Wilhelm of Hessen-Darmstadt

Wilhelm of Hessen-Darmstadt

Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Georg Emil Philipp Gustav Ferdinand of Hesse and the Rhine (born November 16, 1845 in Bessungen ; † May 24, 1900 in the Palais Rosenhöhe ) was a prince of Hesse and the Rhine and general of the infantry .

origin

Wilhelm was the younger son of Prince Karl of Hesse and by Rhine (1809–1877) from his marriage to Elisabeth of Prussia (1815–1885), daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia . His older brother was Ludwig IV (Hessen-Darmstadt) (1837-1892) and his younger sister Anna von Hessen-Darmstadt (1843-1865), the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Brother Heinrich (1838–1900) was Prince of Hesse and the Rhine and general of the cavalry .

Life

As a grand-ducal prince, he automatically belonged to the first chamber of the state estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse from 1872 to 1900 .

Wilhelm was very interested in art. He loved music and, like Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig (1868–1937) later , often visited Bayreuth , Richard Wagner's "temple of music" . The prince was also a friend of Wagner's wife Cosima Wagner . The morganatic marriage with Josephine Bender brought him the conclusion of the career in military service, which the prince completed with the general rank. Family relationships always played an important role in the prince's life. The prince's mother, Elisabeth , and the mother of King Ludwig of Bavaria were sisters.

The former Rosenhöhe Palace around 1900

The prince was a friend of King Ludwig II. The extensive correspondence between the cousins, which is described in the book by Maria Seitz, sheds new light on the relationships between the courts of Bavaria and Hesse, as well as on the relations between King Ludwig and Prince Wilhelm. The letters collected in Wittelsbach 's house show that the two cousins ​​maintained cordial and friendly relationships. Prince Wilhelm was to be one of those few people whose acquaintance King Ludwig II was very happy and not disappointing.

Prince Wilhelm of Hessen-Darmstadt died at the age of 55 in his residence, the Palais Rosenhöhe in Park Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt , where he is also buried in the old mausoleum .

Marriage and offspring

Prince Wilhelm lived with his family in the Palais Rosenhöhe. He married Josephine Bender, wife of Lichtenberg (August 11, 1857 - February 24, 1942) in France on February 24, 1884 and was the father of Gottfried von Lichtenberg (November 19, 1877 in Darmstadt ; † September 6, 1914) in Esternay , Marne department , France), in the First world war fell.

ancestors

Ludwig I Grand Duke of Hesse (1753–1830)

Ludwig II. Grand Duke of Hesse (1777–1848)

Luise Henriette Karoline of Hessen-Darmstadt (1761–1829)

Karl of Hessen-Darmstadt (1809–1877)

Karl Ludwig von Baden (1755–1801)

Wilhelmine of Baden (1788–1836)

Amalie of Hessen-Darmstadt (1754–1832)

Wilhelm of Hessen-Darmstadt

Friedrich Wilhelm II. King of Prussia (1744–1797)

Prince Wilhelm of Prussia (1783-1851)

Friederike Luise of Hessen-Darmstadt (1751–1805)

Elisabeth of Prussia (1815–1885)

Friedrich V Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (1748–1820)

Maria Anna of Hessen-Homburg (1785–1846)

Caroline of Hessen-Darmstadt (1746–1821)

Note: What is striking about this family tree is the fact that his grandparents and great-grandparents had many inter-family marriages. That is why the Hessen-Darmstadt company is represented there disproportionately often.

literature

• Carl Knetsch : The House of Brabant: Genealogy of the dukes of Brabant and the landgraves of Hesse. Part 2. The descendants of Philip the Magnanimous. Philipps University of Marburg 1918, ( digital ).
• Manfred Knodt : The regents of Hessen-Darmstadt. 1st edition. Schlapp, Darmstadt 1976. ISBN 3-87704-004-7 .
• 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 .
• Silke Marburg: European high nobility. King John of Saxony (1801–1873) and the internal communication of a social formation. Berlin 2008. ISBN 978-3-05-004344-9 .
• Maria Seitz: If I had wings to swing to you ... Document of a lifelong friendship: Correspondence between King Ludwig II of Bavaria ... from the time of the Crown Prince to the first planning. Toeche-Mittler publishing house. 1st edition 2011. ISBN 978-3-87-820134-2 .
• Felix Sommer: Psychiatry and Power: Life and Illness King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the mirror of prominent contemporary witnesses. Publishing house Peter Lang GmbH. 2009, ISBN 978-3-63-159242-7 . P. 146.

Web links

• Hesse and near the Rhine, Wilhelm Ludwig Prince of. Hessian biography. (As of March 15, 2020). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ see November 16 at: Genealogical yearbook of the German nobility for 1847 , fourth year, Stuttgart. P. 11 as well as from Johann Wilhelm Christian Steiner: Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and near Rhine , Darmstadt 1848. P. 9 and Court and State Handbook of the Grand Duchy of Hesse: for the year 1864 , Darmstadt 1870. Genealogy P. 2
2. ^ ^{A b} Death of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse, May 24, 1900. Contemporary history in Hesse (as of December 5, 2014). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). Hessian State Office for Historical Cultural Studies (HLGL), accessed on February 1, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Wilhelm Prinz von Hessen and bei Rhein on thepeerage.com , accessed on July 21, 2015.
4. ^ Prince Wilhelm of Hesse and by the Rhine
5. ↑ Maria Seitz: If I had wings to swing to you ... Toeche-Mittler publishing house. 1st edition 2011.