Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse

Louis I
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine prev. Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
Reign	1806 – 6 April 1830
Predecessor	New title
Successor	Louis II
Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Reign	1790 – 1806
Predecessor	Louis IX
Successor	Title abolished
Spouse	Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt
Issue	Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse
House	House of Hesse-Darmstadt
Father	Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt
Mother	Caroline of Zweibrücken

Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse (14 June 1753, Prenzlau – 6 April 1830, Darmstadt) was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (as Louis X) and later the first Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

Louis was the son of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, and succeeded his father in 1790. He presided over a significant increase in territory for Hesse-Darmstadt during the imperial reorganizations of 1801-1803, most notably the Duchy of Westphalia, hitherto subject to the Archbishop of Cologne. Allied to Napoleon, Louis in 1806 was elevated to the title of a Grand Duke of Hesse and joined the Confederation of the Rhine, leading to the dissolution of the Empire. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15, Louis had to give up his Westphalian territories, but was compensated with the district of Rheinhessen, with his capital Mainz on the left bank of the Rhine. Because of this addition, he amended his title to Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.

In 1844, a 33-meter column called Langer Ludwig (meaning Long Ludwig), was set up In his commemoration in the middle of the Luisenplatz, the largest square of Darmstadt.

Issue

In 1776, he became engaged to Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, eldest daughter of Frederick II Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. The engagement was broken off so that Sophia Dorothea could marry Louis's recently widowed brother-in-law Tsarevich Paul Petrovich, son and heir of Catherine II "the Great", Empress of Russia. He received a monetary compensation when the engagement was broken. On 19 February 1777, Louis married his first cousin, Louise of Hesse-Darmstadt ( 15 February 1761 - October 24 1829 ), a daughter of Prince George William of Hesse-Darmstadt. Together, they had six children :

• Ludwig, later Grand Duke Louis II of Hesse ( 26 December 1777 - 16 June 1848. Married Wilhelmine of Baden and had issue.
• Luise ( January 16 1779 - April 18 1811 ). Married Louis of Anhalt-Köthen and had issue.
• Georg ( August 31 1780 - 17 April 1856 ). Married, morganatically, Caroline Török de Szendrö and had issue.
• Friedrich ( May 14 1788 - March 16 1867 )
• Emil ( September 3 1790 - April 30 1856 )
• Gustav ( December 18 1791 - 30 January 1806 )