Ludwig Georg Karl of Hessen-Darmstadt

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Ludwig Georg Karl (or Carl ), Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, also called Prince Louis in literature , (born March 27, 1749 in Darmstadt ; † October 26, 1823 ibid) was a German field marshal in the service of the Upper Rhine Empire .

Life

Ludwig Georg Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt was the son of Landgrave Georg Wilhelm von Hessen-Darmstadt (1722–1782) and Maria Luise Albertine von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (1729–1818).

Following the customs of his time, he became captain in the Garde de Dragons body regiment in 1752, i.e. at the age of three, as well as third company chief in the Prinz-Georgschen Kreisregiment zu Giessen, in which he was appointed colonel in 1756. In 1757 he received an officer's license from the superordinate Upper Rhine District, where he entered active service at the age of 15. After various promotions, he took his leave in 1775, but continued to advance: in 1785 to Reichs-General-Feldmarschall-Lieutenant, in 1798 to General-Feldmarschall-Lieutenant of the Upper Rhine District and in 1794 to Commander of the District Troops and one year later (1795) to General Field Marshal and General en chef of the Upper Rhine District, without ever having participated in a campaign.

Like his father and grandfather Ludwig VIII , he was a Freemason . All his life he was fascinated by hermetic topics such as Rosicrucianism , the Templars and gold making. In 1768 he was accepted by his grandfather into the Lodge at the Three Thistles in Frankfurt and in 1771 he joined the so-called Strict Observance . In 1773 he became State Grand Master of the Grand State Lodge of the Freemasons of Germany , which works according to the Swedish system . However, he resigned that same year.

After retiring from active military service in the fall of 1775, Ludwig traveled to Rome with his younger brother Georg . They were accompanied by Baron Gottlieb von Gugomos, who had lured Ludwig with the claim that he could introduce him there to the secret superiors of the Strict Observance. The fact that Gugomos was actually able to have one of the wanted superiors appear in Rome one night convinced Ludwig so much that he was the first to join a Templar order newly founded by Gugomos.

In Italy he met another deceiver, the alchemist Peter Christian Tayssen , who claimed that he was in possession of twenty valuable secrets and who accompanied him to Heilbronn, where Ludwig settled from 1776. Tayssen served Ludwig as a gold maker until 1778 and acted as a teacher in matters of Kabbalah and magic . The prince's secretary and valet had been Heinrich Philipp Bossler since 1776 .

In 1778 Ludwig broke with Freemasonry after a Freemasons' congress called by him in Heilbronn, at which he unsuccessfully presented a new system based on the Rosicrucians based on the teachings of Gugomos and Tayssen and called for membership. Subsequently, in October 1779, he founded a corner lodge in Heilbronn called the Bund für Righteousness , which also accepted women, but was finally banned by Württemberg. The main purpose of the "Winkelloge" was to use the admission fees to help the prince who was chronically in financial distress, through his alchemical experiments and dealing with the alleged Count Trourouvre, who appeared in Heilbronn in 1778, to find new means. The federation, originally part of the fine society, opened up more and more, craftsmen and winegrowers were accepted and advertisers were also sent to the surrounding area. It was only the intervention of the Duke of Württemberg that caused the prince to return their money to at least his subjects, which caused him to go into debt considerably.

Ludwig Georg Karl Prince of Hessen-Darmstadt was buried in the old cemetery in Darmstadt (grave site: I Mauer 54/55). After his death in 1823, arrangements were made for the legal status and maintenance of his two daughters, with their uncle Georg Karl von Hessen-Darmstadt declaring himself ready to support his nieces with the names of Weiss and von Adlersberg .

Women

Friederike Schmidt (Friederike, baroness of Hessenheim)

Honor plate of the "Vestal Virgin" Friederika Schmidt (* February 24, 1751 in Heilbronn; † September 10, 1803 ibid), drawn by Peter Christian Tayssen, 1778

Ludwig lived in Heilbronn from 1776 to 1812, where he met Friederike Schmidt (* February 24, 1751 in Heilbronn; † September 10, 1803 there). Friederike Schmidt came from a Heilbronn merchant family, her parents were Jakob Schmidt and his wife Maria Catharina Wilhelmina, née Burschin. The relationship began in 1776, the morganatic marriage was concluded on January 26, 1788 in Heilbronn. On March 25, 1793 his wife was raised to the nobility as Friederike, Freiin von Hessenheim . The marriage remained childless. Friederike Schmidt was the "first lady" of the Association for Righteousness , to which she belonged, and in 1778 Tayssen drew the shield of honor of the "Vestal Virgin" Friederika Schmidt . The ladies of the local landed gentry referred to her as the “Pfefferkrämer's daughter”, and in order to “provoke” her, Ludwig celebrated Friederike's birthdays with “grand pomp”, with janissary music, festive lighting and pompous rides.

Luise Pfahler b. White

Another lover was Luise Pfahler, born in Heilbronn . Weiss , with whom he had a daughter Friederike Luise Weiss zum Weissenstein (born April 22, 1792 in Heilbronn, raised to the nobility on July 25, 1821, † April 25, 1854 in Darmstadt).

Friederike Kümmerer

He had another relationship with Friederike Kümmerer from Heilbronn . After the birth of his second daughter Friederike Elisabeth (born October 19, 1811 in Frankfurt am Main; † February 3, 1885 in Darmstadt), he moved with his lover from Heilbronn to Darmstadt in 1812, where she died on July 1, 1821. After his death in 1823, at his express request, Ludwig was buried at her side instead of in an hereditary funeral. The illegitimate daughter Elisabeth Kümmerer was legitimized by her uncle, the Grand Duke of Hesse , on August 30, 1821, received the Hessian nobility as von Adlersberg zu Adlershöh and in 1839 a letter of arms . In 1831 she married the later Prussian general of the cavalry and Hessian adjutant general Hermann von Trotha (1804-1891) in Darmstadt .

literature

  • Gustav Lang: Ludwig Georg Karl, Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. In: Hessian biographies. In conjunction with Karl Esselborn and Georg Lehnert, ed. v. Herman Haupt . Hessischer Staatsverlag, Darmstadt 1927 (work of the historical commission for the people's state of Hesse). Reprint, Dr. Martin Sendet oHG, Walluf 1973, ISBN 3-500-26820-X , pp. 465-469.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 466.
  2. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 466.
  3. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 466.
  4. ↑ E. Lennhoff, O. Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurer-Lexikon , special production, Munich Herbig 2006, SS 531 f.
  5. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 466
  6. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 466 f.
  7. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 367.
  8. ↑ Helmut Reinalter (ed.): Freemasons and secret societies in the 18th century in Central Europe . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / Main 1986, p. 154. ISBN 3-518-28003-1
  9. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 467.
  10. ↑ Hans Schneider: The music publisher Heinrich Philipp Bossler 1744-1812. With bibliographical overviews and an appendix Mariane Kirchgessner and Boßler. Self-published by Hans Schneider, Tutzing 1985, ISBN 3-7952-0500-X , p. 34 .
  11. ↑ a b c d Friederika Schmidt. The Baroness of Hessenheim . In. Under the sign of the Enlightenment (folder accompanying the exhibition in the Haus der Stadtgeschichte, Heilbronn).
  12. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 467.
  13. ^ Archives in the Hessian State Archives in Darmstadt
  14. ↑ Life-city Archive Heilbronn, Time History Collection Signature ZS-15,218th See also the entry on Friederike Schmidt, Freiin von Hessenheim in the HEUSS database and in a genealogical service system .
  15. ↑ Documentation in a genealogical service system
  16. ↑ Document in the HEUSS database
  17. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 468.
  18. ↑ Lang (1927), p. 468.
  19. ↑ GHdA , Adelslexikon Volume I, 1972, p. 19
  20. ^ Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: New General German Adelslexicon. 1860, p. 17.
  21. ↑ Hessische Biographie, Trotha, Karl Hermann Freiherr von.
personal data
SURNAME Hessen-Darmstadt, Ludwig Georg Karl von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hessen-Darmstadt, Ludwig Georg Carl von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Field Marshal General
DATE OF BIRTH March 27, 1749
PLACE OF BIRTH Darmstadt
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1823
Place of death Darmstadt