Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt |
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Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt | ||||||||||
State of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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Hesse-Darmstadt (HD) and Hesse-Kassel (HK) in 1789
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Capital | Darmstadt | |||||||||
Languages | Hessian | |||||||||
Religion | Lutheran | |||||||||
Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt | ||||||||||
• | 1567–1596 | George I | ||||||||
• | 1596–1626 | Louis V | ||||||||
• | 1626–1661 | George II | ||||||||
• | 1661–1678 | Louis VI | ||||||||
• | 1678 | Louis VII | ||||||||
• | 1678–1739 | Ernest Louis | ||||||||
• | 1739–1768 | Louis VIII | ||||||||
• | 1768–1790 | Louis IX | ||||||||
• | 1790–1806 | Louis X | ||||||||
History | ||||||||||
• | Established | 1567 | ||||||||
• | Grand Duchy | 1806 | ||||||||
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The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (German: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Landgrave Philip I.
The residence of the landgraves was in Darmstadt, hence the name. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the landgraviate was elevated to the Grand Duchy of Hesse following the Empire's dissolution in 1806.
The landgraviate comprised the southern Starkenburg territory with the Darmstadt residence and the northern province of Upper Hesse with Alsfeld, Giessen, Grünberg, the northwestern hinterland estates around Gladenbach, Biedenkopf and Battenberg as well as the exclave of Vöhl in Lower Hesse.