Prince Christian of Hesse-Darmstadt


Christian of Hessen-Darmstadt was landgraf of the house of Hesse-Darmstadt and a Dutch general. He was also a keen Freemason, rising to grandmaster.

Life

The youngest son of landgraf Louis IX and his wife Caroline, one of his brothers was grand-duke Louis I. Landgraf Christian studied in Strasbourg and then chose a military career in the service of the Dutch Republic. As lieutenant-general he fought for William V against the French from 1793 to 1794 and was badly wounded in the siege of Menen in April 1794. After the Dutch were defeated in 1795 he went into exile in England and later continued the war against France in the Austrian army. From 1799 he lived in Darmstadt, and is buried in the Alten Friedhof there.

Ancestry