Philip August Frederick (11 March 1779 – 15 December 1846) was Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg from 19 January 1839 until his death. He was a

field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

in the imperial

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n army.

Life

He was the third son of

Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg Frederick V Louis William Christian, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (30 January 1748, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe – 20 January 1820, Bad Homburg vor der Höhe) was from 1751 to his death landgrave of Hesse-Homburg. He was born under Europe's An ...

, and his wife Caroline. Landgravine Caroline was a daughter of

Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt Louis IX of Hesse-Darmstadt () (15 December 1719 – 6 April 1790) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1768 to 1790. Overview Louis IX was a son of Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg and Müntzen ...

, and

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 m ...

, who had received the nickname ''the Great Landgravine'' from

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on literary, political, and philosoph ...

. In 1829, Great Britain proposed to make Philip King of newly independent

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Russia supported this proposal, however, France opposed it. On 3 February 1830, the great powers settled on Prince Otto of Bavaria, who became the first modern King of Greece as

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), known as Otto the Great ( ) or Otto of Saxony ( ), was East Francia, East Frankish (Kingdom of Germany, German) king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the eldest son o ...

in 1832. He died on 1 December 1846 and was buried in the crypt of Bad Homburg Castle.

Military career

In 1794, he joined the ''Hesse-Darmstadt''

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military unit, military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute ...

, which was stationed in the Netherlands. He held the rank of captain and was taken prisoner by the French. He was released ten months later, after his relatives had bought his freedom. In 1796, he joined the Austrian army. He took part in the campaigns of 1798, 1799 and 1800. After the

Treaty of Lunéville The Treaty of Lunéville (or Peace of Lunéville) was signed in the Treaty House of Lunéville on 9 February 1801. The signatory parties were the French Republic and Emperor Francis II, who signed on his own behalf as ruler of the hereditary do ...

, he was stationed in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. In 1805, he was promoted, first to lieutenant colonel, then to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

and was appointed commander of the Infantry Regiment No. 2 ''Archduke Ferdinand''. He fought under

Archduke Charles Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Lawrence of Austria, Duke of Teschen (; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian Empire, Austrian field marshal, the third son of Emperor Leopold II and his wife, Maria Luisa of Spain. He was also the youn ...

in the Battle of Caldiero in 1805 and in the battles of Battle of Landshut and Eckmühl. After the

Battle of Aspern-Essling In the Battle of Aspern-Essling (21–22 May 1809), Napoleon crossed the Danube near Vienna, but the French and their allies were attacked and forced back across the river by the Austrians under Archduke Charles. It was the first time Napoleo ...

, he was promoted to major general on the battlefield, for his outstanding performance. He was injured during the

Battle of Wagram The Battle of Wagram (; 5–6 July 1809) was a military engagement of the Napoleonic Wars that ended in a costly but decisive victory for Emperor of the French, Emperor Napoleon's French and allied army against the Austrian Empire, Austrian arm ...

and subsequently received the

Military Order of Maria Theresa The Military Order of Maria Theresa (; ; ; ; ; ) was the highest military honour of the Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire. History Founded on 18 June 1757, the day of the Battle of Kolín, by the Empress Mari ...

. He was transferred to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and his brigade was part of an

army corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered Gener ...

led by

Karl Philipp, Prince of Schwarzenberg Karl Philipp, Fürst zu House of Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg (or Charles Philip, Prince of Schwarzenberg; 18/19 April 1771 – 15 October 1820) was an Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Generalissimo and former Field Marshal. He first entered milita ...

. In 1813, he was promoted to

Feldmarschallleutnant Lieutenant field marshal, also frequently historically field marshal lieutenant (, formerly , historically also and, in official Imperial and Royal Austrian army documents from 1867 always , abbreviated ''FML''), was a senior army rank in certai ...

and fought in the battles of

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Kulm and Lindenau. He briefly served as

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of the

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself. Histo ...

and the

Principality of Isenburg The County of Isenburg was a region of Germany located in southern present-day Hesse, located in territories north and south of Frankfurt. The states of Isenburg emerged from the Niederlahngau (located in the Rhineland-Palatinate), which partitio ...

. In February 1814, he assumed command of the 6th German army corps and marched into

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

on 22 March. In 1818 and 1820, he travelled to Russia and England, to carry out diplomatic missions. In 1821, during the early revolutionary of the

Risorgimento The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of ...

, he was sent to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

as commander of an Austrian division, and was then appointed governor of Naples. In 1825, he was transferred to

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

, in 1827 to Lviv and in 1829 back to Graz. In 1832, he was promoted to

Feldzeugmeister General of the Artillery () was a historical military rank in some German and Austro-Hungarian armies, specifically in artillery. It was commonly used in the 16th and 17th centuries, and survived until the beginning of the 20th century in some Euro ...

. On 28 November 1846, shortly before his death, he was promoted to

. This was the highest rank ever achieved by members 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 ...

Reign

In 1839, his elder brother Louis William died in Philip inherited

Hesse-Homburg Hesse-Homburg was a state of the Holy Roman Empire and a sovereign member of the German Confederation, which consisted of the lordship of Homburg at the foot of the Taunus, which was then known as ''Die Höhe'' ("the Heights"). The reigning princ ...

. In 1840, Philip was appointed as governor of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

; he left the government of his principality to his younger brother

Gustav Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

. The two major events of his reign were: * A lease agreement was closed with the brothers

François François () is a French language, French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis (given name), Francis. People with the given name * François Amoudruz (1926–2020), French resistance fighter * Voltaire, Fran ...

(1806-1877) and Louis Blanc (1806-1852) to operate a

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

in Bad Homburg * In December 1844, the citizens of the landgraviate demanded a

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

— this can be seen as a precursor to the

revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. Philip considered the proposed constitution, however, he eventually rejected the proposal. Since Philip had no children,

inherited Hesse-Homburg in 1846.

Marriage

In 1838, Philip married

morganatically 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 spouse ...

with Rosalie Antonie, Baroness Schimmelpfennig von der Oye, née Pototschnig. Elector William II of Hesse-Kassel elevated her to Countess of Naumburg (after Naumburg Castle, in modern

Nidderau Nidderau (, ) is a town in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated approximately 12 km north of Hanau, and 20 km northeast of Frankfurt. Nidderau was created in the merger of the municipality of Heldenbergen with the t ...

). Philip's relatives nevertheless rejected her, on the grounds that she was not a member of the

high nobility Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to anothe ...

. The marriage remained childless. His wife died on 21 February 1845; he survived her by nearly a year and a half. She was buried in the crypt of Bad Homburg Castle, where Philip would later be buried as well.

Ancestry

References

* Ismene Deter: ''»Der verhinderte Monarch« Prinz Philipp von Hessen und der griechische Thron'', in: ''Aus dem Stadtarchiv — Vorträge zur Bad Homburger Geschichte'', 2003/2004, * Friedrich Lotz: ''Geschichte der Stadt Bad Homburg vor der Höhe'', vol. II, Frankfurt, 1964 * Fried Lübbecke: ''Kleines Vaterland: Homburg vor der Höhe'', Kramer, Frankfurt, 1964 * Herbert Rosendorfer: ''Der Prinz von Homburg: Biographie'', Munich, 1991 * * Karl Schwartz: ''Landgraf Friedrich V. von Hessen-Homburg und seine Familie. Aus Archivalien und Familienpapieren'', Rudolstadt, 1878 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hesse Homburg Philip Landgrave Of Landgraves of Hesse

Philip Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Macedonian Old Koine language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominen ...

Austrian generals Recipients of the Order of St. Anna Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Austrian Empire commanders of the Napoleonic Wars 1779 births 1846 deaths 19th-century German people 18th-century German nobility