Grand Duchy of Hesse: Map & History

History

During the Napoleonic Wars, Louis X, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, initially sought Prussian protection against Napoleonic France, but after the Battle of Austerlitz, this policy became untenable. At the last minute, Louis X switched sides and supplied troops to Napoleon. Along with fifteen other states, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt left the Holy Roman Empire and joined the Confederation of the Rhine. The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was promoted to a grand duchy and Louis X thereafter styled himself Grand Duke Louis I (German: Großherzog Ludewig I., with an extra 'e') and announced not only the promotion, but also the territories he had received under the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine in an edict on 13 August 1806.

Government

The constitution issued on 17 December 1820 by Grand Duke Louis I ended absolutism in the grand duchy, in favour of a constitutional monarchy, but the grand duke retained substantial authority. As the head of state, "all rights of state power" were invested in him and his person was "sacred and inviolable". He led the executive.

The Landstände (national estates) was the bicameral legislature which linked the subjects of the grand duchy to the grand duke and his government. It was created by the Hessian constitution of 1820 and survived until the November Revolution in 1918, when it was succeeded by the Landtag of the People's State of Hesse.

Economy

The economic policy of the grand duchy from the beginning was to overcome the structures inherited from the 18th century and to modernise. The remaining monopolies were abolished in 1810 and procedures for granting commercial concessions were unified in the same year. The rights of guilds were gradually reduced and finally abolished in 1866.

The relatively small area of the grand duchy and its neighbours posed a significant economic problem. This became clear in the winter famine of 1817/18, when grain deliveries were hindered by the borders between the German states and the tolls associated with them.

Culture

Georg Moller (1784–1852), a leading architect and city planner became the grand duchy's manager of works in 1810 and was responsible for a series of public buildings: St Ludwig's Church (the first Catholic church in Darmstadt since the Reformation), the National Theatre, Luisenplatz, Darmstadt with the Ludwig Column, the mausoleum in the Rosenhöhe Park, and the masonic lodge (now known as the 'Moller House'). Outside Darmstadt, he was responsible for the Staatstheater Mainz and the restoration of Schloss Biedenkopf.

Under the first and last grand dukes, there was a significant effort at heritage protection.