Prince Maximilian Of Hesse

Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg Eduard, Prince of Hessen, was born on October 20, 1894, at the Offenbach-Rumpenheim Castle in Germany and died on October 13, 1914, in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. He was a German military officer who died in World War I and was a nephew of German Emperor Wilhelm II.

Career

Maximilian of Hesse was born to Princess Margarete of Prussia, the youngest sister of Emperor Wilhelm II, and Count Friedrich Karl of Hesse. He was the second son in his family. His education began at the Goethe Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main, and he later graduated from the Helmholtz Gymnasium in Potsdam. Between 1909 and 1912, he received military training at the Prussian Officer School in the Lichterfelde district of Berlin, alongside his brother Friedrich Wilhelm.

Military Service and Death in War

After the outbreak of World War I, Max enlisted in the 24th Guard Dragoons of the Grand Duchy of Hesse army, serving as a lieutenant. The fighting took place along the France-Belgium border (Flanders-Française region), where he was killed in action just a week before his birthday. Reports state that he was captured by British forces during a Belgian invasion operation and was wounded with a gunshot to his thigh.

As a prisoner, he was taken to the Trappist monastery in Bailleul, Belgium, by the British military, where he was reportedly shot. Upon arrival at the monastery, he had been hit by a fatal gunshot and collapsed on the ground while wounded. According to doctors, he was told he had only about an hour to live due to his injuries. Clinging to a medal of his mother around his neck, he expressed a desire for her to receive it. After his death, the medal was transmitted through the British doctor who attended him to Queen Mary of the United Kingdom, then to Crown Princess Margareta of Sweden, his cousin-in-law, and later returned to his mother, Princess Margarete.

Burial and Return of the Body

Before the end of the war, local Belgian residents, upon learning of Max’s death, secretly removed his body from the monastery and buried it. A priest refused to erect a gravestone, but his burial site was confirmed before the German retreat, and the costs of his burial were reimbursed by the German military to the Belgian residents. After the war, his brother Wolfgang appealed to the British authorities, who facilitated the return of Max’s remains to his homeland in Hesse.

References

- Jonathan Petropoulos: *Royals and the Reich. The Princes of Hesse in Nazi Germany*. Oxford University Press, 2006, ISBN 0-19-920377-6

- Eckhart G. Franz: *Das Haus Hessen. Eine europäische Familie*. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart, 2005, ISBN 3-17-018919-0

- Eckhart G. Franz: *Haus Hessen: biografisches Lexikon*, 2012