Ernest Louis, Grand Duke Of Hesse And By Rhine

Ernest Louis (German: Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm; 25 November 1868 – 9 October 1937) was the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, holding the throne from 1892 until 1918.

== Early Life ==

He was born in Darmstadt as the elder son of Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, a daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. His full name was Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm, and he was also known by the nickname "Ernie." He was one of seven siblings, of whom two died during childhood. Ernest Louis was brought up in Darmstadt with his four surviving sisters. His sister Alix married Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, while another sister, Victoria, was the mother of Queen Louise of Sweden, Louis Mountbatten, and Princess Alice of Battenberg, the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

During his childhood, Ernest Louis experienced several personal losses. At age five, his younger brother Prince Friedrich, who suffered from hemophilia, died after falling through a window. Ernest Louis was deeply affected by this event. In 1878, he contracted diphtheria during an epidemic; while his family recovered, his youngest sister Princess Marie died from the illness. His mother, Princess Alice, cared for her children during the outbreak, and after Marie’s death, she fell ill and died on 14 December 1878, the anniversary of her father’s death.

== Marriages ==

=== First Marriage ===

On 19 April 1894, at Schloss Ehrenburg, he married Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, who was his maternal first cousin. The marriage was encouraged by Queen Victoria, who attended the wedding. Victoria Melita was nicknamed "Ducky." The union produced two children: a daughter, Elisabeth (born 11 March 1895), who died of typhoid fever at age eight, and a stillborn son on 25 May 1900. The marriage was marked by incompatibility, with differences in temperament and attitude leading to frequent conflicts, some of which involved physical altercations. Queen Victoria was reportedly saddened by the marital difficulties but opposed divorce due to concerns about Elisabeth’s stability.

The marriage ended in divorce on 21 December 1901, on grounds of "invincible mutual antipathy." Queen Victoria allegedly suspected Ernest Louis to be homosexual, an accusation she reportedly made after discovering him in bed with a male servant, though she did not make this public.

=== Second Marriage ===

In Darmstadt on 2 February 1905, Ernest Louis married Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. This marriage was considered harmonious. They had two sons: Georg Donatus (1906–1937), who married Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark and was killed in a plane crash in 1937, and Louis (1908–1968), who married Margaret Campbell Geddes and adopted Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, as his heir.

In addition to his marriages, Ernest Louis maintained close relationships, notably with Karl August Lingner, the inventor of Odol mouthwash, who left Tarasp Castle to him upon death.

== Grand Duke of Hesse ==

Ernest Louis succeeded his father as grand duke in 1892. His interests included patronage of the arts; he founded the Darmstadt Artists' Colony and composed poems, plays, essays, and piano compositions. He commissioned the construction of a mausoleum in 1903, which was consecrated in 1910, reinterring the remains of his ancestors.

== World War I and End of Reign ==

During the First World War, Ernest Louis served as a general of the infantry at Kaiser Wilhelm II’s headquarters. The 1917 February Revolution in Russia resulted in the abdication of his brother-in-law, Tsar Nicholas II. Following the war, he refused to abdicate and retained his throne until the German revolution in 1918 led to the abolition of the monarchy in Hesse.

== Death and Burial ==

Ernest Louis died on 9 October 1937 after a prolonged illness at Schloss Wolfsgarten near Darmstadt. He was given a state funeral on 16 November 1937 and was interred next to his daughter Elisabeth in a newly established open-air burial site adjacent to the mausoleum in the Rosenhöhe park in Darmstadt.

== Legacy ==

His former sister-in-law, Marie of Romania, described him as lively and full of artistic temperament, enjoying life’s pleasures and being somewhat restless. Felix Yusupov, in his memoirs, characterized him as attractive, passionate about beauty, and imaginative, noting an anecdote about him dyeing his pigeons' feathers blue.