Ernst Ludwig v. Hessen 1905

Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm, Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein or Ernest Louis Charles Albert William, Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt and By Rhine (25 November 1868-9 October 1937) reigned as Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt from 1892 until his abdication in 1918. His nickname was Ernie. Image File history File links Ernst_Ludwig_von_Hessen_1905_Foto_Jacob_Hilsdorf. ... Image File history File links Ernst_Ludwig_von_Hessen_1905_Foto_Jacob_Hilsdorf. ... November 25 is the 329th (in leap years the 330th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... October 9 is the 282nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (283rd in Leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt came into existence in 1568, as the portion of George, youngest of the four sons of Landgrave Philipp of Hesse. ... 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

Ernie was the fourth child and eldest son of Grand Duke Ludwig IV and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was an older brother to Alexandra of Hesse, consort of Nicholas II of Russia. Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine Ludwig IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, K.G. (12 September 1837 in Bessungen, now Darmstadt - 13 March 1892 in Darmstadt), the ruler of the small German grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (Hesse and by Rhine), was the husband... Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary), (25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878), was a member of the British Royal Family, the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria. ... Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and Empress of India from 1 January 1877 until her death. ... Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ... Princess Alix of Hesse, as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia (1872-1918) Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Alix of Hesse and by Rhine (Alix Victoria Helena Louise Beatrice, 6 June 1872 - 17 July 1918), was the consort of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the last Tsar of Russia. ... A consort is somebodys spouse, usually a royalty. ... Nicholas II, Tsar of Russia Nicholas II of Russia (18 May 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last crowned Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland. ...

Ernie's early life was shrouded with death. When he was five, his younger brother Friedrich died. The two boys had been playing a game in their mother's bedroom when the younger boy fell through an unlatched window onto the balcony twenty feet below. It was no great distance, and at first, Friedrich seemed only shaken. However, he suffered from hemophilia, and had begun bleeding on the brain. He lapsed into unconsciousness that afternoon and died. Ernie was inconsolable. "When I die, you must die too, and all the others. Why can't we all die together? I don't want to die alone, like Frittie." He told his nurse. To his mother he said, "I dreamt that I was dead and was gone up to Heaven, and there I asked God to let me have Frittie again and he came to me and took my hand." The younger child's grave became a place of regular pilgrimage for the family, causing Ernie become obsessed with thoughts of death and dying alone. Haemophilia or hemophilia is the name of any of several hereditary genetic illnesses that impair the bodys ability to control bleeding. ...

In 1878, an epidemic of diphtheria swept through Darmstadt. All of the children (except Princess Elisabeth, who was sent to stay with relatives) and their father fell ill. Princess Alice cared for her sick husband and children, but on November 15, the youngest of them, Princess May, died. Alice kept the news from her family for several weeks, until Ernie, who was devoted to little May, asked for his sister. Ernie was overcome with grief when his mother revealed May's death. In an effort to comfort her grieving son, Alice kissed him, and within a week, fell ill and soon died, on December 14. Her death was a burden that Ernie bore for the rest of his life. 1878 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna of Russia (Елизавета Фёдоровиа), née Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Elisabeth Alexandra Luise Alice of Hesse-Darmstadt (1 November 1864–18 July 1918), was the wife of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, the fifth son of Emperor Alexander II...

Ernst Ludwig succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in 1892 and married his first cousin, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, ("Ducky") on 19 April 1894, on the encouragement of their mutual grandmother, Queen Victoria, but the marriage was not a happy one. They had two children, a daughter, Elisabeth, born in 1895, who died of typhoid fever at age eight, and a stillborn son, in 1900. 1892 was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Grand Duchess Viktoria Feodorovna of Russia, née Princess Victoria of Edinburgh & Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Victoria Melita) (25 November 1876 - 2 March 1936) was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 1894 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Princess Elisabeth of Hesse (Elisabeth Marie Alice Victoria) (11 March 1895 - 6 November 1903) was the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. ... This is about the disease typhoid fever. ...

Victoria Melita alleged that her husband was a homosexual; "No boy was safe," Ducky said, "from the stable hands to the kitchen help. He slept quite openly with them all." The two were divorced December 21, 1901, on the grounds of "invincible mutual antipathy") by a special verdict of the Supreme Court of Hesse. Homosexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by esthetic attraction, romantic love, or sexual desire exclusively for another of the same sex. ... December 21 is the 355th day of the year (356th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Ernst Ludwig remarried in 1905 to Princess Eleonore of Solms-Braunfels, with whom he had two sons:

• Georg Donatus of Hesse and by Rhine (1906-1937), who married Princess Cecilie of Greece (sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh), and had issue.
• Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (1908-1968). Married Margaret Campbell Geddes, no issue. He adopted HRH Prince Moritz of Hesse-Cassel as heir.

Throughout his life, Ernst Ludwig was as a patron of the arts, founding the Darmstadt Artists' Colony, and was himself an author of poems, plays, essays, and piano compositions. Ernst Ludwig served in the German military during World War I, and was forced to abdicate along with the other German ruling princes at the end of the war in 1918. 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse, was the older sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... The Duke of Edinburgh The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (Philip Mountbatten, formerly Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark) (born 10 June 1921) is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom. ... 1908 (MCMVIII) is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Hesse-Kassel (Hessen-Kassel) was a German principality that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1568 upon the death of Landgrave Philip of Hesse and his eldest son Wilhelm IV inherited the northern portion and established his capital in Kassel. ... // Article Overview Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank crossing a trench, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the battle of the Dardanelles, a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks and a Sopwith Camel biplane. ... Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ...

In October 1937, Ernst Ludwig died at Schloß Wolfsgarten, near Darmstadt in Hesse. Although he had not reigned in Hesse for nearly twenty years he received what amounted to a State funeral on November 16 1937. He was buried in the Rosenhohe, the traditional burial place of the Hesse family. Even after his death, however, his childhood wish to not die alone echoed into the next generation. Shortly after his father's death, Prince Ludwig was to marry Margaret Campbell Geddes in England. His older brother, the Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus, and the rest of the family planned to take a plane from Hesse to England. However, the plane never reached its destination. Georg Donatus, along with his wife, Cecilie, their two young sons, Ludwig and Alexander, his mother Grand Duchess Eleonore, the children's nurse and a family friend died in an accident when their plane crashed near Ostend on their way to his brother's marriage. Cecilie was pregnant with her fourth child at the time of the crash, and the stillborn infant was found among the remains. Their youngest child, Johanna, who was not on the plane, was adopted by her uncle Ludwig, who was to remain childless. The little girl survived her parents and brothers by eighteen months, dying in 1939 of meningitis. Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland (federal state) of Hessen in Germany. ... Hesse is also the name of the German writer Hermann Hesse, as well as the German mathematician Otto Hesse. ... Ostend (Dutch: Oostende, French: Ostende) is a municipality located in Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, and in the Flemish province of West Flanders. ... Meningitis is inflammation of the membranes (meninges) covering the brain and the spinal cord. ...