Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (German: Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (German: Großherzogtum Hessen). It assumed the name Hesse und bei Rhein in 1816 to distinguish itself from the Electorate of Hesse, which had formed from neighbouring Hesse-Kassel. Colloquially, the grand duchy continued to be known by its former name of Hesse-Darmstadt.
For the region sometimes known in English as Rhine-Hesse, see Rhenish Hesse.
Grand Duchy of Hesse and by RhineGroßherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein (German)
- State of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–1813)
- State of the German Confederation (1815–1866)
- State of the North German Confederation (1867/70–1871)
- Federal State of the German Empire (1871–1918)
Carl Grolman (first)
Christian Ewald (last)
13 August 1806
9 November 1918
9,300 km2 (3,600 sq mi)
8,345 km2 (3,222 sq mi)
7,682 km2 (2,966 sq mi)
7,688.36 km2 (2,968.49 sq mi)
546,000
968,000
1,282,051
In 1806, the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt seceded from the Holy Roman Empire and joined Napoleon's new Confederation of the Rhine. The country was promoted to the status of grand duchy and received considerable new territories, principally the Duchy of Westphalia. After the French defeat in 1815, the grand duchy joined the new German Confederation. Westphalia was taken by Prussia, but Hesse received Rhenish Hesse in return. A constitution was proclaimed in 1820 and a long process of legal reforms was begun, with the aim of unifying the disparate territories under the grand duke's control. The political history of the grand duchy during this period was characterised by conflict between the conservative mediatised houses (Standesherren) and forces supporting political and social liberalisation. During the 1848 revolutions, the government was forced to grant wide-ranging reforms, including the full abolition of serfdom and universal manhood suffrage, but the reactionary government of Reinhard von Dalwigick rolled most of these back over the following decade. In 1866, Hesse entered the Austro-Prussian War on the Austrian side, but received a relatively mild settlement from the Prussian victors. The grand duchy joined the German Empire in 1871. As a small state within the empire, the grand duchy had limits placed on its autonomy, but significant religious, social, and cultural reforms were carried out. During the November Revolution after World War I in 1918, the grand duchy was overthrown and replaced by the People's State of Hesse.
Demographics[edit]
Nobility[edit]
The nobility of the grand duchy consisted of two classes with different privileges, the Standesherren (members of the mediatised houses) and the ritterschaftlichen Adel (knights).
Standesherren were the members of the nobility who had enjoyed imperial immediacy under the Holy Roman Empire and had been represented in the imperial diet. According to the Treaty of the Confederation of the Rhine of 1806, Stedesherren had special rights and possessed sovereignty over the areas that they ruled. Initially, there were nineteen Standesherren in the grand duchy, but by the end of the nineteenth century this had declined to seventeen.[141] The Riedesel family held an equivalent status to the Standesherren.[142] In total, about a quarter of the grand duchy's area and population belonged to the Standesherren.[143] The privileges of the Standesheren declined over the nineteenth century and they finally lost their seats in the upper chamber of the Landstände in 1918.
The special position of the knights was established by the Grand Duke in 1807.[144] Several of these nobles initially had control of their own local courts, the last of which were taken over by the state in the 1830s. The knights also had their own representatives in the Landstände. From 1820 until 1872, they had twenty representatives in the Lower chamber. After that, they instead had two representatives in the upper chamber. Only the richest families in Hesse could vote for these (probably around two dozen families).
Emigration[edit]
The constitution of 1820 guaranteed the right to emigrate, with some legal provisos.[145] Due to the rising population, stagnating agricultural sector, and slow pace of industrialisation, there was continuous poverty among the lower class. From the 1840s several thousand people left the grand duchy every year (records do not exist for earlier periods). The government supported emigration in order to reduce the potential for social conflict.[146] The local Gemeinden, which were responsible for supporting the poor, happily sent them overseas. The main destination was the United States, but Hessians also travelled to southern Russia, and, in one case, Algeria.[147] In some cases the poor were actually forced to leave, as occurred in Wimpfen.[148] In 1846, 672 people from Groß-Zimmern and neighbouring communities were "exported" and around fifty other Gemeinden followed this example.[149] High points were the year 1846 when more than 6,000 people emigrated,[147] and 1853, when 8,375 people did so,[150] including many of those opposed to the reactionary policies of von Dalwigk. This was roughly 1% of the population. The grand duchy's population sank between 1850 and 1855 from 853,300 inhabitants to 836,424.[150]