 in Innsbruck, and was buried in the St. Augustine's Church in Coburg.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order, 1892
Knight of the Order of St. Hubert, 1900

Ancestry