Moritz
Landgrave of Hesse
Landgrave Moritz at Kronberg Castle in November 2010
Head of the House of Hesse
Tenure25 October 1980 – 23 May 2013
PredecessorPhilipp
SuccessorDonatus
Born(1926-08-06)6 August 1926
Castle of Racconigi, Cuneo, Italy
Died23 May 2013(2013-05-23) (aged 86)
Frankfurt-am-Main, Hesse, Germany
Spouse
Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg
​
​
(m. 1964; div. 1974)​
IssuePrincess Mafalda
Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse
Princess Elena
Prince Philipp
HouseHesse
FatherPhilipp, Landgrave of Hesse
MotherPrincess Mafalda of Savoy

Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse (legally Moritz Friedrich Karl Emanuel Humbert[1] Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen; 6 August 1926 – 23 May 2013)[2] was the son of Prince Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, and the head of the House of Brabant[3] and the German House of Hesse.

Life

Princess Mafalda with her two sons, Moritz and Heinrich in the 1930s.
With Swedish visitors at Kronberg in 2010

Landgrave Moritz was born at Racconigi Castle, in Italy. During the Second World War, Moritz's mother, Princess Mafalda of Savoy, was arrested by the Nazis for alleged subversive activities and died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944 as a result of a U.S. bombing raid on the camp.

Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, the last head of the Hesse-Darmstadt line, died in 1968, at which time Moritz's father succeeded him as head of the entire house. Moritz had been the head of the House of Hesse since the death of his father Philip on 25 October 1980.

Moritz was a world-famous art collector.[4][5] He was also the proprietor of the Kronberg Palace Hotel up until his death.

He died of lung illness in a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany at age 86.

Marriage and children

Moritz married Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, daughter of Prince Gustav Albrecht. Their marriage took place in the summer of 1964 in Giessen and ended in divorce in 1974. They had four children.

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ Burke's Royal Families of the World I; ISBN 0-85011-023-8, p. 208.
  2. ^ Notice of death, in German
  3. ^ Burke's Royal Families of the World ISBN 0-85011-023-8, p. 202.
  4. ^ Dobrzynski, Judith (2005-11-02). "German Princely Treasures Land on These Shores", The New York Times.
  5. ^ Petty, Terrence (2005-12-23). "An adoration of art", St. Petersburg Times.
Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse House of HesseBorn: 6 August 1926 Died: 23 May 2013 Regnal titles Preceded byPrince Philipp of Hesse Head of the House of Hesse 25 October 1980 – 23 May 2013 Succeeded byDonatus, Landgrave of Hesse Titles in pretence Preceded byPhilipp — TITULAR — Grand Duke of Hesse and by RhineElector of Hesse 25 October 1980 – 23 May 2013Reason for succession failure:Grand Duchy abolished in 1918Electorate annexed by Prussia in 1866 Succeeded byDonatus — TITULAR — King of Finland and Karelia 25 October 1980 – 23 May 2013Reason for succession failure:Kingdom abolished in 1918
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