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About the Grand Duchy
The Grand Duchy of Hesse was located in central Germany. It comprised two
enclaves separated from each other by a strip of land on the north bank of the Main River
and centered around Frankfurt am Main. The upper enclave was known as Upper Hesse, or
Oberhessen. The lower enclave consisted of two regions - Starkenburg, on the south
bank of the Main and west bank of the Rhine, whose principal city was Darmstadt, and
Rhenish Hesse, or Rheinhessen, east of the Rhine, whose principal city was Mainz.
Rheinhessen had formerly been the main part of the Duchy of Westphalia, but was acquired
by the Grand Duke at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Grand Duchy had a population
in 1914 of of 1,333,000, ranking sixth in size in the German Empire after the four
kingdoms and the Grand Duchy of Baden and just ahead of the Hanseatic City of Hamburg.
Hesse (Hessen in German) was more formally referred to as Hesse-Darmstadt
to distinguish it from other Hesse lines, such as Hesse-Kassel. Hesse-Kassel, also called
Electoral Hesse (Kurhessen), had been absorbed by Prussia after siding with Austria in the
1866 Austro-Prussian War (Hesse-Darmstadt had also sided with Austria, but only suffered some
lesser territorial losses).
Both Hesse-Darmstadt and Hesse-Kassel trace their history back to the division of the Hessian
lands that took place on the death in 1567 of Landgraf Philip the Magnanimous. The
lands were divided among his four sons and named after their respective capitals, becoming
Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Marburg, Hesse-Rheinfels and Hesse-Darmstadt. The line of Hesse-
Rheinfels died out in 1583 and was annexed by Hesse-Darmstadt. Hesse-Marburg died out
in 1604 and was annexed by Hesse-Kassel. There were also a number of smaller splinter states.
In 1622, a line of Hesse-Darmstadt had split off to become
the counts of Hesse-Homburg; the Hesse-Homburg line died out in 1866 and was reclaimed by
Hesse-Darmstadt, but a few months later became the Grand Duke's main concession to
Prussia. In the region, Prussia also acquired the Free City of Frankfurt and the Duchy
of Nassau, and Frankfurt, Nassau, Hesse-Homburg and Electoral Hesse were merged to form the
Prussian state of Hesse-Nassau.
The last Grand Duke, Ernst Ludwig, reigned from 1892 until abdicating in 1918. He was
the grandson of Queen Victoria and the brother of Tsarina Alexandra of Russia. The various
state visits by his brother-in-law Tsar Nicholas II, who was also regimental chief of the
Hessian Life Dragoons, accounts for the Russian awards, such as the Medal for Zeal, often
found even in enlisted and civilian Hesse medal groups.
In the Weimar Republic, Hesse(-Darmstadt) and Hesse-Nassau were separate states, but after
World War Two, they were merged to form the current state of Hesse (except for Rheinhessen,
which became part of the Rhineland-Palatinate).
The Army of Hesse-Darmstadt
The Hesse region had a long military tradition, mainly due to being heavily populated and located in
the crossroads of many an army, but disunity kept the Hessians from becoming a major power.
During the 1700s, Hesse was best known, especially in the English-speaking world,
for the mercenaries it provided to foreign princes, including the King of England.
Most of these came from Hesse-Kassel or the smaller splinter state of Hesse-Hanau,
however, not Hesse-Darmstadt.
Troops from Hesse-Darmstadt fought in various campaigns in the Napoleonic Wars and
the Grand Duke contributed several regiments to the armies of the German Confederation,
the North German Confederation and the Empire.
During the Franco-Prussian War, Hesse-Darmstadt contributed the Grand Ducal Hesse
25th Division (Großherzoglich Hessische (25.) Division), under
Generallieutenant Prinz Ludwig von Hessen. The division consisted of two
infantry brigades, each with two infantry regiments and one Jäger battalion, and one
cavalry brigade with two Reiter regiments. The infantry regiments had only two battalions
each, so Hesse's infantry contribution totaled 10 battalions. They were part of the IX.
Army Corps and fought in a number of the wars' major battles, including Vionville–Mars
la Tour, Gravelotte–St. Privat and Orléans.
In the Imperial German Army on the eve of World War One, Hesse's main contribution
was still the Großherzoglich Hessische (25.) Division, headquartered
in Darmstadt, and now part of the Frankfurt-based XVIII Army Corps. In peacetime, the
25th Division consisted of the following units from the Grand Duchy:
- Leibgarde-Infanterie-Regiment (1. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 115
- Infanterie-Regiment Kaiser Wilhelm (2. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 116
- Infanterie-Leibregiment Großherzogin (3. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 117
- Infanterie-Regiment Prinz Carl (4. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 118
- 5. Großherzoglich-Hessisches Infanterie-Regiment Nr. 168
- Garde-Dragoner-Regiment (1. Großherzoglich Hessisches) Nr. 23
- Leib-Dragoner-Regiment (2. Großherzog-Hessisches) Nr. 24
- 1. Großherzoglich-Hessisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 25
- 2. Großherzoglich-Hessisches Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Nr. 61
- Großherzoglich-Hessisches Train-Bataillon Nr. 18
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On mobilization, the cavalry was detached and the division assumed its wartime structure.
Reserves and Landwehr were called up. A more detailed overview of Hesse's
troops in World War I, including reserve, Landwehr and other formations, may
be found here.
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Orders and Decorations
Order of Philip the Magnanimous
Orden Philipps des Großmütigen
The Order of Philip the Magnanimous was founded on May 1, 1840 by Grand Duke Ludwig II. In
1849, swords were authorized for awards to military personnel. On May 8, 1893, the provisions
for swords were revised. Rather than distinguishing military awards from civilian awards,
they would signify bravery or merit in war, and could be earned by civilians as well. Over
the course of its existence, other revisions were made to the order, and by the early 1900s,
the order came in the following classes: Grand Cross, Commander's Cross 1st Class, Commander's Cross 2nd Class,
Honor Cross, Knight's Cross 1st Class and Knight 2nd Class. For each of these classes, a higher
grade - "with crown" - was created in 1881. There was also associated with the order a Silver Cross,
which could also be awarded with crown. After 1893, most awards of this order to military
personnel were without swords. Awards with swords remained uncommon even during World War
One, where it might have been expected that they would have become more common. Instead,
the grand duchy appears to have relied on its General Honor Decoration and, later, the
Warrior Honor Decoration, to reward bravery and military merit.
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Commander's Cross with Crown and Swords
Komturkreuz mit Krone und Schwertern
Photo credit: UBS
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Knight's Cross 1st Class
Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse
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Knight's Cross 1st Class with Crown and Swords
Ritterkreuz 1. Klasse mit Krone und Schwertern
This example appears to be a Knight 2nd Class which has been gilded, likely post-war.
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Knight's Cross 2nd Class
Ritterkreuz 2. Klasse
 
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Silver Cross with Swords, 1st Type
Silbernes Kreuz mit Schwertern, 1. Modell
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Silver Cross with Swords, 2nd Type (1859-1918)
Silbernes Kreuz mit Schwertern, 2. Modell
Click pictures above for larger images
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Military Merit Cross, 1870-71
Militär-Verdienst-Kreuz 1870/71
General Honor Decoration "For Bravery"
Allgemeines Ehrenzeichen, "Für Tapferkeit"
The General Honor Decoration, founded in 1843, was the grand duchy's default award for a variety of
situations. The obverse was the same, while the reverse differed depending on what the
award was for. The following reverses existed during the reign of Grand Duke Ernst
Ludwig:
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| | Für Tapferkeit | - For Bravery |
| Für Kriegsverdienste | - For War Merit |
| Für Verdienste | - For Merit |
| Für Treue Dienste | - For Faithful Service |
| Für Langjährige Treue Dienste | - For Long-standing Faithful Service |
| Für Fünfzigjährige Treue Dienste | - For 50 Years' Faithful Service |
| Für Rettung von Menschenleben | - For Saving of [a] Human Life |
| Für Wiederholte Rettung von Menschenleben | - For Repeated Saving of Human Life |
| Für Treue Arbeit | - For Faithful Labor |
The General Honor Decoration was awarded without regard to rank, and the "For
Bravery" and "For War Merit" were the grand duchy's standard military awards, equivalent to
the Prussian Iron Cross. It was a relatively common award - although limited by statute
to subjects of Hesse or to those serving in Hessian units, this was commonly ignored. Also,
receipt of the Iron Cross was not a prerequisite. As the archives in Darmstadt were destroyed in the Second World War, it is
unknown exactly how many were awarded, but an estimate of 150,000 for the "For
Bravery" version has been made. The medals were originally made of silver, but as World War One
progressed, less expensive materials were used, such as silvered Kriegsmetall.
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Warrior Honor Decoration in Iron
Krieger-Ehrenzeichen in Eisen
 
A Certificate for the Warrior Honor Decoration in Iron
Military Medic's Cross, 1914
Militär-Sanitäts-Kreuz, 1914
Photo credit: JF
War Honor Decoration
Kriegsehrenzeichen
Photo credit: unknown
Medal Bars
A seven-medal bar with the Hesse General Honor Decoration "For Bravery" and
Order of Philip the Magnanimous Knight 2nd Class (possibly 1st Class).
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