Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg
Sophie Hedwig of Saxe-Merseburg, 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 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:
Sophie Hedwig died in childbirth in Saalfeld, two days before her twenty-six birthday. She was buried in the Johanniskirche, Saalfeld.
