Hesse-Kassel

 

Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel¹ Kurfürstentum Hessen Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel Electorate of Hesse State of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806) ← 1567 – 1806 1813 – 1866 → Flag Coat of arms (1843) Hesse-Kassel Capital Kassel Language(s) German Religion Protestant (Calvinist) Government Principality Landgrave  - 1567–1592 William IV of Hesse  - 1730–1751 Frederick I of Sweden History  - Established 1567  - Raised to Electorate 1803  - Annexed by France 1806  - Reestablished 1813  - Annexed by Prussia 1866 Area  - 1864  km² ( sq mi) Population  - 1864 est.        Density  /km²  ( /sq mi) ¹ Commonly known as "Hesse-Cassel"

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (German: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Kassel) was a Reichsfrei principality of the Holy Roman Empire that came into existence when the Landgraviate of Hesse was divided in 1568 upon the death of Landgrave Philip I of Hesse.

His eldest son Wilhelm IV of Hesse inherited the northern half and the capital of Kassel. The other sons received the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Rheinfels and the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt.

17th century-18th century

The House of Hesse was a dynasty which descended from proto-protestant and protestant luminaries. Both Philip I of Hesse, William V of Hesse as well as Maurice of Hesse married descendants of king George of Bohemia. From William VI onwards, mothers of the heads of Hessen-Kassel were always descended from William the Silent, the leader of the Dutch to independence on basis of Calvinism.

The Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel expanded in 1604 when Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel ((Moritz von Hessen-Kassel)) inherited the Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg from his childless uncle, Louis IV of Hesse-Marburg (1537-1604).

During the Thirty Years' War, Calvinist Hesse-Kassel proved Sweden's most loyal German ally. Landgrave William V and, after his death in 1637, his widow Amelia of Hanau, a granddaughter of William the Silent, as regent supported the Protestant cause and the French and Swedes throughout the war and maintained an army, garrisoning many strongpoints, even while Hesse-Kassel itself was occupied by Imperial troops.

William VI followed William V. William VII succeeded William VI. Under Frederick I of Sweden the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel was in personal union with Sweden from 1730 to 1751.

Although it was a fairly widespread practice at the time to rent out troops to other princes, it was the Landgraves of Hesse-Kassel who became infamous for hiring out contingents of their army as mercenaries during the 17th and 18th centuries. Frederick II, notably, hired out his troops called the Hessians to his nephew George III of the United Kingdom who used them in his attempt to suppress the rebellion of the American colonies during the American Revolution, while Frederick used the revenue to finance his opulent lifestyle. One of these regiments that saw service in America was the Musketeer Regiment Prinz Carl.

During the 17th century the landgraviate was internally split up into landgraviates for dynastical purposes, without allodial rights:

• Landgraviate of Hesse-Rotenburg (1627–1834)
• Landgraviate of Hesse-Wanfried-(Rheinfels) (1649–1755)

• Landgraviate of Hesse-Philippsthal
• Landgraviate of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld

These were reunited with the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel when the particular branch died out without issue.

19th century

Following the reorganization of the German states during the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (Principal Decree of the Imperial Deputation) of 1803, the landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel was raised to the Electorate of Hesse (Kurfürstentum Hessen) and landgrave Wilhelm IX of Hesse-Kassel was elevated to Imperial Elector (Kurfürst), taking the title Wilhelm I, Elector of Hesse. The principality thus became known as Kurhessen, although still usually referred to as Hesse-Kassel.

In 1806, Wilhelm I was dispossessed by Napoleon I of France for his support of Prussia, and Kassel became the capital of a new Kingdom of Westphalia under Napoleon's brother Jérôme Bonaparte as king.

The Elector was restored following Napoleon's defeat in 1813, and although the Holy Roman Empire was now defunct, Wilhelm retained his title of Elector, as it gave him pre-eminence over his cousin, the Grand Duke of Hesse. From 1813 onwards, the Electorate of Hesse was for a short time an independent country.

Wilhelm's grandson, Elector Friedrich Wilhelm, sided with Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, and after the Prussian victory his lands were annexed by Prussia, which combined it with the Duchy of Nassau and Free City of Frankfurt, both also annexed, into the new Province of Hesse-Nassau of the Kingdom of Prussia.

20th century

In 1918 the Province of Hesse-Nassau became part of the Free State of Prussia until 1944. From 1944 until 1945 it was divided up into the Province of Hesse (Provinz Kurhessen) and the Province of Nassau (Provinz Nassau), both districts within the Third Reich. From 1945 until 1946 it was renamed Greater Hesse (Großhessen) and was part the US occupation zone in Germany. From 1946 onwards, it was reorganised into the State of Hesse (Bundesland Hesse), in the Federal Republic of Germany.

In 1918, Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse-Kassel, younger brother of the head of the house and a brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, was elected by the Finnish pro-German government to be King of Finland, but he never reigned.

In 1968, the head of the House of Hesse-Kassel became the Head of the entire House of Hesse due to the extinction of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt line.

Trivia

The village of Hessen Cassel, Indiana near Fort Wayne, founded by German immigrants, is named for the Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel.

See also

• Rulers of Hesse
• List of Swedish monarchs
• List of Finnish monarchs
• Line of succession to the Hesse Throne

Preceded by House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken

List of Swedish monarchs 1720–1751

Succeeded by House of Holstein-Gottorp

External links

• Map of Hesse in 1789 - Northern Part
• Map of Hesse in 1789 - Southern Part

Members of the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire following the Golden Bull of 1356
Spiritual electors	Abp Mainz     Abp Trier     Abp Cologne
Secular electors	Kgdm Bohemia     Cty Palatine / Rhine     Dchy Saxony     Mgvt Brandenburg
Secular electors added in the 17th century	Dchy Bavaria (from 1623)     Dchy Hanover (from 1692)
Spiritual electors added in 1803	Abp Regensburg (from 1803)
Secular electors added in the 19th century	G/D Salzburg (to 1805)     Dchy Würzburg (from 1805)     Dchy Württemberg     Mgvt Baden     Lgvt Hesse-Kassel

States of the German Confederation (1815–66)
Empires	Austria
Kingdoms	Prussia | Bavaria | Saxony | Hanover | Württemberg
Electorates	Hesse
Grand Duchies	Baden | Hesse | Luxembourg | Mecklenburg-Schwerin | Mecklenburg-Strelitz | Oldenburg | Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
Duchies	Anhalt: Bernburg¹, Dessau¹, Köthen² | Brunswick | Holstein | Limburg | Nassau | Saxony: Altenburg³, Coburg-Saalfeld4, Coburg-Gotha³, Gotha-Altenburg4, Hildburghausen4, Lauenburg, Meiningen
Principalities	Hesse-Homburg | Hohenzollern: Hechingen5, Sigmaringen5 | Liechtenstein | Lippe | Reuß: Elder, Junior | Schaumburg-Lippe | Schwarzburg: Rudolstadt, Sondershausen | Waldeck and Pyrmont
City-states	Bremen | Frankfurt | Hamburg | Lübeck
1: Merged to Anhalt from 1863;     2: until 1847;     3: from 1826;     4: until 1826;     5: until 1850

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