Ludwig II (Hessen-Darmstadt)
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Ludwig II of Hesse and the Rhine (born December 26, 1777 in Darmstadt ; † June 16, 1848 there ) was Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine from 1830 to 1848 .
Life
Ludwig was the eldest son of Grand Duke Ludwig I of Hesse and the Rhine (1753-1830) from his marriage to Luise (1761-1829), daughter of Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hesse-Darmstadt . The Hereditary Prince studied at the University of Leipzig from 1795 .
On June 19, 1804, he married Princess Wilhelmine of Baden (1788–1836), daughter of Hereditary Prince Karl Ludwig of Baden, in Karlsruhe . In the same year he took part in Napoleon I's coronation as emperor in Paris . After his father's increase in 1806, Ludwig was named the Hereditary Grand Duke. Ludwig attended the Erfurt and Vienna Congresses . For the coronation of Louis XVIII. he stayed again in Paris.
Due to the constitution of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, Prince Ludwig was a member of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse from 1820 until he took office as Grand Duke in 1830 .
The prince lived mostly withdrawn in Darmstadt until he took office on April 6, 1830. He was not allowed to take part in actual government affairs, he only took part in the meetings of the First Chamber and was a member of the State Council from 1823 on.
Immediately after taking office, his demand that his considerable debts be taken over into the national debt repayment fund brought him into conflict with the estates, which, because of his growing reactionary tendencies, outlasted his entire term in office. Shortly after he took over the government, there were uprisings in Upper Hesse, which, however, were put down by Ludwig's brother Emil . Essentially, Ludwig continued his father's reform activities in close cooperation with Prime Minister Karl du Thil .
He did not feel up to the events of the March Revolution and therefore on March 5, 1848, transferred to his son Ludwig III. the co-regency. After his death, Grand Duke Ludwig II was first buried in the landgrave's crypt in the Darmstadt city church ; in 1910 his coffin was transferred to the old mausoleum in Rosenhöhe Park .
progeny
Of Ludwig's seven children, three sons and one daughter survived.
- Ludwig III. (1806–1877), Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine
- ⚭ 1. 1833 Princess Mathilde of Bavaria (1813–1862)
- ⚭ 2. 1868 ( morning ) Magdalene Appel (1846–1917), “Freifrau von Hochstädten” 1868
- Karl (1809–1877)
- ⚭ 1836 Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (1815–1885)
- Elisabeth (1821–1826)
- Alexander (1823–1888), later called Battenberg
- ⚭ 1851 Countess Julia Hauke (1825–1895), 1851 “Countess Julie von Battenberg”, from 1858 “Fürstin von Battenberg”
- Marie (1824-1880)
- ⚭ 1841 Tsar Alexander II of Russia (1818–1881)
It is rumored that Elisabeth, Alexander and Marie came from an extra-marital relationship between his wife and the Grand Ducal Court Stable Master August Ludwig von Senarclens-Grancy and that Ludwig would only have recognized them as children of his own. Although there is a certain probability of illegitimate filiation, it is not secure and is based neither on a written document nor on an oral explanation.
ancestors
| Ludwig VIII Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1691–1768) | |||||||||||||
| Louis IX Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1719–1790) | |||||||||||||
| Charlotte von Hanau-Lichtenberg (1700–1726) | |||||||||||||
| Ludwig I Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine (1753–1830) | |||||||||||||
| Christian III of Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1674–1735) | |||||||||||||
| Caroline of Pfalz-Zweibrücken (1721–1774) | |||||||||||||
| Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken (1704–1774) | |||||||||||||
| Ludwig II. Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine | |||||||||||||
| Ludwig VIII Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (1691–1768) | |||||||||||||
| Georg Wilhelm of Hessen-Darmstadt (1722–1782) | |||||||||||||
| Charlotte von Hanau-Lichtenberg (1700–1726) | |||||||||||||
| Luise Henriette Karoline of Hessen-Darmstadt (1761–1829) | |||||||||||||
| Christian Karl Reinhard von Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (1695–1766) | |||||||||||||
| Maria Luise Albertine zu Leiningen-Dagsburg-Falkenburg (1729-1818) | |||||||||||||
| Katharina Polyxena von Solms-Rödelheim (1702–1765) | |||||||||||||
Note: Due to inter-family marriages, Grand Duke Ludwig VIII and his wife Charlotte are two-time great-grandparents of Ludwig II.
literature
- Eckhart G. Franz : Ludwig II., Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 397 ( digitized version ).
- Jochen Lengemann : MdL Hessen. 1808-1996. Biographical index (= political and parliamentary history of the state of Hesse. Vol. 14 = publications of the Historical Commission for Hesse. Vol. 48, 7). Elwert, Marburg 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6 , p. 182.
- Johann Wilhelm Christian Steiner: Ludwig II. Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine. Darmstadt 1848.
- Johann Wilhelm Christian Steiner: The history of the government of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine . Seligenstadt 1849.
- Philipp Walther: Ludwig II., Grand Duke of Hesse and the Rhine . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1884, pp. 557-559.
Web links
- Hessen and near Rhine, Ludwig II. Grand Duke of. Hessian biography. (As of March 15, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Ludwig I. |
Grand Duke of Hesse 1830–1848 |
Ludwig III. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ludwig II. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ludwig II of Hesse and by the Rhine |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 26, 1777 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Darmstadt |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 16, 1848 |
| Place of death | Darmstadt |