House of Hesse

The House of Hesse is a European

Originally the western part of the Landgraviate of Thuringia, in the mid 13th century, it was inherited by the younger son of Henry II, Duke of Brabant, and became a distinct political entity. From the late 16th century, it was generally divided into several branches, the most important of which were those of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) and Hesse-Darmstadt.

In the early 19th century, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel was elevated to Elector of Hesse (1803), while the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt became the Grand Duke of Hesse (1806), later the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine. The Electorate of Hesse (Hesse-Kassel) was annexed by Prussia in 1866, while the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt) remained a sovereign realm until the end of the German monarchies in 1918.

Since 23 May 2013, the head of the house has been Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse. He descends from the Hesse-Kassel branch of the family, which has been the genealogically senior male line since the house's major partition in 1567. He is married to Countess Floria-Franziska of Faber-Castell.^[3] They have three children together.

Links

• Rulers of Hesse
• Faber-Castell family

Branches

Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, died in 1567. Hesse was then divided between his four sons, thus four main branches arose: Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Marburg, Hesse-Rheinfels and Hesse-Darmstadt.

• House of Brabant
  • Hesse (1264–1567)
    • Hesse-Kassel (1567–1866), became Electorate of Hesse in 1803
      • Hesse-Rotenburg (1627–1834)
      • Hesse-Wanfried (1627–1755)
      • Hesse-Rheinfels (1627–1754)
      • Hesse-Eschwege (1632-1657)
      • Hesse-Philippsthal
        (1685-1866)
        • Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld
          (1721–1866)
      • Hanau-Schaumburg (1831/1853, morganatic line)
    • Hesse-Marburg (1567, divided in 1604 between Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel)
    • Hesse-Rheinfels (1567, divided in 1583 between Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Marburg)
    • Hesse-Darmstadt (1567–1918), became Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1806
      • Hesse-Butzbach (1609–1642)
      • Hesse-Braubach (1609–1651)
      • Hesse-Homburg (1622–1866)
      • Hesse-Itter (1661–1676)
      • Mountbatten
        since 1917)

The

Hesse-Kassel and its junior lines were annexed by Prussia in 1866. Hesse-Darmstadt became the People's State of Hesse when the monarchy was abolished in 1918. Hesse-Philippsthal died out in the male line in 1925, and Hesse-Darmstadt in 1968. The male-line heirs of Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld continue to exist to the present day.^[1]

Family tree

See also

• List of rulers of Hesse

References

External links

• Media related to House of Hesse at Wikimedia Commons