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 (1913–76) to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843). 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, 825–875
3. Reginar, Duke of Lorraine, 850–915
4. Reginar II, Count of Hainaut, 890–932
5. Reginar III, Count of Hainaut, 920–973
6. Lambert I, Count of Leuven, 950–1015
7. Lambert II, Count of Leuven, d. 1054
8. Henry II, Count of Leuven, 1020–1078
9. Godfrey I, Count of Leuven, 1060–1139
10. Godfrey II, Count of Leuven, 1187–1226
11. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven, 1140–1190
12. Henry I, Duke of Brabant, 1165–1235
13. Henry II, Duke of Brabant, 1207–1248
14. Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1244–1308
15. Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1272–1328
16. Louis the Junker of Hesse, 1305–1345
17. Hermann II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1341–1413
18. Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1402–1458
19. Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1438–1471
20. William II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1469–1509
21. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1504–1567
22. George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1547–1596
23. Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1577–1626
24. George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1605–1661
25. Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1630–1678
26. Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1667–1739
27. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1691–1768
28. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1719–1790
29. Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1753–1830
30. Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1777–1848
31. Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine, 1809–1877
32. Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, 1837–1892
33. Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1868–1937
34. Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine, 1908–1968
35. Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, 1968–2013

References