Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine


Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine 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 Margaret Campbell Geddes daughter of Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes in 1937, on the day after the Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash, in which his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews were all killed. They had no issue, although, after the death of his older brother, he adopted his niece, Johanna 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 as head of the house. Moritz in turn was succeeded by his son Donatus.
He introduced the British composer Benjamin Britten to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin. Britten dedicated his 1958 song cycle Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente to the Prince.

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