This is a list of monarchs of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

on west-central

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. These monarchs belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World Volume I Europe & Latin America'' , London 1977 p. 202 originally the Reginar. Hesse was ruled as a

landgraviate 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"), a ...

electorate Electorate may refer to: * The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate'' * The dominion of a Prince-elector in the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 * An electoral district An ...

and later as a

grand duchy A grand duchy is a sovereign state, country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess. Relatively rare until the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the term was oft ...

until 1918. The title of all of the following monarchs was "landgrave" (german: Landgraf) unless otherwise noted.

Landgraviate of Hesse

In the early Middle Ages the

Hessengau Hessengau is an historical region of modern-day Germany located between Beverungen and Marburg in the north and Bad Hersfeld The festival and spa town of Bad Hersfeld (''Bad'' is "spa" in German; the Old High German name of the city was ''Herolf ...

territory (named after the Germanic

Chatti The Chatti (also Chatthi or Catti) were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser (''Visurgis''). They lived in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of that river and in the valle ...

tribes) formed the northern parts of the German stem duchy of Franconia along with the adjacent Lahngau. Upon the extinction of the ducal Conradines, these

Rhenish Franconia Rhenish Franconia (german: Rheinfranken) or Western Franconia () denotes the western half of the central German stem duchy of Franconia in the 10th and 11th century, with its residence at the city of Worms. The territory located on the banks of Rh ...

n counties were gradually acquired by Landgrave

Louis I of Thuringia Louis I (died January 12, 1140) was ruler of Thuringia from 1123 to 1140. Biography The son of Count Louis the Springer ("the jumper") and his wife Adelheid, he was appointed Landgrave of Thuringia by the Emperor Lothair III in 1131. According ...

and his successors. After the

War of the Thuringian Succession The War of the Thuringian Succession (German: ''Thüringisch-hessischer Erbfolgekrieg'') (1247–1264) was a military conflict over a successor to the last Landgrave of Thuringia for control of the state of Thuringia (now in modern-day Germany). ...

upon the death of Landgrave Henry Raspe in 1247, his niece Duchess Sophia of Brabant secured the Hessian possessions for her minor son Henry the Child, who would become the first landgrave of Hesse and founder of the House of Hesse in 1246. The remaining Thuringian landgraviate fell to the Wettin margrave Henry III of Meissen. Henry I of Hesse was raised to

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

ly status by King

Adolf of Germany Adolf (c. 1255 – 2 July 1298) was the count of Nassau from about 1276 and the elected king of Germany from 1292 until his deposition by the prince-electors in 1298. He was never crowned by the pope, which would have secured him the imperial ...

in 1292.

Landgraves of Hesse

House of Hesse

Partitions of Hesse under Hesse family

Table of monarchs

Heads of the non-reigning House of Hesse

Hesse-Kassel since 1866

Friedrich Wilhelm I, the former Elector, titular Landgrave 1866–75 (1802–1875) :''succeeded by his second cousin Friedrich Wilhelm II as below:'' * ''

Friedrich II Frederick II, Frederik II or Friedrich II may refer to: * Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194–1250), King of Sicily from 1198; Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 * Frederick II of Denmark (1534–1588), king of Denmark and Norway 1559–1588 * Frede ...

, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel (1720–1785)'' ** ''

Friedrich III Frederick III may refer to: * Frederick III, Duke of Upper Lorraine (died 1033) * Frederick III, Duke of Swabia (1122–1190) * Friedrich III, Burgrave of Nuremberg (1220–1297) * Frederick III, Duke of Lorraine (1240–1302) * Frederick III of S ...

, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel-Rumpenheim (1747–1837)'' *** '' Wilhelm I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel-Rumpenheim (1787–1867)'' **** Friedrich Wilhelm II, titular Landgrave 1875–84 (1820–1884) ***** Friedrich Wilhelm III, titular Landgrave 1884–88 (1854–1888) ***** Alexander Friedrich, titular Landgrave 1888–1925, abdicated (1863–1945) ***** Friedrich Karl, titular Landgrave 1925–40, elected King of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

as Fredrik Kaarle I in 1918 but renounced the throne (1868–1940) ******

Philipp Philipp is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include: "Philipp" has also been a shortened version of Philippson, a German surname especially prevalent amongst German Jews and Dutch Jews. Surname * Adolf Philipp (1864� ...

, titular Landgrave 1940–80, head of entire House 1968 ''on extinction of Hesse-Darmstadt line'' (1896–1980) ******* Moritz, titular Landgrave and Head of House 1980–2013 (1926–2013) ******** Heinrich Donatus titular Landgrave and Head of House 2013–present (born 1966) ********* Moritz, Hereditary Prince of Hesse (born 2007) ********* Prince August of Hesse (born 2012) ******** Prince Philipp Robin of Hesse (born 1970) ********* Prince Tito of Hesse (born 2008) ****** '' Prince Christoph of Hesse (1901–1943)'' ******* ''Prince Karl Adolf Andreas of Hesse (1937–2022)'' ******** Prince Christoph of Hesse (born 1969) ******* Prince Rainer Christoph Friedrich of Hesse (born 1939)

Hesse-Philippsthal 1866–1925

* Charles II, formerly sovereign, titular Landgrave 1866–68 (1803–1868) ** Ernst Eugen, titular Landgrave 1868–1925 (1846–1925) :''1925 the Line of Hesse-Philippsthal became extinct, passed to Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld''

Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld since 1866, Hesse-Philippsthal since the extinction of the main line 1925

* '' Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1784–1854)'' ** Alexis, formerly sovereign, titular Landgrave 1866–1905 (1829–1905) ** '' Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1831–1890)'' ***

Chlodwig Louis is the French form of the Old Frankish given name Chlodowig and one of two English forms, the other being Lewis (). Etymology The name Louis (through the intermediate form Clovis) derives from the Frankish name ᚺᛚᛟᛞᛟᚹᛁᚷ ...

, titular Landgrave 1905–54, ''inherited Hesse-Philippsthal as well in 1925'' (1876–1954) **** ''Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1905–1942)'' ***** Wilhelm, titular Landgrave 1954–present (born 1933) ****** Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 1963) ******* Prince Wilhelm Ernst of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 2005) ******* Prince Philipp August of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 2006) ****** ''Prince Otto of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1965–2020)'' ******* Prince Max of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 1999) ******* Prince Moritz of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 2007) ***** ''Prince Hermann of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1935–2019)'' ****** Prince Alexis of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born 1977)

Hesse-Darmstadt 1918–1968

Ernst Ludwig , spouses = , issue = , house = Hesse-Darmstadt , father = Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine , mother =Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Darmstadt, Gran ...

, formerly sovereign, titular Grand Duke 1918–37 (1868–1937) ** George Donatus, titular Grand Duke 9 Oct – 16 Nov 1937 ** Ludwig (V), titular Grand Duke 1937–1968 :''In 1968 the Line of Hesse-Darmstadt became Hesse-Nassau and Hesse-Kassel (1969–present)''

References

External links

* The History Files
King Lists Europe: Kingdoms of Germany – Hesse
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monarchs Of Hesse, List Of Nobility of Hesse

Hessian monarchs History of Hesse