Landgrave Hermann IV of Hesse-Rotenburg (15 August 1607 in Kassel – 25 March 1658 in

Rotenburg an der Fulda Rotenburg an der Fulda (officially ''Rotenburg a.d. Fulda'') is a town in Hersfeld-Rotenburg district in northeastern Hesse, Germany lying, as the name says, on the river Fulda. Geography Location The town lies south of the Stölzinger Geb ...

), was the first

Landgrave Landgrave (german: Landgraf, nl, landgraaf, sv, lantgreve, french: landgrave; la, comes magnus, ', ', ', ', ') was a noble title used in the Holy Roman Empire, and later on in its former territories. The German titles of ', ' (" margrave"), ...

of the semi-independent

Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg Hesse-Rotenburg is a former German landgraviate created from the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel in 1627. Its independence ended in 1834 when the estates not bequeathed to princes Victor and Chlodwig of Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst were reu ...

. He was the fourth son of the Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel and his second wife Juliane of Nassau-Siegen.

Life

When the

was established in 1627, Herman took up the regency in Rotenburg. In Waldeck on 31 December 1633 Herman married firstly Countess Sophie Juliane of Waldeck (b. Altenwildungen, 1 April 1607 - d. Ziegenhain, 15 September 1637). She was the daughter of

Christian, Count of Waldeck-Wildungen Count Christian of Waldeck-Wildungen (24/25 December 1585 – 31 December 1637), german: Christian Graf von Waldeck-Wildungen, official titles: ''Graf zu Waldeck und Pyrmont'', was since 1588 Count of Waldeck-Eisenberg and after the ...

. They had one daughter: *Juliane (b. Kassel, 25 March 1636 - d. Kassel, 22 May 1636). In Weimar on 2 February 1642 Herman married secondly Princess Kunigunde Juliane of Anhalt-Dessau (b. Dessau, 17 February 1608 - d. Rotenburg, 26 September 1683), daughter of

John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau , house = House of Ascania , father = Joachim Ernest, Prince of Anhalt , mother = Agnes of Barby-Mühlingen , birth_date = , birth_place = Harzgerode,Principality of Anhalt-Dessau,Upper Saxon Circle,Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , dea ...

. This marriage was childless. Herman suffered all his life from a crippled foot and had to wear iron braces to support his leg. This made a military career impossible. Instead, he went into the scientific field. He became a renowned researcher in the fields of meteorology, mathematics, astronomy and geography. His treatise ''Beiläufige Cosmographische Beschreibung des Niederfürstentums Hessen'' of 1641 is among the standard works of 17th century Hessian geography. The school in Rotenburg was destroyed in 1637, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

. In 1651, Herman built a new school, at his own expense, at the address Löbergasse 2, as indicated by an inscription on the building. After additional territories had been acquired, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg was divided among three brothers in 1648. Herman retained a reduced Hesse-Rotenburg;

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode *Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederick ...

received Hesse-Eschwege and

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious". Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People * Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), son of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor * Ernest, ...

received

Hesse-Rheinfels Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of Hesse for Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line of Hesse-Kassel for Ernest, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1623–1693), landgrave ...

. In 1655, Frederick died without a male heir, and Eschwege fell to Ernest. In 1658, Herman died without surviving issue and Rotenburg also fell to Ernest.

Sources

* Historical Society of Former district of Rotenburg

References

External links

* http://www.geschichtsverein-rotenburg.de Landgraves of Hesse House of Hesse 1607 births 1658 deaths 17th-century German people {{Germany-noble-stub