Chlodwig, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (''Chlodwig Alexis Ernst''; 30 July 1876 – 17 November 1954) was an officer in the Prussian Army and head of the Hesse-Philippsthal line of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Reginar, House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.Burke's Peerage, Bur ...

. As head of the house he was styled ''

His Highness Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly ...

the Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld''.

Early life

Landgrave Chlodwig, the seventh of ten children of Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, was born at

Burgsteinfurt Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Steinfurt (district), district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt. Geography Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münst ...

. He was the only surviving son from his father's second marriage with Princess Juliane of Bentheim and Steinfurt; his only surviving full sibling, Princess Bertha, was married to

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe (''Leopold Julius Bernhard Adalbert Otto Karl Gustav''; 30 May 1871 – 30 December 1949) was the final sovereign of the Principality of Lippe in northwestern Germany from 1905 until his abdication in 1918. Prior t ...

. Although the third son Landgrave Chlodwig became heir to the headship of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld upon the death of his uncle in 1905 due to his elder half brothers Prince Friedrich Wilhelm and Prince Carl Wilhelm von Ardeck's exclusion from the succession on account of their parents

morganatic 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 spous ...

marriage. Landgrave Chlodwig served in the Prussian Army reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. On 26 May 1904 he married Princess Caroline of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, the daughter of Hermann of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich and Countess Agnes of

Stolberg-Wernigerode The County of Stolberg-Wernigerode () was a county of the Holy Roman Empire located in the Harz region around Wernigerode, now part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Stolberg. History The Counts of Wernigerode h ...

, in her home town of

Lich In fantasy fiction, a lich () is a type of undead creature with magical powers. Various works of fantasy fiction, such as Clark Ashton Smith's " The Empire of the Necromancers" (1932), had used ''lich'' as a general term for any corpse, animat ...

. The couple had five children: Wilhelm Ernst Alexis Hermann (1905-1942) who married Princess Marianne of Prussia, Ernst Ludwig (1906-1934), Irene (1907-1980), Alexander Friedrich (1911-1939) and Viktoria Cäcilie (1914-1998).

Landgrave

On 16 August 1905, Chlodwig succeeded his uncle Landgrave Alexis as head of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, giving him a seat in the House of Lords of Prussia. On 22 December 1925 he inherited the assets and headship of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal following the death of Landgrave Ernst. In the early 1930s three of Landgrave Chlodwig's children (Wilhelm, Alexander Friedrich and Viktoria Cäcilie) joined the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. His third son Prince Alexander Friedrich, who suffered from epilepsy, was sterilised by the Nazis on 27 September 1938, he died a year later. The landgrave's eldest son Prince Wilhelm, an SS- Hauptsturmführer, was killed in action during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Landgrave Chlodwig died aged 78 in Bad Hersfeld, he was survived by his wife and daughters, his three sons having predeceased him. His grandson Wilhelm succeeded him as head of the House of Hesse-Philippsthal.

Honours

*Knight of the House Order of the Golden Lion of Hesse, ''21 December 1898'' *Grand Cross of the Order of Ludwig of Hesse, ''14 May 1910'' *Grand Cross of the Princely House Order of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

*Grand Cross of the Order of the Red Eagle of Prussia *Knight of the Order of St. John of Prussia *Grand Cross of the Ducal Saxe-Ernestine House Order *Grand Cross of the Princely House Order of Schaumburg-Lippe *Cross of Merit of Waldeck and Pyrmont

Ancestry

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chlodwig, Landgrave Of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld 1876 births 1954 deaths People from Steinfurt Landgraves of Hesse House of Hesse