by Scott Mehl © Unofficial Royalty 2019
Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine
Prince Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig of Hesse and by Rhine (known as Lu) was the younger son of Ernst Ludwig, the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine and his second wife Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. He was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine, now in the German state of Hesse, on November 20, 1908. Ludwig was Head of the House of Hesse from 1937 – 1968.
Ludwig had one older brother:
- Georg Donatus “Don”, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (1906 – 1937) – married Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, had issue
Lu also had a half-sister, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (1895-1903), from his father’s first marriage to Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Elisabeth had died from typhoid fever several years before Lu’s birth.
Lu was educated privately at home, along with his brother, before attending and graduating from the Realgymnasium in 1926. He then studied archeology and art history at the universities in Darmstadt, Lausanne, and Munich. After graduating, Lu served as an attaché at the German Embassy in London. During this time, he met his future wife, The Honorable Margaret Geddes, daughter of British diplomat Auckland Campbell Geddes,1st Baron Geddes and Isabella Gamble Ross, while she was on holiday in Bavaria.
Lu and Peg became engaged while attending the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Bavaria. The wedding was planned for Saturday, November 20, 1937 – Lu’s 29th birthday. However, a great tragedy would strike the House of Hesse and by Rhine just days before.
On November 16, 1937, Lu’s family boarded a plane bound for London to attend his wedding. The passengers included Lu’s mother, his brother Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus of Hesse and by Rhine and wife, born Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, and their two sons, as well as the children’s nurse and Baron Joachin Riedesel zu Eisenbach, who was to be Lu’s best man. The plane was scheduled to stop in Brussels, but bad weather forced the pilot to continue on to Ostend instead. While attempting to land, the plane clipped a chimney on a factory near the airport, causing the plane to break apart and crash. All aboard the plane, including the pilot and three crew members, were killed.
After being notified of the tragedy, Lu and Peg, along with their families, decided that the wedding should take place immediately. They married quietly the following morning, November 17, 1937, at St. Peter’s Church, Eaton Square, London. Both wore black, and were joined by just a small group of family and close friends. Guests included The Duke and Duchess of Kent; The Countess of Toerring-Jettenbach; The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven (Lu’s paternal aunt); and the German Ambassador Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Lu, Peg and Johanna c1938
Lu and his new wife traveled to Ostend to identify and accompany the bodies – by train – back to Darmstadt. Waiting for them there was the only other surviving member of the Grand Ducal family, Don and Cecilie’s 14-month-old daughter, Johanna, who had not accompanied her parents on the trip to London. Lu and Peg adopted Johanna, but sadly she contracted meningitis and died shortly before reaching her third birthday.
At just 29 years old, Lu became the Head of the House of Hesse. He inherited Wolfsgarten, which would become his principal residence for the remainder of his life. He was drafted for military service during World War II, but along with other members of former ruling houses, he was released due to the belief that they would be “politically unreliable”. He returned to Wolfsgarten where he was watched carefully, due to his wife’s English background. Following the war, Lu and Peg devoted themselves to rebuilding Darmstadt. They worked to restore the museums, hospitals, and charitable institutions, and Lu co-founded the Institute for New Technical Form, the Council for Shaping, and the Bauhaus Archive. He also designed the German Pavilion for the 1958 World Expo in Brussels. An avid lover of classical music, he promoted the arts and music, including the Ansbach Festival and Aldeburgh Festival.
As he and Peg never had children of their own, in 1960 Lu adopted his distant cousin, Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. Moritz’s father became Head of the House of Hesse upon Lu’s death, and was succeeded by Moritz in 1980, bringing the two branches of the Hesse line together again.
In 1964, he served as godfather for Prince Edward of the United Kingdom, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. The Duke’s sister had been married to Lu’s brother, and Peg had become a close friend of The Queen.
Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine died in Frankfurt, Germany on May 30, 1968. Following his funeral on June 6, 1968, in the Darmstadt Stadtkirche in Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany, he was buried near his parents and family in the Park Rosenhöhe (link in German) in Darmstadt where many members of the Hesse family are buried. He was survived by his wife Peg, who passed away in 1997, and is buried beside him.
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