Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (14 June 1753 in
Prenzlau
Prenzlau (, formerly also Prenzlow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region.
Geography
The town is located on the Ucker river, about north of Be ...
– 6 April 1830 in
Darmstadt) was ''Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt'' (as ''Louis X'') and later the first ''Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine''.
Louis was the son of
Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Ludwig) (15 December 1719 – 6 April 1790) was the reigning Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1768 to 1790.
Louis IX and his wife became the most recent common ancestors of all current European monarchs ...
, and succeeded his father in 1790. He presided over a significant increase in territory for Hesse-Darmstadt during the imperial reorganizations of 1801-1803, most notably the
Duchy of Westphalia, hitherto subject to the
Archbishop of Cologne. Allied to
Napoleon I of France, Louis in 1806 was elevated to the title of a ''Grand Duke of Hesse'' and joined the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...
, leading to the dissolution of the Empire. At the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in 1814/15, Louis had to give up his Westphalian territories, but was compensated with the district of
Rheinhessen
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
on the left bank of the Rhine. Because of this addition, he amended his title to ''Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine''.
Early life
Louis was born on 14 June 1753 as the third child and eldest son of the later Landgrave
Louis IX of Hessen-Darmstadt, and his spouse
Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken
Caroline of the Palatinate-Zweibrücken (Caroline Henriette Christiane Philippine Louise; 9 March 1721 – 30 March 1774) was Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt by marriage to Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt. She was famed as one of the mo ...
, a daughter of
Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
. He was born in the town of
Prenzlau
Prenzlau (, formerly also Prenzlow) is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Uckermark District. It is also the centre of the historic Uckermark region.
Geography
The town is located on the Ucker river, about north of Be ...
in
Brandenburg
Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...
, where his father, who was in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
n military service, was stationed. The children grew up with the mother in the town of
Buchsweiler, which had previously been the residence of the Counts of
Hanau-Lichtenberg
The County of Hanau-Lichtenberg was a territory in the Holy Roman Empire. It emerged between 1456 and 1480 from a part of the County of Hanau and one half of the Barony of Lichtenberg. Following the extinction of the counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg in ...
, while the father stayed mainly in the town of
Pirmasens
Pirmasens (; pfl, Bärmesens (also ''Bermesens'' or ''Bärmasens'')) is an independent town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, near the border with France. It was famous for the manufacture of shoes. The surrounding rural district was called ''Lan ...
to attend his military career. In 1766, when Louis was 13, his mother's court moved from Buchsweiler to Darmstadt. At the death of his grandfather on 17 October 1768, his father succeeded as landgrave, and Louis himself became heir to the landgraviate with the title of
hereditary prince
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...
.
Ludvig studied at the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
from
1769
Events
January–March
* February 2 – Pope Clement XIII dies, the night before preparing an order to dissolve the Jesuits.Denis De Lucca, ''Jesuits and Fortifications: The Contribution of the Jesuits to Military Architecture i ...
and subsequently undertook his
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the principally 17th- to early 19th-century custom of a traditional trip through Europe, with Italy as a key destination, undertaken by upper-class young European men of sufficient means and rank (typically accompanied by a tut ...
to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
. In
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
he met, among others, the French
philosophers
Jean le Rond d'Alembert
Jean-Baptiste le Rond d'Alembert (; ; 16 November 1717 – 29 October 1783) was a French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher, and music theorist. Until 1759 he was, together with Denis Diderot, a co-editor of the '' Encyclopéd ...
and
Denis Diderot
Denis Diderot (; ; 5 October 171331 July 1784) was a French philosopher, art critic, and writer, best known for serving as co-founder, chief editor, and contributor to the '' Encyclopédie'' along with Jean le Rond d'Alembert. He was a promi ...
, who were some of the prominent figures of the
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...
, and
editors of the first modern
encyclopedia. In
1773
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as '' Amazing Grace'', at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Bucki ...
he traveled with the German-born French
writer
A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...
and
critic Friedrich Melchior Grimm to the court of
Frederik the Great in
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
, where his sister
Frederica Louisa was married to the
heir presumptive
An heir presumptive is the person entitled to inherit a throne, peerage, or other hereditary honour, but whose position can be displaced by the birth of an heir apparent or a new heir presumptive with a better claim to the position in question.
...
Frederick William. Finally, he traveled on to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
, where in
1773
Events
January–March
* January 1 – The hymn that becomes known as '' Amazing Grace'', at this time titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17", is first used to accompany a sermon led by curate John Newton in the town of Olney, Bucki ...
he attended the wedding of his second sister
Wilhelmina Louisa in
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
to the heir to the Russian throne,
Grand Duke Paul. As a Russian general Ludwig fought in
1774 in the
Russo-Turkish War
The Russo-Turkish wars (or Ottoman–Russian wars) were a series of twelve wars fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire between the 16th and 20th centuries. It was one of the longest series of military conflicts in European histo ...
, and the same year he became
freemason in the
lodge "To the crowned flag "in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
.
Marriage
In 1776, he became engaged to
Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg
Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of ...
, eldest daughter of
Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg
Friedrich Eugen, Duke of Württemberg (21 January 1732 – 23 December 1797) was the fourth son of Karl Alexander, Duke of Württemberg, and Princess Maria Augusta of Thurn and Taxis (11 August 1706 – 1 February 1756). He was born in Stut ...
. The engagement was broken off so that Sophia Dorothea could marry Louis's recently widowed brother-in-law
Tsarevich Paul Petrovich, son and heir of
Catherine II "the Great", Empress of Russia. He received a monetary compensation when the engagement was broken.
After this humiliating incident, Louis spent the summer at his sister
Louise's court in the
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, where he associated with
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...
. Even after the stay, Louis was in correspondence with the Weimar court and Goethe, and also with
Friedrich von Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...
. Louis married his cousin
Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt, daughter of his uncle
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1722 – 21 June 1782) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt.
He was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenbe ...
, on 19 February 1777 in
Darmstadt. The couple lived alternately in Darmstadt and in ''Fürstenlager Auerbach''. They had six children.
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Louis succeeded as Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt on the death of his father in 1790. He presided over a significant increase in territory for Hesse-Darmstadt during the imperial reorganizations of 1801-1803, most notably the
Duchy of Westphalia, hitherto subject to the
Archbishop of Cologne.
Grand duke of Hesse
Allied to
Napoleon I of France, Louis was elevated to the title of a ''Grand Duke of Hesse'' in 1806 and joined the
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...
, leading to the dissolution of the Empire. At the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in 1814/15, Louis had to give up his
Westphalia
Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants.
The territory of the regio ...
n territories, but was compensated with the district of
Rheinhessen
Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
, with his capital
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
on the left bank of the Rhine. Because of this addition, he amended his title to ''Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine''.
Grand Duke Louis I died at the age of 76 on 6 April 1830 in his capital Darmstadt. He was succeeded as Grand Duke by his eldest son
Louis II.
In 1844, a 33-meter column called ''Langer Ludwig'' (meaning ''Long Louis''), was set up in his commemoration in the middle of the ''Luisenplatz'', the largest square of
Darmstadt.
Marriage and family
On 19 February 1777, Louis married his first cousin,
Princess Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt ( 15 February 1761 – 24 October 1829), a daughter of
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt
Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt (11 July 1722 – 21 June 1782) was a Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was born in Darmstadt.
He was the second son of Landgrave Louis VIII and Charlotte Christine Magdalene Johanna of Hanau-Lichtenbe ...
. Together, they had eight children:
* Louis, later
Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse (26 December 1777 – 16 June 1848). Married his double first cousin
Wilhelmine of Baden and had issue.
* Louise (16 January 1779 – 18 April 1811). Married
Louis of Anhalt-Köthen 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 ( ...
and had issue.
* Ludwig ''Georg'' Karl Friedrich(31 August 1780 – 17 April 1856). Married, morganatically, Caroline Török de Szendrö and had issue.
* ''Friedrich'' August Karl (14 May 1788 – 16 March 1867)
* Stillborn twin daughters (11 May 1789).
*
Emil (3 September 1790 – 30 April 1856)
* Ferdinand ''Gustav'' Wilhelm Friedrich (18 December 1791 – 30 January 1806)
Ancestry
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis I, Grand Duke Of Hesse
1753 births
1830 deaths
People from Prenzlau
House of Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Dukes of Hesse
Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt
Burials at the Mausoleum for the Grand Ducal House of Hesse, Rosenhöhe (Darmstadt)