Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

Gustav
Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Reign	1846–1848
Predecessor	Philip
Successor	Ferdinand
Born	17 February 1781
Died	8 September 1848 (aged 67)
Spouse	Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau
Issue	Caroline, Princess Reuss of Greiz Princess Elisabeth Prince Frederick
Full name German: Gustav Adolph Friedrich
House	House of Hesse
Father	Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg
Mother	Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt

Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg (17 February 1781 – 8 September 1848) was landgrave of the German state of Hesse-Homburg from 1846 to 1848.

Early life

On 17 February 1781, Gustav was born the fourth son of Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and his wife, Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt.^[1][2] Gustav joined the Swedish army in service of his godfather King Gustav III, but left soon after in favour of an Austrian regiment. The prince saw action in the early 19th-century battles of Nördlingen, Hohenlinden, Ratisbon, Aspern-Essling, Wagram, Dresden, and Leipzig. His sister-in-law, Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, later wrote that Gustav "gained as much fame and glory on the battlefield as any of his brothers."^[3]

In 1818, Gustav married his niece, Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau, the same year Elizabeth married his eldest brother Frederick. Gustav and Louise lived at Homburg Castle,^[4] and would eventually produce three children: Caroline, Elizabeth, and Frederick. The youngest, Frederick, contracted scarlet fever when two-years-old but recovered.^[5] Gustav, Louise, and their children kept to themselves and did little socializing with their sister-in-law, Elizabeth, to her dismay.^[6] Their eldest child Caroline married Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz,^[7] in 1839.

Reign

In 1846, Gustav inherited rule of Hesse-Homburg from his brother, Philip.^[1] In reaction to a petition put forth by his people, in 1848 Gustav emancipated Homburg's Jews, decreeing that "in local and state affairs no difference shall henceforth be made between our Christian and our Jewish subjects."^[8] That same year, Hesse-Homburg was one of nine German states that allowed Jews to be elected to Parliament for the first time.^[9]

Due to an illness, his only son predeceased his father; as a result, when Gustav died on 8 September 1848,^[2] he was succeeded by his brother Ferdinand.^[1] In 1851, a monument was built in Gustav's honor in Homburg.^[1]

Issue

• Princess Caroline (1819–1872); married in 1839 to Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz (1794–1859)
• Princess Elisabeth (1823–1864)
• Prince Frederick (1830–1848)

Ancestry

Ancestors of Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

16. Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg               8. Landgrave Casimir William of Hesse-Homburg                       17. Princess Louise Elisabeth of Courland               4. Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg                             18. Wilhelm Moritz, Count of Solms-Braunfels               9. Countess Christine Charlotte of Solms-Braunfels                       19. Landgravine Magdalene Sophie of Hesse-Homburg               2. Frederick V                                   20. Wilhelm Moritz, Count of Solms-Braunfels (= 18)               10. Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Solms-Braunfels                       21. Landgravine Magdalene Sophie of Hesse-Homburg (= 19)               5. Countess Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels                             22. Karl Otto, Count of Solms-Laubach-Utphe and Tecklenburg               11. Countess Sophie Magdalena Benigna of Solms-Laubach-Utphe                       23. Countess Louise of Schönburg-Waldenburg               1. Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg                                         24. Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt               12. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt                       25. Margravine Dorothea Charlotte of Brandenburg-Ansbach               6. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt                             26. Johann Reinhard III of Hanau-Lichtenberg               13. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg                       27. Margravine Dorothea Friederike of Brandenburg-Ansbach               3. Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt                                   28. Christian II of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld               14. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken                       29. Katharina Agathe of Rappoltstein               7. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken                             30. Louis Crato, Count of Nassau-Saarbrücken               15. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken                       31. Philippine Henriette of Hohenlohe-Langenburg

References

1. Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, pp. 150–51.
2. Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf.
3. Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, p. 81.
4. Princesses, p. 336.
5. Princesses, p. 355.
6. Princesses, pp. 355, 366.
7. Princesses, p. 366.
8. The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 376.
9. Revolution and Evolution, p. 26.

Works cited

• "A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Volume 6". Jewish Encyclopaedia. New York. 1916.
• Fraser, Flora (2004). Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III. London: John Murray. ISBN 0719561094.
• "Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf". Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich (in German). 1862.
• Rurup, Reinhard (1981). Revolution and Evolution, 1848 in German-Jewish History. Tubingen: Leo Baeck Institut.
• United Kingdom, Princess Elizabeth of the (1898). Yorke, Philip, ed. Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England: daughter of King George III., and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg. London: T. Fisher Unwin.