Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
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Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine (25 November 1868 Darmstadt - 9 October 1937 Schloß Wolfsgarten) was the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse from 1892 to 1918. The son of Grand Duke Ludwig IV and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He was an older brother to Alexandra of Hesse, Empress-consort of Nicholas II of Russia.
Ernst Ludwig succeeded his father as Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine in 1892 and married his first cousin, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two years later, but the marriage was not a happy one. Victoria Melita alleged that Ernst Ludwig was a homosexual, and the two divorced in 1901, having had only one child, Princess Elizabeth, who died of typhoid fever at age eight.
Ernst Ludwig remarried in 1905 to Princess Eleonore of Solms-Braunfels, whith whom he had two sons:
- George of Hesse and by Rhine (1906-1937), who married Princess Cecilie of Greece (sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh). The couple with their two young sons and Princess Eleonore died in an accident when their plane crashed near Ostende on their way to his brother's marriage. A daughter survived them for eighteen months.
- Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine (1908-1968). Married Margaret Campbell Geddes but they had no children. He adopted HRH Prince Moritz of Hesse-Cassel as heir.
Ernst Ludwig served in the German military during World War I, and was forced to abdicate along with the other German ruling princes at the end of the war in 1918. He remained in Germany thereafter, and died in 1937.
| Preceded by: Ludwig IV | Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine 1892–1918 | Succeeded by: — |
nl:Ernst Lodewijk van Hessen-Darmstadt
