Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen Prince
Joseph died on 4 January 1787, after which Frederick assumed full authority. One of his first official acts was the establishment of a customs union between himself,
George I, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and
Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, as agreed at the Rodach Conference. This union enabled free trade between the two states. This was followed by reforms in guilds, welfare, and the police, road construction, and medicine. He improved the school system and, in 1795, founded a teachers' college in
Hildburghausen under Ludwig Nonne, followed by the Gymnasium illustre and an industrial school for the poor in 1812. After
Prussia and
Austria declared war on
France in 1791, Frederick provided a contingent of troops that occupied the
Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. Until 1806 he was subject to the restrictions of the imperial
debit commission, which had placed the
duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen under official administration, because of his predecessors' dissolute financial policy. In 1806, Frederick joined the
Confederation of the Rhine, and in 1815, the
German Confederation. In 1818, he, in collaboration with
Karl Ernst Schmid, gave the duchy a new constitution. The improved financial situation enabled the purchase of the Eishausen manor. Frederick was considered popular and intelligent. During his reign, along with his wife,
Charlotte, cultural life in the small town reached its zenith. So many poets and artists spent their time there that Hildburghausen was nicknamed "Klein-Weimar" (Little Weimar). When the last duke of
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg died without issue in 1825, the other branches of the house decided on a rearrangement of the
Ernestine duchies, and as agreed in the
Preliminary Treaty of Liebenstein on 11 August 1826, Frederick left the
Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen on 17 November 1826. The Duchy fell to
Saxe-Meiningen and
Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and from then on he ruled the re-established Duchy of
Saxe-Altenburg as Frederick I, with the exception of the district of
Camburg.
Duke of Saxe-Altenburg When Frederick moved to
Altenburg on 23 November 1826, the resident was in less than perfect condition. He often stayed at
Hummelshain Castle while
Altenburg Castle underwent restoration. On 14 September 1830, following street fighting in the ducal capital, Frederick granted the duchy its first constitution from the town hall of Altenburg. The constitution officially came into force on 23 April 1831. Throughout his reign, the Duke expanded the country's infrastructure, abolished the hunting levy, and improved the administration. He joined the
German Customs and Trade Union in 1833. ==Death and succession==