Prince Christoph Ernst August of Hesse (14 May 1901 – 7 October 1943) was a nephew of

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and List of monarchs of Prussia, King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication on 9 ...

. He was an SS-Oberführer in the

Allgemeine SS The ''Allgemeine SS'' (; "General SS") was a major branch of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany; it was managed by the SS Main Office (''SS-Hauptamt''). The ''Allgemeine SS'' was officially established in the autum ...

and an officer in the Luftwaffe Reserve, killed on active duty in a plane crash 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. His brother-in-law,

Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, fought on the British side and married the future

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

after the war.

Birth

Prince Christoph of Hesse was born in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, the fifth son of

Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (german: Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel; fi, Fredrik Kaarle; 1 May 1868 – 28 May 1940), was the brother-in-law of the German Empe ...

and

Princess Margaret of Prussia English: Margaret Beatrice Feodora , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , birth_date = , birth_place = New Palace, Potsdam, Prussia, German Empire , d ...

. His father, Frederick Charles, a scion of the House of Hesse, was elected

King of Finland This is a list of monarchs and heads of state of Finland; that is, the kings of Sweden with regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union, the grand dukes of Finland, a title used by most Swedish monarchs, up to the two-year regency following the inde ...

in 1918, when

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 ...

declared its independence after the collapse of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. However, the overwhelming

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

victories in the 1919 Finnish parliamentary election effectively ended any ambitions for a Finnish monarchy. Christoph's mother was the daughter of Emperor Frederick III and of

Victoria, Princess Royal Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa; 21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901) was German Empress and Queen of Prussia as the wife of German Emperor Frederick III. She was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingd ...

. Prince Christoph was thus a great-grandson of

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 ...

and

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

. Christoph had several brothers, including Prince Philipp and Prince Wolfgang. His two eldest brothers, Friedrich Wilhelm and Maximilian, both died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Career

Prince Christoph was a director in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

's Ministry of Air Forces, Commander of the Air Reserves, and held the rank of ''

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

'' in the '' SS''. His brother Prince Philipp joined Hitler's SA. They were not the only family members to embrace

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

; their mother "Mossy" (a sister of Kaiser Wilhelm II) invited

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

to tea and flew the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

from her home at Schloss Kronberg. According to the historian

Hugo Vickers Hugo Ralph Vickers DL (born 12 November 1951) is an English writer and broadcaster. Early life The son of Ralph Cecil Vickers, M.C., a stockbroker, senior partner in the firm of Vickers, da Costa, by his marriage in 1950 to Dulcie Metcalf, ...

, Prince Christoph became "disenchanted" with the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

by the time of the assassination of

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

in 1942. He told his mother: "The death of a certain dangerous and cruel man is the best news I had in a long time."Landgravine Margaret of Hesse-Kassel, June 1942. (Archives of Hessische Hausstiftung, Schloss Fasanerie, Eichenzell). Vickers, Hugo. ''Alice: Princess Andrew of Greece''. St. Martin's Press. Kindle Edition. Prince Christoph served in the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

Research Office and, in 1942, he joined the staff of a fighter unit,

Jagdgeschwader 53 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 (JG 53) was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II. It operated in Western Europe and in the Mediterranean. ''Jagdgeschwader'' 53 - or as it was better known, the "Pik As" ''(Ace of Spades)'' Geschwader - was one of th ...

. He was based primarily in Tunisia and Sicily, with missions to Malta. After the

Allied Invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. The operation was undertaken by General (Unit ...

, Christoph was recalled to Germany, but was killed during his return. On 7 October 1943, his plane, a Siebel 104, collided with a hill in the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

near

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

, Italy. His body and the body of his copilot were found two days later and were buried on the site.

Family

Christoph married his second cousin, once removed

Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark ( el, Σοφία, translit=Sofía; 26 June 1914 – 24 November 2001) was by birth a List of princesses of Greece, Greek and List of princesses of Denmark, Danish princess, as well as Electorate of Hesse, Pri ...

on 15 December 1930 in

Kronberg im Taunus Kronberg im Taunus is a town in the Hochtaunuskreis district, Hesse, Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Before 1866, it was in the Duchy of Nassau; in that year the whole Duchy was ab ...

, Germany. Princess Sophie was the youngest daughter of

Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark ( el, Ανδρέας; da, Andreas; – 3 December 1944) of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was the seventh child and fourth son of King George I of Greece and Olga Constantino ...

and

Princess Alice of Battenberg Princess Alice of Battenberg (Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie; 25 February 1885 – 5 December 1969) was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, mother-in-law of Queen Elizabeth II, and the paternal grandmother of King Charles III ...

, and the sister of the future

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

. The couple had five children:Montgomery-Massingberd, Hugh (editor). ''Burke's Guide to the Royal Family'', Burke's Peerage, London, 1973, pp. 284-285 Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, Fürstliche Häuser XVIIII. "Haus Hessen". C.A. Starke Verlag, 2007, pp. 34-35. (German). . * Princess ''Christina'' Margarethe of Hesse (10 January 1933 – 22 November 2011), married

Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia Prince Andrew of Yugoslavia ( sr-cyr, Андреј Карађорђевић; 28 June 1929 – 7 May 1990) was the youngest child of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia and Maria of Yugoslavia. Personal life In 1934, when he was only five, Prince An ...

(1929–1990) on 2 August 1956 and divorced in London in 1962. They had two children and two granddaughters. She remarried Robert Floris van Eyck (1916–1991) on 3 December 1962 and had two further children and two granddaughters. *Princess ''Dorothea'' Charlotte Karin of Hesse (24 July 1934) married Prince ''Friedrich Karl'' zu

Windisch-Grätz The House of Windisch-Graetz, also spelled Windisch-Grätz, is an Austrian-Slovenian aristocratic family, descending from Windischgraz in Lower Styria (present-day Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia). The noble dynasty serving the House of Habsburg achieve ...

(7 July 1917 – 29 May 2002) on 31 March 1959 and had two daughters, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. *Prince ''Karl'' Adolf Andreas of Hesse (26 March 1937 – 23 March 2022) married Countess ''Yvonne'' Margit Valerie Szapáry von Muraszombath, Széchysziget und Szapár (born 4 April 1944 in Budapest) on 26 March 1966 and had two children. *Prince ''Rainer'' Christoph Friedrich of Hesse (born 18 November 1939), unmarried and without issue. *Princess ''Clarissa'' Alice of Hesse (born 6 February 1944) married Jean-Claude Derrien (born 12 March 1948) on 20 July 1971 and was divorced in 1976. She has a daughter.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christoph Of Hesse, Prince 1901 births 1943 deaths German military personnel killed in World War II House of Hesse-Kassel Military personnel from Frankfurt Princes of Hesse Royalty in the Nazi Party SS-Oberführer German twins Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Italy Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1943 Waffen-SS personnel