Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (17 February 1781 – 8 September 1848) was landgrave of the German state of Hesse-Homburg from 1846 to 1848.

Gustav
Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Reign1846–1848
PredecessorPhilip
SuccessorFerdinand
Born(1781-02-17)17 February 1781
Died8 September 1848(1848-09-08) (aged 67)
SpousePrincess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau
IssueCaroline, Princess Reuss of Greiz
Princess Elisabeth
Prince Frederick
Full name
German: Gustav Adolph Friedrich
HouseHesse
FatherFrederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
MotherLandgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt

Early life

On 17 February 1781, Gustav was born the fourth son of Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and his wife, Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt.[1][2] Gustav joined the Swedish army in service of his godfather King Gustav III, but left soon after in favour of an Austrian regiment. The prince saw action in the early 19th-century battles of Nördlingen, Hohenlinden, Ratisbon, Aspern-Essling, Wagram, Dresden, and Leipzig. His sister-in-law, Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, later wrote that Gustav "gained as much fame and glory on the battlefield as any of his brothers."[3]

In 1818, Gustav married his niece, Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau, the same year Elizabeth married his eldest brother Frederick. Gustav and Louise lived at Homburg Castle,[4] and would eventually produce three children: Caroline, Elizabeth, and Frederick. The youngest, Frederick, contracted scarlet fever when two-years-old but recovered.[5] Gustav, Louise, and their children kept to themselves and did little socializing with their sister-in-law, Elizabeth, to her dismay.[6] Their eldest child Caroline married Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz,[7] in 1839.

Reign

In 1846, Gustav inherited rule of Hesse-Homburg from his brother, Philip.[1] In reaction to a petition put forth by his people, in 1848 Gustav emancipated Homburg's Jews, decreeing that "in local and state affairs no difference shall henceforth be made between our Christian and our Jewish subjects."[8] That same year, Hesse-Homburg was one of nine German states that allowed Jews to be elected to Parliament for the first time.[9]

Due to an illness, his only son predeceased him; as a result, when Gustav died on 8 September 1848,[2] he was succeeded by his brother Ferdinand.[1] In 1851, a monument was built in Gustav's honor in Homburg.[1]

Issue
  • Princess Caroline (1819–1872); married in 1839 to Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz (1794–1859)
  • Princess Elisabeth (1823–1864)
  • Prince Frederick (1830–1848)

Ancestry
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References
  1. Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, pp. 150–51.
  2. Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf.
  3. Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, p. 81.
  4. Princesses, p. 336.
  5. Princesses, p. 355.
  6. Princesses, pp. 355, 366.
  7. Princesses, p. 366.
  8. The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 376.
  9. Revolution and Evolution, p. 26.

Works cited

  • "A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Volume 6". Jewish Encyclopaedia. New York. 1916.
  • Fraser, Flora (2004). Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III. London: John Murray. ISBN 0719561094.
  • "Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf". Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich (in German). 1862.
  • Rurup, Reinhard (1981). Revolution and Evolution, 1848 in German-Jewish History. Tubingen: Leo Baeck Institut.
  • United Kingdom, Princess Elizabeth of the (1898). Yorke, Philip (ed.). Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England: daughter of King George III., and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. London: T. Fisher Unwin.
Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Born: 17 February 1781 Died: 8 September 1848
Preceded by
Philip		 Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
1846–1848		 Succeeded by
Ferdinand
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