by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2017
Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine: The House of Hesse-Darmstadt was one of several branches of the House of Hesse. After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was raised to the Grand Duchy of Hesse, and Ludwig X, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt became the first Grand Duke, Ludwig I. Several years later, at the Congress of Vienna, Ludwig was forced to cede his Westphalian territories but in return was given the Rheinhessen region and the Grand Duchy of Hesse became the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. Ernst Ludwig, a grandson of Queen Victoria, was the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. With the fall of the German states, Ernst Ludwig refused to abdicate but still lost his throne on November 9, 1918. Today the territory that encompassed the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine is in the German state of Hesse.
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Ludwig III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine – source: Wikipedia
Ludwig III was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany on June 9, 1806, the eldest son of Ludwig II, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Wilhelmine of Baden. He had four siblings:
- Prince Karl (1809-1877) – married Princess Elisabeth of Prussia, had issue
- Princess Elisabeth (1821-1826) – died in childhood
- Prince Alexander (1823-1888) – married Countess Julia Hauke, had issue, the Battenberg/Mountbatten dynasty descends from this marriage
- Princess Marie (1824-1880) – married Alexander II, Emperor of All Russia, had issue
Ludwig studied at Leipzig University as well as receiving military training.
Mathilde Karoline of Bavaria. source: Wikipedia
On December 26, 1833, in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria now in the German state of Bavaria, Ludwig married Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria, the eldest daughter of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and Princess Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. They had no children.
Ludwig became Grand Duke on March 5, 1848, when his father abdicated during the March Revolution.
Anna Magdalena Appel. source: Wikipedia
In June 1868, six years after the death of his first wife, Ludwig married a second time to Anna Magdalena Appel. The marriage was morganatic, so she did not become Grand Duchess. Instead, she was created Baroness of Hochstätten. After his second marriage, Ludwig III retired from public life, and his eventual successor his nephew, the future Ludwig IV, largely took over the tasks and business of the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine. Ludwig III and his second wife lived very quietly at Schloss Braunshardt in Weiterstadt for the remainder of his life.
Grand Duke Ludwig III died in Seeheim, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany, on June 13, 1877. He was initially buried in the Landgrave’s Crypt in the Stadtkirche Darmstadt in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in Hesse, Germany. In 1910, his coffin was transferred to the Altes Mausoleum in the Rosenhöhe Park in Darmstadt, He was succeeded by his nephew, Ludwig IV. The Baroness of Hochstätten moved to Wiesbaden where she lived until her death in December 1917. She is buried in the Old Cemetery in Darmstadt.
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