Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse
Ludwig I of Hesse -Darmstadt ( born June 14, 1753 Prenzlau, † April 6, 1830 in Darmstadt) was initially dated 6 April 1790 when Louis X. reigning Landgrave of Hesse -Darmstadt, with the accession of his country for the Confederation of the Rhine from 14 August 1806 Ludewig I. Grand Duke of Hesse and since July 7, 1816 Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
Life
Hereditary years
Ludwig was the eldest son of the Landgrave Ludwig IX. of Hesse- Darmstadt (1719-1790) and his wife Henriette Karoline (1721-1774), daughter of the Count Palatine and Duke Christian III. of Zweibrücken- Birkenfeld. Ludwig was born in Prenzlau, where his father was stationed in the Prussian service. The children from the mother in Buchsweiler, former residence of the Counts of Hanau- Lichtenberg were educated, while the father was staying mainly in Pirmasens, to devote himself to the life of a soldier.
Ludwig studied from 1769 at Leiden University and undertook his subsequent grand tour to London and Paris. In France he met among others with d' Alemebert and Diderot. With Melchior Grimm in 1773, he traveled on to the Prussian court of Frederick the Great, where his sister was married to the heir to the throne Friederike Friedrich Wilhelm. Finally he took in 1773 at the wedding of his sister Wilhelmine part with the later to become Czar Paul I in St. Petersburg. As a Russian general, he fought in the Russo- Turkish War 1774th In 1776, Louis had become engaged to Princess Sophie Dorothee of Württemberg, but this was determined by Catherine the Great for the wife of Tsarevich Paul, after Ludwig's sister Lucy had died in childbirth.
After this humiliating incident Ludwig spent the summer at Musenhof his sister Louise in Weimar, where he kept company with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Even after Ludwig was in epistolary contact, except the court of Weimar and Goethe and Friedrich Schiller.
Ludwig married on February 19, 1777 in Darmstadt, his cousin Princess Karoline Luise Henriette of Hesse- Darmstadt ( 1761-1829 ), daughter of his uncle Georg Wilhelm of Hesse- Darmstadt. The couple lived alternately in Darmstadt and the state Fürstenlager.
Landgraf Ludwig X of Hesse-Darmstadt
Ludwig's reign is marked by the transition from absolutist to a constitutional system of government in Hesse -Darmstadt. His first decisions were regulations for more freedom of Catholics and Jews in the country.
The wars of revolutionary France Louis lost the left bank of the possessions of the county of Hanau - Lichtenberg. After the capture of Mainz also the residence in Darmstadt itself was threatened and was temporarily vacated by the royal family and the government. Through treaties with England and Holland Hessian troops fought against France, which was completed in 1799 by a declaration of neutrality. By Reichsdeputationshauptschluss 1802/3 Louis was compensated territorial.
Grand Duke Ludwig I of Hesse and by Rhine
With the accession of Louis Confederation of the Rhine on 13 August 1806 he took, actually under the name Ludewig I, the title of Grand Duke of Hesse and was able to once again expand the territory. After the Congress of Vienna and the acquisition of the left bank of the Rhine Hessen he said on July 7, 1816 added to its title and by Rhine.
In June 1814, he approved the request of John Hess to place the moat in Darmstadt dry and set up the Botanical Garden Darmstadt there.
On March 18, 1820, he gave the country a, designed by Karl Ludwig Wilhelm von Grolman constitution after it had arrived in Upper Hesse and Starkenburgring to so-called "wild country days ". The reform efforts by the Prime Minister of Grolman and his successor Karl du Thil were not encouraged by Ludwig, yet approved.
The policy of Louis in the cultural sector was mainly characterized by the opening of the court library, scholarships, promotion of theatrical and musical life and work of Georg Moller, who is also the Court Theatre in Darmstadt newly built and ever Darmstadt a classicist face was ( " Moller- town ").
Progeny
From his marriage Ludwig had the following children:
- Ludwig II (1777-1848), Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
- Luise (1779-1811) ∞ 1800 Prince Ludwig of Anhalt- Köthen ( 1778-1802 )
- Georg (1780-1856)
- Friedrich (1788-1867)
- Emil (1790-1856)
- Gustav (1791-1806)
Reception
After Louis the Rheinhessen place Ludwigshoehe is named, which was rebuilt after a relocation 1822-1830, and Ludwig street in the capital of the province granted him Rheinhessen, Mainz. The Hessendenkmal Finthen recalls his participation in the siege of Mainz ( 1793).