Eleanor of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

Eleonore Grand Duchess of Hesse and the Rhine

Eleonore Ernestine Marie Princess of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich , Grand Duchess of Hesse and the Rhine , (born  September 17, 1871 in Lich ; †  November 16, 1937 near Steene near Ostend ) was the last Grand Duchess of Hesse .

family

Eleonore came from a noble family . She was the daughter of Prince Hermann zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich and his wife Agnes, b. Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode . On February 2, 1905, she married Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and near Rhine (1868–1937) after his divorce from his first wife Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The wedding tower, now a landmark of Darmstadt , was given to the couple by the citizens for their wedding.

Life

As Grand Duchess, Eleonore continued the charitable commitment that her mother-in-law Grand Duchess Alice had started, but also set new accents on her part. The birth of their first son was the reason for the Ernst Ludwig and Eleonoren Foundation , which worked as the Grand Ducal Center for Maternal and Infant Care with the aim of reducing infant mortality . Nurses were trained (“Eleanor sisters”), who visited and advised women who had recently given birth and distributed infant equipment donated to less well-off families. In 1911, the Eleonorenheim was built , a hospital for babies and children.

During the First World War , Eleanor exercised the reign while the Grand Duke was present at the front. As Sister Marie , she occasionally took the Grand Duchess of Hesse hospital train to the front lines .

The Eleonoren-Gymnasium in Worms and the Eleonorenschule in Darmstadt are named after her .

death

Shortly after the death of her husband Ernst Ludwig, Eleonore and her eldest son Georg Donatus , his wife Cecilia and their grandchildren Ludwig and Alexander died on November 16, 1937 in a plane crash near Ostend . The family was on their way to London for the wedding of their second son Ludwig . On November 23, the five casualties were buried together with Ernst Ludwig, who died on October 9, 1937, in a large communal grave on the Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt .

progeny

The grand ducal couple had two children:

• Georg Donatus Wilhelm Nikolaus Eduard Heinrich Karl (born November 8, 1906 in Darmstadt; † November 16, 1937 near Ostend )
• Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig (born November 20, 1908 in Darmstadt; † May 30, 1968 in Frankfurt am Main )

literature

• Manfred Knodt : The regents of Hessen-Darmstadt. 1st edition. Schlapp, Darmstadt 1976, ISBN 3-87704-004-7
• Lars Adler : The medal from 1894 and the commemorative sign from 1905 on the occasion of the two marriages of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and the Rhine. In: Archive for Hessian History and Archeology NF 75 (2017), pp. 107-136 [in a slightly revised version also published in: OuE-Magazin - DGO - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ordenskunde e. V. 19th vol., Issue 111 (October 2017), pp. 242-255].

Web links

Commons : Eleonore zu Solms-Hohensolms-Lich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Hesse and near Rhine, Eleonore Grand Duchess of. Hessian biography. (As of January 29, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).