Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (''Chlodwig Alexis Ernst''; 30 July 1876 – 17 November 1954) was an officer in the Prussian Army and head of the

Hesse-Philippsthal This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

line of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918. Burke's Royal Families of the World, ...

. As head of the house he was styled ''

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive adje ...

the Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld''.

Early life

Landgrave Chlodwig, the seventh of ten children of

Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (3 October 1831 – 17 January 1890), was a German prince of the Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld branch of the House of Hesse, and '' Konteradmiral'' (counter admiral) of the Prussian and Imperial German Nav ...

, was born at

Burgsteinfurt Steinfurt (; Westphalian: ''Stemmert'') is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Steinfurt. From roughly 1100-1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north ...

. He was the only surviving son from his father's second marriage with Princess Juliane of Bentheim and Steinfurt; his only surviving full sibling, Princess Bertha, was married to Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe. Although the third son Landgrave Chlodwig became heir to the headship of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld upon the death of his uncle in 1905 due to his elder half brothers Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Carl Wilhelm von Ardeck's exclusion from the succession on account of their parents

morganatic Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spous ...

marriage. Landgrave Chlodwig served in the

Prussian Army The Royal Prussian Army (1701–1919, german: Königlich Preußische Armee) served as the army of the Kingdom of Prussia. It became vital to the development of Brandenburg-Prussia as a European power. The Prussian Army had its roots in the co ...

reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 26 May 1904 he married Princess Caroline of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, the daughter of Prince Hermann, in her home town of

Lich In fantasy fiction, a lich (; from the Old English , meaning "corpse") is a type of undead creature. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's " The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term f ...

. The couple had five children: Wilhelm Ernst Alexis Hermann (1905-1942) who married Princess Marianne of Prussia, Ernst Ludwig (1906-1934), Irene (1907-1980), Alexander Friedrich (1911-1939) and Viktoria Cäcilie (1914-1998).

Landgrave

On 16 August 1905, Chlodwig succeeded his uncle Landgrave Alexis as head of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, giving him a seat in the

House of Lords of Prussia The Prussian House of Lords (german: Preußisches Herrenhaus) in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Repre ...

. On 22 December 1925 he inherited the assets and headship of the House of

following the death of Landgrave Ernst. In the early 1930s three of Landgrave Chlodwig's children (Wilhelm, Alexander Friedrich and Viktoria Cäcilie) joined the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

. His third son Prince Alexander Friedrich, who suffered from epilepsy, was sterilised by the Nazis on 27 September 1938, he died a year later. The landgrave's eldest son Prince Wilhelm, an SS-

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

, was killed in action during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Landgrave Chlodwig died aged 78 in

Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolfisfeld'') is the district seat of the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany, roughly 50 km southe ...

, he was survived by his wife and daughters, his three sons having predeceased him. His grandson Wilhelm succeeded him as head of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal.

Honours

*Knight of the House Order of the Golden Lion of Hesse, ''21 December 1898'' *Grand Cross of the Order of Ludwig of Hesse, ''14 May 1910'' *Grand Cross of the Princely House Order of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

*Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia *Knight of the Order of St. John of Prussia *Grand Cross of the

Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order The Saxe-Ernestine House Order (german: link=yes, Sachsen-Ernestinischer Hausorden)Hausorden
Herz ...

*Grand Cross of the Princely House Order of

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bü ...

*Cross of Merit of

Waldeck and Pyrmont The County of Waldeck (later the Principality of Waldeck and Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont) was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and its successors from the late 12th century until 1929. In 1349 the county gained Imperial immediacy and in 1 ...

Ancestry

References

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