Bernhard was the only son of Georg I Frederick Karl, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen and Luise Eleonore of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

He was a younger brother of Queen Adelaide of the United Kingdom and Ida, Princess Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach.

[1] Bernhard succeeded his father when he was three years old (1803); because of this, his mother, the Dowager Duchess Luise Eleonore, acted as regent on his behalf until he reached adulthood in 1821.

[1] In Kassel on 23 March 1825, Bernhard married Princess Marie Frederica of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel).

They had two children: On 12 November 1826, after the redistribution of all the family territories after the death of the last Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, Bernhard received Hildburghausen and Saalfeld.