Ernest Constantine, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal (8 August 1771 in Philippsthal – 25 December 1849 in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

) was a member of the

House of Hesse The House of Hesse is a European dynasty, directly descended from the House of Reginar, House of Brabant. They ruled the region of Hesse, one branch as prince-electors until 1866, and another branch as grand dukes until 1918.Burke's Peerage, Bur ...

and Landgrave of

Hesse-Philippsthal This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the World ...

from 1816 until his death.

Life

Ernest Constantine was the youngest son of the Landgrave William of Hesse-Philippsthal (1726-1810) from his marriage with Ulrike Eleonora of

Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld This is a list of rulers of Hesse (german: Hessen) during the history of Hesse on west-central Germany. These rulers belonged to a dynasty collectively known as the House of Hesse and the House of Brabant,''Burke's Royal Families of the Wor ...

(1732-1795), daughter of William, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld. Until 1796 he was an officer in Dutch service. In 1797, he acquired the porcelain manufactory in Volkstedt (a suburb of

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, with the Thuringian Forest to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide ...

), which he sold two years later. In 1808 he became Grand Chamberlain of the

Jérôme Bonaparte Jérôme-Napoléon Bonaparte (born Girolamo Buonaparte; 15 November 1784 – 24 June 1860) was the youngest brother of Napoleon I and reigned as Jerome Napoleon I (formally Hieronymus Napoleon in German), King of Westphalia, between 1807 and 1 ...

, the King of

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regi ...

. After the dissolution of the kingdom of Westphalia, Ernst Constantine succeeded his brother Louis as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal in 1816. He also re-entered Dutch service, where he was appointed

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

Marriage and issue

Ernest Constantine married Louise (1775-1808), the daughter of Prince Frederick Charles of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1736-1793), on 10 April 1796 in

, with whom he had the five children: * Frederick William (1797-1797) * Ferdinand (1799-1837) * George Gustav (1801-1802) * Charles II (1803-1868), who succeeded him as Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal, married the

Duchess Marie of Württemberg Marie of Württemberg (Antoinette Friederike Auguste Marie Anna Herzogin von Württemberg; 17 September 1799 – 24 September 1860) was a daughter of Duke Alexander of Württemberg and Antoinette of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She was Duchess of S ...

(1818-1888) in 1845 * Francis (1805-1861), created Baron of Falkener in 1841, married (

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spouse ...

) Mary Catharine Kohlmann (1819-1904) Later, he married his niece, Caroline of Hesse-Philippsthal (1793-1872), daughter of his elder brother Prince Charles of Hesse-Philippsthal, on 17 February 1812 in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2 ...

. From his second marriage he had two children: * Victoria (1812-1837) * William Edward (1817-1819)

Ancestors

References

* Johann Samuel Ersch
''Allgemeine Encyclopädie der Wissenschaften und Künste in alphabetischer ...'' p. 297 f.
* Otto Wigand
''Wigand's Conversations-lexikon'' p. 633

''Genealogisches Staats-Handbuch'' p. 93
Landgraves of Hesse House of Hesse 1771 births 1849 deaths 18th-century German people {{Germany-noble-stub