Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
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Louis | |||||
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Prince of Hesse and by Rhine | |||||
Born | Darmstadt, German Empire | 20 November 1908||||
Died | 20 May 1968 Frankfurt, West Germany | (aged 59)||||
Burial | 6 June 1968 | ||||
Spouse | |||||
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House | Hesse-Darmstadt | ||||
Father | Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse | ||||
Mother | Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich |
Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine (Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig, 20 November 1908 – 30 May 1968) was the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse by his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.
He succeeded his brother Georg Donatus as the titular Grand Duke of Hesse after his death. He married Margaret Campbell Geddes, daughter of Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes in 1937, on the day after the Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash, in which his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews were all killed on the way to the wedding. They had no issue, although, after the death of his older brother, he adopted his niece, Johanna (b. 1936), but the little girl died in 1939.
In 1964, he stood as godfather to Prince Edward. In 1960, Prince Louis adopted his distant cousin, Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. With the death of Prince Louis in Frankfurt in 1968, he was succeeded by Moritz's father, Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1980) as head of the house. Moritz (d. 2013) in turn was succeeded by his son, Donatus (b. 1966).
He introduced the British composer Benjamin Britten (1913–76) to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843). Britten dedicated his 1958 song cycle Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente to the Prince.[1]
Ancestry[]
showAncestors of Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine |
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References[]
- ^ Carpenter, Humphrey (1992). Benjamin Britten: A Biography. London: Faber and Faber. p. 388. ISBN 0-571-14324-5.
- 1908 births
- 1968 deaths
- House of Hesse-Darmstadt