Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzog Ludwig III von Hessen und bei Rhein; 9 June 1806,

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

– 13 June 1877,

Seeheim Seeheim is a settlement in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. The only notable structures in Seeheim today are the hotel and the railway station; only a handful of people live there. Seeheim belongs to the Keetmanshoop Rural electoral const ...

) was

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. In status, a grand duke traditionally ranks in order of precedence below an emperor, as an approxi ...

Hesse and by Rhine The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

from 1848 until his death in 1877.

Biography

He was the son of Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse and his consort, Princess

Wilhelmine of Baden Princess Wilhelmine Louise of Baden (21 September 1788 – 27 January 1836), was by birth a Princess of Baden from the House of Zähringen and by marriage Grand Duchess consort of Hesse and by Rhine. Her descendants include the last emperor of Ru ...

. He succeeded as Grand Duke in 1848 upon the

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

of his father during the March Revolution in the German states. During the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

of 1866, Louis sent word more than once to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, mother-in-law of his nephew and successor

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis (d ...

, appealing to her to reason on his behalf with the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

, "in the same sense I had already written before, but it would be utterly useless." He was succeeded by his nephew, Louis IV, on 13 June 1877, as his brother

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

(Louis' father) had already died three months previously, in March.

Marriages

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, on 26 December 1833, he married

Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria Princess Mathilde Caroline of Bavaria (german: Mathilde Karoline Friederike Wilhelmine Charlotte von Bayern) (Augsburg, August 30, 1813 – Darmstadt, May 25, 1862) was the second child and eldest daughter of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese o ...

, eldest daughter of

Ludwig I of Bavaria en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

. The marriage produced no children. Princess Mathilde Caroline died in 1862, and in 1868 the Grand Duke remarried,

morganatically 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 spou ...

, to Magdalene Appel who was created Baroness of Hochstädten.

Honours and awards

Ancestry

References

External links

Royal Genealogies Part 46

World Roots
1806 births 1877 deaths Nobility from Darmstadt Hereditary Grand Dukes of Hesse Recipients of the Order of St. George of the Third Degree Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint-Charles Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain Extra Knights Companion of the Garter Burials at the Mausoleum for the Grand Ducal House of Hesse, Rosenhöhe (Darmstadt) {{Germany-royal-stub