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HESSE

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 413 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HESSE . HESSE-See also:

DARMSTADT, a See also:grand-duchy in See also:Germany, the See also:history of which begins with the See also:partition of Hesse in r 567. See also:George I. (1547-1597), the youngest son of the See also:landgrave See also:Philip, received the upper See also:county of Katzenelnbogen, and, selecting Darmstadt as his See also:residence, became the founder of the Hesse-Darmstadt See also:line. Additions to the landgraviate were made both in the reigns of George and of his son and successor, See also:Louis V. (1577-'626), but in 1622 Hesse-Homburg was cut off to See also:form an apanage for George's youngest son, See also:Frederick (d. 1638). Although Louis V., who founded the university of See also:Giessen in 1607, was a Lutheran, he and his son, George II. (x6o5-166r), sided with the imperialists in the See also:Thirty Years' See also:War, during which Hesse-Darmstadt suffered very severely from the ravages of the Swedes. In this struggle Hesse-See also:Cassel took the other See also:side, and the rivalry between the two landgraviates was increased by a dispute over Hesse-See also:Marburg, the ruling See also:family of which had become See also:extinct in 1604. This See also:quarrel was interwoven with the See also:general See also:thread of the Thirty Years' War, and was not finally settled until 1648, when the disputed territory was divided between the two claim-ants. Louis VI.

(d. 1678), a careful and patriotic See also:

prince, followed the policy of the three previous landgraves, but the anxiety of his son, Ernest Louis (d. 1739), to emulate the See also:French See also:court under Louis XIV. led his See also:country into See also:debt. Under Ernest Louis and his son and successor, Louis VIII. (d. 1768), another dispute occurred between Darmstadt and Cassel; this See also:time it was over the See also:succession to the county of See also:Hanau, which was eventually divided, Hesse-Darmstadt receiving See also:Lichtenberg. During the 18th See also:century the War of the See also:Austrian Succession and the Seven Years' War dealt heavy blows at the prosperity of the landgraviate, which was always loyal to the See also:house of See also:Austria. Louis IX. (1719-179o): who served in the Prussian See also:army under Frederick the See also:Great, is chiefly famous as the See also:husband of See also:Caroline (1721-1774), " the great landgravine," who counted See also:Goethe, See also:Herder and See also:Grimm among her See also:friends and was described by Frederick the Great as femina sexu, ingenio See also:Dir. In See also:April 1790, just after the outbreak of the French Revolution, Louis X. (1753-1830), an educated prince who shared the tastes and friendships of his See also:mother, Caroline, became landgrave. In 1992 he joined the See also:allies against See also:France, but in 1799 he was compelled to sign a treaty of See also:neutrality.

In 2803, having formally surrendered the See also:

part of Hesse on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine which had been taken from him in the See also:early days of the Revolution, Louis received in return a much larger See also:district which had formerly belonged to the duchy of See also:Westphalia, the electorate of See also:Mainz and the bishopric of See also:Worms. In 18o6, being a member of the See also:confederation of the Rhine, he took the See also:title of Louis I., grand-See also:duke of Hesse; he supported See also:Napoleon with troops from 2805 to 1813, but after the See also:battle of See also:Leipzig he joined the allies. In 1815 the See also:congress of See also:Vienna made another See also:change in the See also:area and boundaries of Hesse-Darmstadt. Louis secured again a district on the left bank of the Rhine, including the cities of Mainz and Worms, but he made cessions of territory to See also:Prussia and to See also:Bavaria and he recognized the See also:independence of Hesse-Homburg, which had recently been incorporated with his lands. However, his title of grand-duke was confirmed, and as grand-duke of Hesse and of the Rhine he entered the Germanic See also:con-federation. Soon the growing See also:desire for See also:liberty made itself See also:felt in Hesse, and in 182o Louis gave a constitution to the See also:land; various forms were carried through; the See also:system of See also:government was reorganized, and in 2828 Hesse-Darmstadt joined the Prussian See also:Zollverein. Louis I., who did a great See also:deal for the welfare of his country, died on the 6th of April 183o, and was followed on the See also:throne by his son, Louis II. (1777-1848). This grand-duke had some trouble with his Landtag, but, dying on the 16th of See also:June 1848, he left his son, Louis III. (1806-1877), to meet the fury of the revolutionary See also:year 1848. Many conces- sions were made to the popular will, but during the subsequent reaction these were withdrawn, and the See also:period between 185o and 1871, when Karl See also:Friedrich Reinhard, Freiherr von Dalwigk (1802-188o), was chiefly responsible for the government of Hesse- Darmstadt, was one of repression, although some benefits were conferred upon the See also:people. Dalwigk was one of Prussia'senemies, and during the war of i866 the grand-duke fought on the Austrian side, the result being that he was compelled to pay a heavy See also:indemnity and to cede certain districts, including Hesse-Homburg, which he had only just acquired, to Prussia.

In 1867 Louis entered the See also:

North See also:German Confederation, but only for his lands north of the See also:Main, and in 1871 Hesse-Darmstadt became one of the states of the new German See also:empire. After the withdrawal of Dalwigk from public See also:life at this time a more liberal policy was adopted in Hesse. Many reforms in ecclesiastical, educational, See also:financial and administrative matters were introduced, and in general the grand-duchy may be said to have passed largely under the See also:influence of Prussia, which, by an arrangement made in 1896, controls the See also:Hessian railway system. The constitution of 1820, subject to four subsequent modifications, is still the See also:law of the land, the legislative See also:power being vested in two See also:chambers and the executive power being exercised by the three departments of the See also:ministry of See also:state. Since the See also:annexation of Hesse-Cassel by Prussia in 1866 the grand-duchy has been known simply as Hesse. Louis III. died on the 13th of June 1877, and was succeeded by his See also:nephew, Louis IV. (1837-1892), a son-in-law of See also:Queen See also:Victoria; he died on the 13th of See also:March 1892, and was succeeded by his son, Ernest Louis (b. 1868). This grand-duke's See also:marriage with Victoria (b. 1876), daughter of See also:Alfred, duke of See also:Saxe-See also:Coburg and See also:Gotha, was dissolved in 1901. The See also:union was childless, and consequently in 1902 a law regulating the succession was passed. By this the landgrave See also:Alexander Frederick (b.

1863), the representative of the family which ruled Hesse-Cassel until 1866, was declared the See also:

heir to Hesse in See also:case the grand-duke died without sons. However, in 1905 Ernest Louis married Elenore, princess of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (b. 1871), by whom he had a son George (b. 1906). See L. See also:Baur, Urkunden zur hessischen See also:Landes-, Orts- and Familiengeschichte (Darmstadt, 1846–1873) ; See also:Steiner, Geschichte See also:des Grossherzogtums Hessen (Darmstadt, 1833–1834) ; See also:Klein, Das Grossherzogtum Hessen (Mainz, 1861); See also:Ewald, Historische Ubersicht der Territorialver¢nderungen der Landgrafschaft Hessen and des Grossherzogtums Hessen (Darmstadt, 1872); F. Soldan, Geschichte des Grossherzogtums Hessen (Giessen, 1896) ; H. Heppe, Kirchengeschichte beider Hessen (Marburg, 1876-1878) ; C. Hessler, Geschichte von Hessen (Cassel, 1891), and Hessische Landes- and Volkskunde (Marburg, 1904–1906); F. Kuchler, A. E. Braun and A.

K. See also:

Weber, Verf assungs- und Verwaltungsrecht des Grossherzogtums Hessen (Darmstadt, 1894–1897) ; H. Kiinzel, Grossherzogtum Hessen (Giessen, 1893) ; and W. See also:Zeller, Handbuch der Verfassung and Verwaltung ins Grossherzogtum Hessen (Darmstadt, 1885–1893). See also Archiv See also:fur hessische Geschichte and Altertumskunde (Darmstadt, 1894 fol.) and Hessisches Urkundenbuch (Leipzig, 1879 fol.). HESSE-HOMBURG, formerly a small landgraviate in Germany. It consisted of two parts, the district of Homburg on the right side of the Rhine, and the district of Meisenheim, which was added in 1815, on the left side of the same See also:river. Its area was about See also:loo sq. m., and its See also:population in 1864 was 27,374. Homburg now forms part of the Prussian See also:province of Hesse-See also:Nassau, and Meisenheim of the province of the Rhine. Hesse-Homburg was formed into a See also:separate landgraviate in 1622 by Frederick I. (d. 1638), son of George I., landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, although it did not become See also:independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1768.

By two of Frederick's sons it was divided into Hesse-Homburg and Hesse-Homburg-Bingenheim; but these parts were again See also:

united in 1681 under the See also:rule of Frederick's third son, Frederick II. (d. 1708). In 18o6, during the See also:long reign of the landgrave Frederick V., which extended from 1751 to 182o, Hesse-Homburg was mediatized, and incorporated with Hesse-Darmstadt; but in 1815 by the congress of Vienna the latter state was compelled to recognize the independence of Hesse-Homburg, which was increased by the addition of Meisenheim. Frederick V. joined the German confederation as a See also:sovereign prince in 1817, and after his See also:death his five sons in succession filled the throne. The last of these, See also:Ferdinand, who succeeded in 1848, granted a liberal constitution to his people, but cancelled it during the reaction of 1852. When he died on the 24th of March 1866, Hesse-Homburg was inherited by Louis III., grand-duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, while Meisenheim See also:fell to Prussia. In the following See also:September, however, Louis was forced to cede his new See also:possession to Prussia, as he had supported Austria during the war between these two See also:powers. See R. Schwartz, Landgraf Friedrich V. von Hessen-Homburg and See also:seine Familie (1878); and von Herget, Das landgrafliche Haus Homburg (Homburg, 1903). HESSE-NASSAU (Ger. Hessen-Nassau), a province of Prussia, bounded, from N. to E., S. and W., successively by Westphalia, Waldeck, See also:Hanover, the province of See also:Saxony, the Thuringian States, Bavaria, Hesse and the Rhine Province.

There .are small detached portions in Waldeck, Thuringia, &c.; on the other See also:

hand the province enclaves the province of Oberhessen belonging to the grand-duchy of Hesse, and the circle of See also:Wetzlar belonging to the Rhine Province. Hesse-Nassau was formed in 1867-1868 out of the territories which accrued to Prussia after the war of 1866, namely, the landgraviate of Hesse-Cassel and the duchy of Nassau, in addition to the greater part of the territory of See also:Frankfort-on-Main, parts of the grand-duchy of Hesse, the territory of Homburg and the countship of Hesse-Homburg, together with certain small districts which belonged to Bavaria. It is now divided into the governments of Cassel and See also:Wiesbaden, the second of which consists mainly of the former territory of Nassau (q.v.). The province has an area of 6062 sq. m., and had a population in 1905 of 2,070,052, being the See also:fourth most densely populated province in Prussia, after See also:Berlin, the Rhine Province and Westphalia. The See also:east and north parts See also:lie in the See also:basin of the river See also:Fulda, which near the north-eastern boundary joins with the Werra to form the See also:Weser. The Main forms part of the See also:southern boundary, and the Rhine the See also:south-western; the western part of the province lies mostly in the basin of the See also:Lahn, a tributary of the Rhine. The province is generally hilly, the highest hills occurring in the east and See also:west. The Fulda rises in the Wasserkuppe (3117 ft.), an See also:eminence of the Rhongebirge, the highest in the province. In the south-west are the See also:Taunus, bordering the Main, and the Westerwald, west of the Lahn, in which the highest points respectively are the Grosser Feldberg (2887 ft.) and the Fuchskauten (2155 ft.). The congeries of small See also:groups of See also:lower hills in the north are known as the Hessische Bergland. The province is not notably well suited to See also:agriculture, but in forests it is the richest in Prussia, and the See also:timber See also:trade is large. The See also:chief trees are See also:beech, See also:oak and conifers.

See also:

Cattle-breeding is extensively practised. The See also:vine is cultivated chiefly on the slopes of the Taunus, in the south-west, where the names of several towns are well known for their wines—Schierstein, See also:Erbach (Marcobrunner), See also:Johannisberg, Geisenheim, Riidesheim, See also:Assmannshausen. See also:Iron, See also:coal, See also:copper and See also:manganese are See also:mined. The See also:mineral springs are important, including those at Wiesbaden, Homburg, Langenschwalbach, Nenndorf, See also:Schlangenbad and See also:Soden. The chief manufacturing centres are Cassel, See also:Diez, See also:Eschwege, Frankfort, Fulda, See also:Gross Almerode, Hanau and See also:Hersfeld. The province is divided for See also:administration into 42 circles (Kreise), 24 in the government of Cassel and 18 in that of Wiesbaden. It returns 14 representatives to the Reichstag. Marburg is the seat of a university. HESSE-ROTENBURO, a German landgraviate which was broken up in 1834. In 1627 Ernest (1623-1693), a younger son of See also:Maurice, landgrave of Hesse-Cassel (d. 1632), received Rheinsfels and lower Katzenelnbogen as his See also:inheritance, and some years later, on the deaths of two of his See also:brothers, he added Eschwege, Rotenburg, Wanfried and other districts to his possessions. Ernest, who was a convert to the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church, was a great traveller and a voluminous writer.

About 1700 his two sons, See also:

William (d. 1725) and See also:Charles (d. 1711), divided their territories, and founded the families of Hesse-Rotenburg and Hesse-Wanfried. The latter family died out in 1755, when William's See also:grandson, See also:Constantine (d. 1778), reunited the lands except Rheinfels, which had been acquired by Hesse-Cassel in 1735, and ruled them as landgrave of Hesse-Rotenburg. At the See also:peace of See also:Luneville in 18or the part of the landgraviate on the left bank of the Rhine was surrendered to France, and in 1815 other parts were ceded to Prussia, the landgrave See also:Victor Amadeus being compensated by the See also:abbey of See also:Corvey and the Silesian duchy of See also:Ratibor. Victor was the last male member of his family, so, with the consent of Prussia, he bequeathed his allodial estates to his nephews the princes Victor and Chlodwig of See also:Hohenlohe-See also:Waldenburg-Schillingsfiirst (see HOHENLOHE). When the landgrave died on the 12th of See also:November 1834 the remaining parts of Hesse-Rotenburg were united with Hesse-Cassel according to the arrangement of 1627. It may be noted that Hesse-Rotenburg was never completely independent of Hesse-Cassel. Perhaps the most celebrated member of this family was Charles Constantine (1752-1821), a younger son of the landgrave Constantine, who was called " citoyen Hesse," and who took part in the French Revolution.

End of Article: HESSE

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