George I of Hesse-Darmstadt (10 September 1547 – 7 February 1596) was the

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"), a ...

Hesse-Darmstadt The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (german: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse betwee ...

from 1567 to 1596.

Early life

Born on 10 September 1547 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, he was the fourth son of Philip I the Magnanimous 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 ...

and his wife,

Christine of Saxony Christine of Saxony (25 December 1505 – 15 April 1549) was a German noble, landgravine consort of Hesse by marriage to Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse.Eckhart G. Franz (Hrsg.): Haus Hessen. Biografisches Lexikon. (= Arbeiten der Hessischen Hi ...

Biography

Following his father's death in 1567 Hesse was divided between his four sons. George I received the upper

County of Katzenelnbogen The County of Katzenelnbogen was an immediate state of the Holy Roman Empire. Chatti Melibokus is a very old tribe who stayed on a high hill in the Bergstraße region of Hesse (the part that lies south), in Germany. It existed between 109 ...

and selected

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 ...

as his residence. He died on 7 February 1596 and the Landgraviate was passed to his son

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 ( ...

Marriages and issue

On 17 August 1572, he married Countess

Magdalene of Lippe Magdalena of Lippe (25 February 1552, Detmold – 26 February 1587, Darmstadt) was a German noblewoman. She was a Countess of Lippe by birth. By her marriage to George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt she was the first Landgravine of Hesse-Darmsta ...

(1552–1587). They had 10 children. * Philip William (1576–1576), Hereditary prince *

Louis V Louis V may refer to: * Louis V of France (967–987) * Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor and V of Germany (1282–1347) * Louis V, Duke of Bavaria (1315–1361) * Louis V, Elector Palatine (ruled 1508–1544) * Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (r ...

(1577–1626), Landgrave of

: married in 1598 Princess

Magdalene of Brandenburg Magdalene of Brandenburg, also Magdalene and Magdalen, (7 January 1582 – 4 May 1616) was the daughter of John George, Elector of Brandenburg and his third wife Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst. Issue She married Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Dar ...

(1582–1616) * Christine (1578–1596) : married in 1595 Count Frederick Magnus of Erbach-Fürstenau (1575-1618) * Elisabeth (1579–1655) : married in 1601 Count John Casimir of Nassau-Weilburg-Gleiberg (1577–1602) * Marie Hedwig (1580–1582) * Philip III (1581–1643), Landgrave of Hesse-Butzbach : married firstly, in 1610, Countess Anna Margarethe of

Diepholz Diepholz (; Northern Low Saxon: ''Deefholt'') is a town and capital of the district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the rivers Hunte and Lohne, approximately 45 km northeast of Osnabrück, and 60 km southwest of ...

(1580–1629) : married secondly, in 1632, Countess Christine Sophie of

East Frisia East Frisia or East Friesland (german: Ostfriesland; ; stq, Aastfräislound) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia ...

(1600–1658) * Anna (1583–1631) : married in 1601 Count Albert Otto of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of SolmsSee German article on the '' House of Solms'' or French article '' Maison de Solms. had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach ...

(1576–1610) *

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zoll ...

(1585–1638), Landgrave of

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by the landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt; it was to be ruled by his son, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1668. It was briefly divided into Hesse-Homburg and ...

: married in 1622 Countess Margarethe of Leiningen-Westerburg (1604–1667) * Magdalene (1586–1586) * John (1587–1587) On 25 May 1589, he married Duchess Eleonore of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

(1552–1618). They had 1 child: * Henry (1590–1601).

Ancestors

References

Wikisource: ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'', "Georg I v. Hessen-Darmstadt"
, - 1547 births 1596 deaths Nobility from Kassel Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt {{Germany-noble-stub