Prince Philip of Hesse-Kassel
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Prince and Landgrave Philipp of Hesse (6 November 1896-25 October 1980) was Head of the Electoral House of Hesse from 1940 to 1980. From 1933 to 1944 he served as Nazi Governor of Hesse-Nassau.
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[edit] Early life and marriage
Philipp was born at Schloss Rumpenheim, near Offenbach, the third son of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse and of his wife Princess Margaret of Prussia (sister of the German Emperor Wilhelm II). Philipp had a younger twin brother Wolfgang, as well as two older brothers, and two other younger twin brothers.
As a child, Philipp had an English governess. In 1910 he was sent to England to attend school in Bexhill-on-Sea. After returning to Germany he attended a Musterschule in Frankfurt and then the Realgymnasium in Potsdam. He was the only one of his brothers who did not attend a military academy.
At the beginning of World War I Philipp enlisted in the Hessian Dragoon-Regiment Nr. 24 along with his older brother Maximilian. They served first in Belgium where Maximilian was killed in October. In 1915 and 1916 Philipp served on the Eastern Front in what is now Ukraine. He held the rank of lieutenant (an extremely low rank considering his princely background), and was mostly responsible for the procurement of munitions. In 1917 he served on the Siegfried Line, before returning to Ukraine where he experienced active combat and was wounded.
In 1916 Philipp's oldest brother Friedrich Wilhelm died, and Philipp became second in line to succeed his uncle as Head of the Electoral House of Hesse. In October 1918 Philipp's father was elected king of Finland. It was intended that Philipp would eventually succeed his father as Head of the House of Hesse, while his (younger)twin brother Wolfgang would be heir to the Finnish throne. The plans for a Finnish monarchy, however, soon came to an abrupt end with the defeat of Germany; Finland became a republic in July 1919.
After the war Philipp enlisted in the Übergangsheer (the Transitional Army) which was successful in defending against Communist and socialist action. From 1920 to 1922 he attended the Technical University in Darmstadt where he studied art history and architecture. He made several visits to Greece where his aunt Princess Sophie of Prussia was the wife of King Constantine I. In 1922 he left university without completing a degree, and took a job at the Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum in Berlin. The following year he moved to Rome where he used his aristocratic connections to establish himself as a successful interior designer.
On 23 September 1925 at the Castello di Racconigi near Turin, Philipp married Princess Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy. The couple had four children:
- Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (born 1926)
- Heinrich (1927-1999)
- Otto (1937-1998)
- Elisabeth (born 1940)
The family lived mostly at Villa Polissena, part of Villa Savoia, the king of Italy's estate on the outskirts of Rome. But they also travelled frequently to Germany.
[edit] Involvement with the Nazis
While in Italy, Philipp became impressed by the Fascists. In October 1930 he joined the Nazi Party. In 1932 he joined the Stormtroopers (SA), and the following year his younger brother Christoph joined the Schutzstaffel (SS). Later his two other brothers joined the SA. Philipp became a particularly close friend of Hermann Göring.
In June 1933 Philipp was appointed Oberpräsident (Governor) of Hesse-Nassau. He was also a member of the Reichstag and of the Prussian Staatsrat. Philipp was an important tool in the consolidation of Nazi power. He introduced other aristocrats to Nazi authorities, and, as son-in-law of the king of Italy, was a frequent go-between for Hitler and Mussolini. He also acted as an art agent for Hitler in Italy.
As Governor of Hesse-Kassel, Philipp was complicit in the T-4 Euthanasia Program. In February 1941 Philipp signed the contract placing the sanitarium of Hadamar at the disposal of the Reich Interior Ministry. Over 10,000 mentally ill people were killed there. In 1946 Philipp was charged with murder, but the charges were later dropped.
As the war progressed the attitude of the Nazi authorities towards members of the German princely houses changed. While at first they had been happy to use the historic family names to bolster popular support, the Nazis now decided to distance themselves even from those princes who had supported them.
In late April 1943 Philipp was ordered to report to Hitler's headquarters, where he stayed for most of the next four months. In May 1943 Hitler issued the "Decree Concerning Internationally Connected Men" declaring that princes could not hold positions in the party, state, or armed forces. The arrest of Mussolini by Philipp's father-in-law King Victor Emanuel in July 1943 made Phillip's position even more difficult. Hitler believed that Philipp and his family were complicit in Mussolini's downfall.
On September 8, 1943 Philipp was arrested. He was stripped of his membership in the Nazi Party and in the SA, and dismissed from the Luftwaffe. On January 25, 1944, his political disgrace became public when he was dismissed from his office as Governor of Hesse-Nassau.
In September 1943 Philipp was sent to Flossenbürg concentration camp. He was placed in solitary confinement and was not permitted any contact with the outside world. He was, however, granted certain privileges: wearing civilian clothes and eating the same food as the guards.
Philipp's wife Mafalda was kidnapped and arrested in Rome. She was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp where she was housed next to an armaments factory. In August 1944 the factory was bombed by the Allies. Mafalda was seriously injured and died several days later.
As the Allies advanced into Germany, the Nazis moved their more prominent prisoners. In April 1945 Philipp was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp. After only ten days, however, he was transferred again. On May 4, 1945, American troops took over the camp where he was incarcerated at Villabassa in the Italian Dolomites.
[edit] After the war
On account of his former position as Nazi Governor of Hesse-Nassau, Philipp was held by the Allies first on the island of Capri and then at a series of other detention centres.
In 1940 Philipp had succeeded his father as Head of the Electoral House of Hesse. In 1968, upon the death of his distant agnatic relative, Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, Philipp succeeded to the total headship of the entire House of Hesse, including grand ducal Hesse (Hesse and by Rhine/Hesse-Darmstadt). Ludwig had nominally adopted Philipp's son Moritz, who at that time inherited the Hesse and by Rhine properties, including remarkable cultural collections.
Philipp died in Rome, Italy in 1980.
| Preceded by Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse |
Head of the House of Hesse May 28, 1940 – 25 October 1980 |
Succeeded by Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse |
[edit] Grandson
Another Prince Philipp of Hesse (Philipp Robin) (17 September 1970) grandson of the above Prince Philip, is the youngest child and second son of Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse and his former wife, Princess Tatjana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. He married Laetitia Bechtolf in a civil ceremony on 5 May 2006 and a religious ceremony on 10 June 2006.
Prince Philipp currently resides in New York. He photographed several German royals (including his sister, Mafalda) for Vanity Fair's September 2003 royal issue.
| Preceded by Heinrich, Hereditary Prince of Hesse |
Hereditary Prince of Hesse | Succeeded by Prince Karl Adolf of Hesse |
| Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel | Succeeded by Prince Karl Adolf of Hesse |
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| Line of succession to the titular throne of Finland | Succeeded by Prince Karl Adolf of Hesse |
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| Line of Succession to the British throne | Succeeded by Princess Elena of Hesse |
[edit] Further reading
- Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany (Oxford University Press, 2006).
