Christian of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels (17 July 1689 in Wanfried – 21 October 1755 in

Eschwege Eschwege (), the district seat of the Werra-Meißner-Kreis, is a town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. In 1971, the town hosted the eleventh ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location The town lies on a broad plain tract of the river Wer ...

) was a son of Landgrave

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 ''* ...

of Hesse-Wanfried (1649–1711) and his second wife, Countess Alexandrine Juliane of Leiningen-Dagsburg (1651–1703). He was Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried and

Hesse-Rheinfels Hesse-Rheinfels was created as a cadet line of Landgraviate of Hesse, Hesse for Philip II, Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels (1541–1583), landgrave from 1567 until 1583, and as a cadet line of Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Kassel for Ernest, Lan ...

from 1731 until his death.

Early life

As a younger son from his father's second marriage in a Catholic cadet 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 ...

, Christian was originally meant to become a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

. However, in 1710, at the age of 21, he opted for a career in the military. He served in the army of

Hesse-Kassel The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (), spelled Hesse-Cassel during its entire existence, also known as the Hessian Palatinate (), was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The state was created in 1567 when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided upon t ...

, most recently as

Brigadier Brigadier ( ) is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore (rank), commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several t ...

Inheritance dispute

After his father's death in 1711 he took up government in Hesse-Wanfried. His older half-brother, William II, however, appeared in Wanfried in the same year to put forward his own claim to this part of the inheritance. The dispute had to be settled by the Emperor. Christian had to give up the landgraviate. Instead, he received an annual pension of 7500 guilders. He also received Eschwege Castle in

in 1713, after Hesse-Kassel had repaid its debt to the Duke of Brunswick-Bevern. Christian renovated and expanded the neglected castle and added a Catholic chapel. He began calling himself ''Christian of Hesse-Eschwege''. He continued using this name even after he inherited Hesse-Wanfried and

in 1731 from his childless half-brother William II.

Reign

After the death of his childless half-brother William in 1731, Christian succeeded him as Landgrave in 1732 and moved into the residence at Wanfried. He concluded a treaty with his cousin, Landgrave Ernest Leopold of Hesse-Rotenburg to have both parts of the Rotenburg Quarter administered jointly by the chancellery in Rotenburg. He gradually moved his residence back to Eschwege, where he constructed his Princely Stables in 1735. Also in 1735, he sold Rheinfels Castle back to Hesse-Kassel. He was described as "agreeable and well-educated" and was very popular in Eschwege, where he usually resided, and in Wanfried. Although he spent most of his later years in Eschwege, he still frequently visited Wanfried to support the local artisans. In both Eschwege and Wanfried, he commissioned numerous works of art for himself and his court.

Death

Christian died of a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

on 21 October 1755 on the steps of the church in Eschwege. He was buried in the family crypt in the Hülfensberg. His widow moved to Frankfurt, where she died on 11 December 1757. With his death, the Hesse-Wanfried line died out after 88 years. His territory fell to Hesse-Rotenburg.

Marriage

He was engaged to Maria Augusta, the daughter of Prince Anselm Francis of Thurn und Taxis. However, Emperor Charles VI requested a cancellation of the betrothal for political reasons, so that she could marry Duke Charles Alexander 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 Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, the governor of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

, which she did in May 1727. Christian mourned his great love for a long time. He was finally married at the age of 42 to his niece, Countess Maria Franziska of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (1698–1757), the daughter of Count Philipp Karl of Hohenlohe-Bartenstein (1668–1729) and his sister, Landravine Sophia Leopoldine of Hesse-Wanfried (1681–1724). The marriage remained childless.

References

* Reinhold Strauß: ''Chronik der Stadt Wanfried'', Braun, Wanfried, 1908. * ''Chronik von Wanfried 2006'' (unpublished) * Eckhart G. Franz: ''Das Haus Hessen. Eine europäische Familie'', in the series ''Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher'', vol. 606,

Kohlhammer Verlag W. Kohlhammer Verlag GmbH, or Kohlhammer Verlag, is a German publishing house headquartered in Stuttgart. History Kohlhammer Verlag was founded in Stuttgart on 30 April 1866 by . Kohlhammer had taken over the businesses of his late father-in-la ...

, Stuttgart, 2005, {{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels Landgraves of Hesse-Rotenburg House of Hesse 1689 births 1755 deaths 18th-century German people