Prince Heinrich of Hesse and by Rhine

Heinrich von Hessen und bei Rhein around 1865

Heinrich Ludwig Wilhelm Adalbert Waldemar Alexander von Hessen und bei Rhein (Bessungen, November 28, 1838 - Munich, September 16, 1900) was a prince of Hesse and by Rhine and a General of the Cavalry.

Biography

He was the second son of Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia and a younger brother of the later Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse.
Heinrich studied in Göttingen and Giessen and joined the Hessian army as a lieutenant in 1854. From 1869 he was a captain in the Prussian army. He fought in the First Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War.

From 1879 he became commander of the Grand Ducal Hessian 25th Division and shortly afterwards Lieutenant General. On August 21, 1884 Heinrich received the rank of Kommandierender General and two years later on September 18, 1886 he was promoted to General of the Cavalry. He retired from the cavalry as General in 1892 and settled in Munich. From 1881 until his death he was a member of the Hessian Landstände.

He was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Bath and received the Grand Cross of the Order of the Star of Romania.

Marriage and Children

Heinrich married morganatically on February 25, 1878,

• Caroline Willich von Pöllnitz (1848-1879) who was created Freifrau von Nidda for the occasion. She died after the birth of their only child Karl, Count of Nidda (1879-1920).
  

He married again in 1892 - also morganatically, to

• Emilie Hrzic de Topuska (1868-1961). She was elevated to Freifrau von Dornberg. They had also one son : Elimar, Freiherr von Dornberg (1893-1917), who died in an accident.

Sources

• geni.com
• Hessen und bei Rhein, Heinrich Ludwig Prinz von. Hessische Biografie. In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS). (Stand: 15 March 2020)