Prince Wolfgang of Hesse

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Prince and Landgrave Wolfgang Maurice of Hesse-Cassel (6 November 1896, Castle Rumpenheim, Offenbach, Germany - 12 July 1989), was the designated Hereditary Prince of the monarchy of Finland, and as such, already called the Crown Prince of Finland officially until 14 December 1918, and also afterwards by some monarchists.

Wolfgang was the second-born of a pair of twins, the fourth child and son born to Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse (1868-1940) and Princess Margaret of Prussia (1872-1954). His maternal uncle was the German Emperor William II. Wolfgang's father Frederick Charles of Hesse was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918, to replace his first cousin once removed, the deposed Russian emperor, Nicholas II, who was titled Grand Duke of Finland. However, Frederick Charles renounced the throne in December, 1918, and the title was never actually held by the family.

Wolfgang would have been his father's heir as King of Finland instead of his elder twin Prince Philip of Hesse (1896–1980), apparently because Wolfgang was with his parents in 1918 and ready to travel to Finland (where rumoredly a wedding to a Finnish lady already was in the preparation for the coming Crown Prince). Philip was in the military and incommunicado at the time.

Wolfgang married on September 17, 1924 Princess Marie Alexandra of Baden (1902-44), daughter of Prince Maximilian of Baden and Princess Marie Louise of Hanover; they had no children. When Wolfgang died, his nephew Prince Heinrich of Hesse succeeded him in the claims to the throne of Finland.^[1]

Wolfgang adopted his nephew, Prince Karl Adolf of Hesse (born 1937), elder son of his younger brother Christoph who was killed in action in 1943.

At the time of his death at the age of 92, Wolfgang was the only surviving great-grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom who had been born in her lifetime. Victoria died in 1901 and Wolfgang was born in 1896.

[edit] Ancestry

v • d • e Ancestry of Prince and Landgrave Wolfgang of Hesse

16. Landgrave Frederick of Hesse-Cassel               8. Landgrave William of Hesse-Cassel                       17. Princess Caroline of Nassau-Usingen               4. Landgrave Frederick William of Hesse-Cassel                             18. Frederick, Hereditary Prince of Denmark and Norway               9. Princess Louise Charlotte of Denmark & Norway                       19. Duchess Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin               2. Landgrave Frederick Charles of Hesse-Cassel                                   20. Frederick William III of Prussia               10. Prince Charles of Prussia                       21. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz               5. Princess Anna of Prussia                             22. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach               11. Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar                       23. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia               1. Prince Wolfgang of Hesse                                         24. Frederick William III of Prussia (= #20)               12. William I, German Emperor                       25. Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (= #21)               6. Frederick III, German Emperor                             26. Charles Frederick, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (= #22)               13. Augusta of Saxe-Weimar                       27. Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (= #23)               3. Princess Margaret of Prussia                                   28. Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha               14. Albert of Saxe-Coburg & Gotha Prince Consort                       29. Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg               7. Victoria, Princess Royal                             30. Edward, Duke of Kent               15. Victoria of the United Kingdom                       31. Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Article about the House of Hesse and the throne of Finland Helsingin Sanomat (Finnish)

Prince Wolfgang of Hesse House of Hesse Born: November 6 1896 Died: July 12 1989
Titles in pretence
Preceded by Frederick Charles of Hesse	— TITULAR — King of Finland 28 May 1940 – 12 July 1989 Reason for succession failure: Kingdom never established	Succeeded by Prince Heinrich of Hesse