Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine

Louis
Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
Born (1908-11-20)20 November 1908
Darmstadt, German Empire
Died 20 May 1968(1968-05-20) (aged 59)
Frankfurt, West Germany
Spouse Margaret Campbell Geddes
Full name
German: Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig
English: Louis Herman Alexander Clovis
House Hesse-Darmstadt
Father Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Mother Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine (Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig, 20 November 1908 – 30 May 1968) was the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse by his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

He succeeded his brother Georg Donatus as the titular Grand Duke of Hesse after his death. He married the Hon. Margaret Geddes (1913–1997) daughter of Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes in 1937, on the day after the Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash. They had no issue, although after the death of his older brother, he adopted his niece, Johanna (b. 1936) but the little girl died in 1939.

In 1964 he stood as godfather to Prince Edward. In 1960 Prince Louis adopted his distant cousin Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. With the death of Prince Louis in Frankfurt 1968 he was succeeded by Moritz's father Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1980) as head of the house. Moritz (d. 2013) in turn was succeeded by his son Donatus (b. 1966).

He introduced the British composer Benjamin Britten (191376) to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin (17701843). Britten dedicated his 1958 song cycle Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente to the Prince.[1]

Ancestry

Patrilineal descent

  1. Gilbert I, Count of the Maasgau, d. 842
  2. Gilbert II, Count of the Maasgau, 825875
  3. Reginar, Duke of Lorraine, 850915
  4. Reginar II, Count of Hainaut, 890932
  5. Reginar III, Count of Hainaut, 920973
  6. Lambert I, Count of Leuven, 9501015
  7. Lambert II, Count of Leuven, d. 1054
  8. Henry II, Count of Leuven, 10201078
  9. Godfrey I, Count of Leuven, 10601139
  10. Godfrey II, Count of Leuven, 11871226
  11. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven, 11401190
  12. Henry I, Duke of Brabant, 11651235
  13. Henry II, Duke of Brabant, 12071248
  14. Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse, 12441308
  15. Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse, 12721328
  16. Louis the Junker of Hesse, 13051345
  17. Hermann II, Landgrave of Hesse, 13411413
  18. Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, 14021458
  19. Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse, 14381471
  20. William II, Landgrave of Hesse, 14691509
  21. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, 15041567
  22. George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 15471596
  23. Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 15771626
  24. George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 16051661
  25. Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 16301678
  26. Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 16671739
  27. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 16911768
  28. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 17191790
  29. Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, 17531830
  30. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, 17771848
  31. Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine, 18091877
  32. Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, 18371892
  33. Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, 18681937
  34. Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine, 19081968
  35. Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, 19682013
Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
Born: 20 November 1908 Died: 30 May 1968
Titles in pretence
Preceded by
Georg Donatus
 TITULAR 
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
1937–1968
Reason for succession failure:
Grand Duchy abolished in 1918
Succeeded by
Philipp

References

  1. Carpenter, Humphrey (1992). Benjamin Britten: A Biography. London: Faber and Faber. p. 388. ISBN 0-571-14324-5.
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