Ernest Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen, was a duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Background
He was the eldest son of Ernest, Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen and Countess Sophie Henriette of Waldeck. During his youth he served on the Netherlands in the imperial military army, during which he was wounded in the Spanish Succession War at Höchstädt. In 1715 he left the Army after the death of his father, and assumed the government of the duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
Career
He wanted, like many German princes, to repeat the splendor of the court of the King Louis XIV of France in his own duchy. But this was the cause of his financial ruin. Constantly in need of money, he levied taxes and sold towns.
The county was sold in 1720 to the General States, not for the repayment of the debts but to build in his palace a garden connected with a channel.
Likewise, in 1723 the office was finally sold to the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen. The county was occupied with troops of both duchies and at the end of the war all of the county was devastated and ruined.
Because of his intolerable fiscal charges, in 1717 an open revolt developed in the duchy.