Hesse-Darmstadt

“ It is a constitutional monarchy in its government, the Grand Duke Ludwig III. being the sovereign. The word Hesse, applied to several of the German states, indicates that they are parts of the original territory which bore that name. One of its rulers divided his country into four unequal parts, and gave them to his sons. Two of the descendants of these sons dying without children, there remained only Hesse Cassel and Hesse Darmstadt. Hesse Homburg formerly belonged to Darmstadt, but was ceded to another branch of the reigning family in 1622. ”

“ In the war between Austria and Prussia in 1866, Hesse-Darmstadt was upon the side of the Austrians; Prince Louis accompanied his troops to the front, and was duly appointed by the grand-duke to the command of the Hessian division. This was a time of intense trial to the princess, whose husband and brother-in-law, the crown prince of Prussia, were necessarily fighting upon opposite sides. The duke of Hesse also took part in the principal battles of the Franco-Prussian war, while the duchess was actively engaged in organizing hospitals for the relief of the sick and wounded. ”

“ The dinner was capital, and when it had been disposed of by the hungry students, they were in condition to hear Professor Mapps.
"Darmstadt, where we spent an hour this forenoon," said the professor, "is the capital of Hesse Darmstadt, which consists of two divisions of territory, separated by a strip of land belonging to Hesse Cassel and Frankfurt. It has an area of thirty-two hundred square miles,—being about two thirds of the size of Connecticut—and a population of about eight hundred and fifty thousand. ”

“ After belonging to the Rhenish Palatinate, it came into the possession of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1803. Hops, wine and tobacco are grown, and there are large stone quarries, and several small industries in the town. ”

“ The Prince of Hesse Darmstadt formerly kept a greater number of troops: At present his whole army does not exceed five thousand men. But as the conduct of princes, however judicious it may be, seldom passes uncensured, there are people who blame him for entertaining even this number. They declare, that this prince’s finances, being in very great disorder, cannot support this establishment; which, though small, may be counted high, considering the extent of his dominions. ”

“ But only the Bishop of Fulda followed this advice, with the result that the Catholic theological faculty at Marburg was after a short career closed again, and the education of the priests given over to the seminary at Fulda. Hesse-Darmstadt founded a theological faculty at Giessen in 1830; Baden had one already in Freiburg, and Würtemberg [Württemberg] had in 1817 affiliated the faculty at Ellwanger with the university of Tübingen, and endowed it with the revenues of a rich convent. ”

“ It was also a step in advance that Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt signed conventions, by which their military system was put on the same footing as that of the North German Confederation. Baden indeed would willingly have entered into political union with the North, had the same disposition prevailed at the time in the other South German States. The National Liberals however had to contend with strong opposition from the Democrats in Würtemberg, and from the Ultramontanes in Bavaria. ”

“ Under Ernest Louis and his son and successor, Louis VIII. (d. 1768) , another dispute occurred between Darmstadt and Cassel; this time it was over the succession to the county of Hanau, which was eventually divided, Hesse-Darmstadt receiving Lichtenberg. During the 18th century the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years’ War dealt heavy blows at the prosperity of the landgraviate, which was always loyal to the house of Austria. ”

“ The three provinces are divided for local administration into 18 circles and 989 communes. The ordinary revenue and expenditure amount each to about £4,000,000 annually, the chief taxes being an income-tax, succession duties and stamp tax. The public debt, practically the whole of which is on railways, amounted to £19,097,468 in 1907.
History.—The name of Hesse, now used principally for the grand duchy formerly known as Hesse-Darmstadt, refers to a country which has had different boundaries and areas at different times. ”

“ It consisted of two parts, the district of Homburg on the right side of the Rhine, and the district of Meisenheim, which was added in 1815, on the left side of the same river. Its area was about 100 sq. m., and its population in 1864 was 27,374. Homburg now forms part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, and Meisenheim of the province of the Rhine. Hesse-Homburg was formed into a separate landgraviate in 1622 by Frederick I. (d. 1638) , son of George I., landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, although it did not become independent of Hesse-Darmstadt until 1768. ”

“ Besides, it was understood that the Empress almost never appeared at state dinners.
The Grand Duke of Hesse I have always liked extremely both for his amiable disposition and for his many accomplishments. He was, and is still, an unusually gifted musician, a painter, and an artist craftsman seriously interested in the great pottery in Darmstadt, where his own designs are used. He has always been a man of liberal social ideals and his popularity among the people of Hesse not even the German Revolution has been powerful enough to overthrow. ”

“ Hesse-Homburg patriotism, if there was any, must have been retrimmed in quick succession into a Darmstadt patriotism, a Nassau patriotism, a Prussian and an Imperial German patriotism.
Where the great street broke off at Kurhaus Square, a side street turned to the right, running opposite the Kursaal to the park. Here was the foremost hotel of the place, Hotel Bellevue, and around the corner, where the park was already beginning, stood the large three-story Weckerlin house, on the ground floor of which I had many a joyous hour—of this more anon. ”

“ Mainz is the largest town, and Darmstadt the capital.
Hesse-Cassel (745) , a government district in Hesse-Nassau (q. v.) ; as an electorate it sided with Austria in 1866, which brought about its incorporation with Prussia.
Hesse-Nassau (1,664) , a province in the SW. of Germany, between the Rhine on the W. and Bavaria and Saxony on the E.; was formed in 1868 out of the electorate of Hesse-Cassel, duchy of Nassau, &c.; the country is hilly, abounds in minerals, which are extensively worked, but agriculture and cattle-rearing are the chief industries ”

“ The delightful custom of having Wald Haeuse at convenient distances in every direction round the city, makes these expeditions a great pleasure. The coffee is usually good, and the cakes always so.
Darmstadt is on the Bergstrasse, almost a highway through that part of Germany, and we were pestered one year with a constant stream of beggars. They were usually ex-theatre people they said, and I found they only came to me and not to my colleagues, so word must have been passed round that an "easy" and extremely rich American lived in the town, who was good for at least a mark. ”

“ Living in this dutchy is very cheap: a bachelor can keep a horse, dine at the first table d’hôte, and drink a bottle of wine a day, and mingle in the best circles, upon one hundred pounds per annum. The society in Darmstadt is very agreeable. As the minds of the men and women are so highly cultivated and accomplished in Germany, every party presents some mode or other, equally delightful and blameless, to make Time smile, and to strew over his passage with flowers. ”

“ A very handsome avenue of stately poplars, of nearly two English miles, forms the approach to the city, which is nearly surrounded by a lofty wall, not capable of affording much protection against an enemy. The suburbs contain some handsome houses, in which, as the principal hotel in the city was 296full, we took up our quarters at the post-house, a very excellent inn.
For a capital, Darmstadt is small, and its palace infinitely too large: of the latter the Emperor Joseph sarcastically observed, that it was big enough to accommodate himself and the nine electors. ”

“ Darmstadt has about 40,000 inhabitants, and is one of the cleanest and most modern in appearance of all the cities that I met in the Old World. Its broad and shaded streets intersecting each other at right angles, give it much of the appearance of an American city. The view from the Ludwigsäule commands a fine prospect of the level country around, with its large woods of "tall trees" so rare in Europe, and the Rhein Strasse (Rhine Street) loosing itself only in the distance, is the straitest and longest street that I have yet seen. ”

“ The central position of this city gives it a decided advantage for trade and commerce. The activity of the eighty thousand inhabitants is striking in comparison with the ducal residence of Darmstadt, an hour’s ride by railway, with its long broad streets and population of thirty thousand, but looking dull and dreary as a village. The railroad in an hour conveys one to Wiesbaden, in a half hour to Mayence, and in an hour’s ride by omnibus and rail one arrives at Homburg. ”

“ Of the eight churches (seven Evangelical) only the Roman Catholic is in any way imposing. There are two synagogues. The town possesses a technical high school, having (since 1900) power to confer the degree of doctor of engineering, and attended by about 2000 students, two gymnasia, a school of agriculture, an artisans’ school and a botanical garden. The chemist, Justus von Liebig, was born in Darmstadt in 1803. Among the chief manufactures are the production of machinery, carpets, playing cards, chemicals, tobacco, hats, wine and beer. ”

“ Unhappily, before our party left Darmstadt, an incident happened which tended to verify beyond dispute the opinion of Merck.
Among the extravaganzas which grew out of the notion that [Pg 632] we should try to transport ourselves into a state of nature, was that of bathing in public waters, in the open air; and our friends, after violating every other law of propriety, could not forego this additional unseemliness. Darmstadt, situated on a sandy plain, without running water, had, it appeared, a pond in the neighbourhood, of which I only heard on this occasion. ”

“ DARMESTETER, JAMES (1849–1894) , French author and antiquarian, was born of Jewish parents on the 28th of March 1849 at Château Salins, in Alsace. The family name had originated in their earlier home of Darmstadt. ”

“ A man who did not know how to pick his advisors, who did not know how to arrange his home affairs, his Alice von Hessen Darmstadt, his monks and his generals, does not deserve to be too much regretted, and certainly does not deserve too particular interest. Baroness B's. actions are strange. Is she paid? By whom? Cash? Promises?...
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... was stopped by me and slightly pursed her red lips, we joined the rest, where a British Major (I never can think of his name) was telling of his experiences in the research work for German propaganda in Petrograd. ”

“ The Emperor took the pen, and dashed some indescribable scroll across the paper; then turning suddenly towards the general, he conversed with him eagerly for several minutes, but in so low a voice as not to be audible where I stood. I could but catch the words “Darmstadt— Augsburg—the fourth corps;” from which it seemed the movements of the army were the subject; when he added, in a louder voice,—
“Every hour now is worth a day, ay, a week, hereafter. Remember that, D'Auvergne.” ”

“ After leaving Darmstadt we entered upon the Bergstrasse, or Mountain-way, leading along the foot of the mountain chain which extends all the way to Heidelberg on the left, while on the right stretches far away the Rhine-plain, across which we saw the dim outline of the Donnersberg, in France. The hills are crowned with castles and their sides loaded with vines; along the road the rich green foliage of the walnut trees arched and nearly met above us. The sun shone warm and bright, and every body appeared busy and contented and happy. ”

“ The Darmstadt soldiers are tall, tolerably clothed, and above all things remarkably well powdered. They go through their manœuvres with that dexterity which may be expected of men who are continually employed in the same action, under the eye of their prince, who is an admirable judge, and severe critic in this part of the military art. ”

“ A story from Hesse is much more incomplete, but has a character of its own. Kürdchen Bingeling has been fed at his mother's breast for seven years, by which he has grown so immensely big, and is able to eat so much that there is no satisfying him; and there is no man whom he does not torment and befool. So the whole community assembles together to catch and kill him; he however observes this, and sits down beneath the door and blocks the way just as Gargantua creates Mount Gargant, near Nantes; no one is able to enter without spades and shovels ”

“ Arrived at Darmstadt at half-past one o'clock. I was much pleased with the cleanliness and elevated situation of this town, which is said to contain above twenty thousand inhabitants; the houses are handsomely built, the streets wide, and in good proportion to the height and size of the houses; they have also flag pavements, which is a rarity in Germany. The opera-house is a splendid building, as well as the cathedral. The palace is also a fine old building, and has attached to it an extensive pleasure ground and kitchen garden. ”