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Germany. German States. Hesse-Darmstadt
Ernst Ludwig – Grand Duke of Hesse: 1892-1918
400th Anniversary of Philipp the Magnanimous Commemorative issue
1904 Silver 5 Mark 38mm (27.78 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.8037 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 373 | Mintage: 40,000
PHILIPP.LANDGRAF.Z.HESSEN.ERNST.LUDWIG.GROSSHERZOG.V.HESSEN.U.B.R. VERBUM.ONI.MANET. / IN.AETERNUM. 13.NOV. .1504-1904., Conjoined heads of Ernst Ludwig and Philipp the Magnonimous.
DEUTSCHES REICH 1904 * FÜNF MARK *, Crowned German imperial coat-of-arms eagle.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
The Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (German: Landgrafschaft Hessen-Darmstadt) was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a younger branch of the House of Hesse. It was formed in 1567 following the division of the Landgraviate of Hesse between the four sons of Landgrave Philip I.
The residence of the landgraves was in Darmstadt, hence the name. As a result of the Napoleonic Wars, the landgraviate was elevated to the Grand Duchy of Hesse following the Empire’s dissolution in 1806.
 Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse (13 November 1504 – 31 March 1567), nicknamed der Großmütige (“the magnanimous”), was a champion of the Protestant Reformation and one of the most important of the early Protestant rulers in Germany.
Introduction of the Reformation in Hesse
Although there was no strong popular movement for Protestantism in Hesse, Philip determined to organize the church there according to Protestant principles. In this he was aided not only by his chancellor, the humanist Johann Feige, and his chaplain, Adam Krafft, but also by the ex-Franciscan François Lambert of Avignon, a staunch enemy of the faith he had left. While the radical policy of Lambert, embodied in the Homberg church order, was abandoned, at least in part, the monasteries and religious foundations were dissolved and their property was applied to charitable and scholastic purposes. The University of Marburg was founded in the summer of 1527 to be, like the University of Wittenberg, a school for Protestant theologians.
Philip’s father-in-law George, Duke of Saxony, the bishop of Würzburg, Konrad II von Thungen, and the archbishop of Mainz, Albert III of Brandenburg, were active in agitating against the growth of the Reformation. Their activities, along with other circumstances, including rumors of war, convinced Philip of the existence of a secret league among the Roman Catholic princes. His suspicions were confirmed to his own satisfaction by a forgery given him by an adventurer who had been employed in important missions by George of Saxony, one Otto von Pack. After meeting with Elector John of Saxony in Weimar on 9 March 1528, it was agreed that the Protestant princes should take the offensive in order to protect their territories from invasion and capture.
Both Luther and the elector’s chancellor, Gregor Brück, though convinced of the existence of the conspiracy, counseled strongly against acting on the offensive. The imperial authorities at Speyer now forbade all breach of the peace, and, after long negotiations, Philip succeeded in extorting the expenses for his armament from the dioceses of Würzburg, Bamberg, and Mainz, the latter bishopric also being compelled to recognize the validity of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Hessian and Saxon territory until the Holy Roman Emperor or a Christian council should decide to the contrary.
Political conditions were nonetheless very unfavorable to Philip, who might easily be charged with disturbing the peace of the empire, and at the Second Diet of Speyer, in the spring of 1529, he was publicly ignored by Emperor Charles V. Nevertheless, he took an active part in uniting the Protestant representatives, as well as in preparing the celebrated Protestation at Speyer. Before leaving the city he succeeded in forming, on 22 April 1529, a secret understanding between Saxony, Hesse, Nuremberg, Strasburg, and Ulm.
 Ernest Louis Charles Albert William (German: Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm; 25 November 1868 – 9 October 1937) was the last Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, reigning from 1892 until 1918.
Grand Duke of Hesse
In 1892, Ernest Louis succeeded his father as grand duke.
Throughout his life, Ernest Louis was a patron of the arts, founding the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony, and was himself an author of poems, plays, essays, and piano compositions.
Ernest Louis commissioned the New Mausoleum in 1903. It was consecrated on 3 November 1910, in the presence of the Grand Duke and his immediate family, that is to say, his wife Eleonore, Tsar Nicholas II and his two sisters, the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna of Russia, Grand Duchess Elisabeth Feodorovna (Ella), Victoria Princess Louis of Battenberg and her daughter, Louise, and Princess Heinrich of Prussia accompanied by her husband. The remains of Grand Duke Ludwig IV, Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine along with their children ‘Frittie’ and ‘May’ were re-interred in the New Mausoleum.
Death
In October 1937, Ernest Louis died after a long illness at Schloß Wolfsgarten, near Darmstadt. He received what amounted to a state funeral on 16 November 1937 and was buried next to his daughter, Elisabeth, in a new open air burial ground next to the New Mausoleum he had built in the Rosenhöhe park in Darmstadt.[15]
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