Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine

Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine (Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig, 20 November 1908 – 30 May 1968) was the youngest son of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse by his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

Louis
Prince of Hesse and by Rhine
Born	(1908-11-20)20 November 1908 Darmstadt, German Empire
Died	20 May 1968(1968-05-20) (aged 59) Frankfurt, West Germany
Burial	6 June 1968 Neues Mausoleum, Park Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Hesse, Germany
Spouse	Margaret Campbell Geddes ​ ​ (m. 1937)​
Names Ludwig Hermann Alexander Chlodwig
House	Hesse-Darmstadt
Father	Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse
Mother	Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

He succeeded his brother Georg Donatus as the titular Grand Duke of Hesse after his death. He married Margaret Campbell Geddes, daughter of Auckland Campbell Geddes, 1st Baron Geddes in 1937, on the day after the Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash, in which his mother, brother, sister-in-law, and nephews were all killed on the way to the wedding. They had no issue, although, after the death of his older brother, he adopted his niece, Johanna (b. 1936), but the little girl died in 1939.

In 1964, he stood as godfather to Prince Edward. In 1960, Prince Louis adopted his distant cousin, Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. With the death of Prince Louis in Frankfurt in 1968, he was succeeded by Moritz's father, Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse (d. 1980) as head of the house. Moritz (d. 2013) in turn was succeeded by his son, Donatus (b. 1966).

He introduced the British composer Benjamin Britten (1913–76) to the poetry of Friedrich Hölderlin (1770–1843). Britten dedicated his 1958 song cycle Sechs Hölderlin-Fragmente to the Prince.[1]