- Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse
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Frederick Charles Landgrave of Hesse King Elect of Finland Reign 9 October 1918 – 14 December 1918 Predecessor Elected king Successor Renounced throne Regent Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Head of the House of Hesse Reign 15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940 Predecessor Alexander Frederick Successor Philipp Spouse Princess Margaret of Prussia Issue Prince Friedrich Wilhelm
Prince Maximilian
Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse
Prince Wolfgang
Prince Christoph
Prince RichardFull name Frederick Charles Louis Constantine Father Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse Mother Princess Anna of Prussia Born 1 May 1868
Gut Panker, Plön, Kingdom of PrussiaDied 28 May 1940 (aged 72)
Kassel, Nazi GermanyReligion Lutheran Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (1 May 1868, Gut Panker – 28 May 1940, Kassel), Friedrich Karl Ludwig Konstantin Prinz und Landgraf von Hessen-Kassel in German, was the brother-in-law of the German Emperor William II and the elected King of Finland from 9 October to 14 December 1918.
Contents
Early life
Frederick was born at his family's manor, Gut Panker, in Plön, Holstein. He was the third son of Frederick William of Hesse, the then Landgrave of Hesse, and his wife Princess Anna of Prussia, daughter of Prince Charles of Prussia and Princess Marie Louise of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. The elder Frederick, a Danish military officer, had been one (and perhaps the foremost) of the candidates of Christian VIII of Denmark in the 1840s to succeed to the Danish throne if the latter's male line died out, but renounced his rights to the throne in 1851 in favor of his sister, Louise. The elder Frederick was of practically Danish upbringing, having lived all his life in Denmark, but in 1875, when the senior branch of Hesse-Kassel became extinct, he settled in northern Germany, where the House had substantial landholdings.
Eighteen days after his own birth, the baby Frederick's first cousin, the then Tsarevna Maria Fyodorovna of Russia, daughter of his aunt Queen Louise of Denmark, gave birth in Saint Petersburg to Nicholas II of Russia, who would become Frederick Charles' predecessor as the monarch of Finland (1894–1917).
Marriage
On 25 January 1893, Frederick married Princess Margaret of Prussia, the youngest daughter of the late Frederick III, German Emperor and Victoria, Princess Royal, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. They had six children, including two sets of twins:
- Friedrich Wilhelm Sigismund (23 November 1893-12 September 1916), died in World War I
- Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg (20 October 1894–13 October 1914), died in World War I
- Philipp (1896–1980) married to Princess Mafalda of Savoy (1902–1944, Buchenwald), had issue.
- Wolfgang Moritz (1896–1989)
- Prince Christoph Ernst August of Hesse (1901–1943) married Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, had issue.
- Richard Wilhelm Leopold (1901–1969), unmarried
Upon their father's death in 1884, Frederick's eldest brother Frederick William became the head of the House of Hesse, and afterwards his next brother Alexander.
The Finnish throne
Main article: Kingdom of Finland (1918)Frederick Charles was elected as the King of Finland by the Parliament of Finland on 9 October 1918. However, with the end of World War I, in light of his German birth and the abdication of Emperor William II of Germany ending monarchies in Germany, the arrangement was quickly considered untenable by influential Finns of the time and by Frederick himself. Not much is known of the official stance of the victorious allies. Frederick Charles renounced the throne on 14 December 1918, without ever arriving in the country, much less taking up his position. Finland subsequently adopted a republican constitution.
Later life
Landgrave Alexander Frederick of Hesse abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse on 16 March 1925, and was succeeded by Frederick Charles, his younger brother.
At Frederick's death, his eldest surviving son, Philipp, succeeded him as head.
However, according to certain family documents and correspondence, his successor as King of Finland would have been his second surviving son Prince Wolfgang of Hesse (1896–1989), apparently because Wolfgang was with his parents in 1918 and ready to travel to Finland, where a wedding to a Finnish lady was already in preparation for the coming Crown Prince. Philipp was in the military and unable to be contacted at the time. This choice of the younger of these two twins at that time, however is no precedent that in next generations, the kingship would have been succeeded in secundogeniture, putting the eldest son always to the Hesse title (according to Dr. Vesa Vares). On the contrary, it is practically inconceivable that succession of a kingdom would depend on secondary consideration. the source Viini 2/2007 (in Finnish) indicates a view that Moritz of Hesse is the current successor, and prince Donatus is the heir.
Titles and styles
- 1 May 1868 – 14 October 1888: His Serene Highness Prince Fredrick Charles of Hesse
- 14 October 1888 – 15 March 1925: His Serene Highness The Hereditary Prince of Hesse
- 9 October 1918 – 14 December 1918: His Majesty The King of Finland and Karelia, Duke of Åland, Grand Duke of Lapland, Lord of Kaleva and the North
- 15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940: His Highness The Landgrave of Hesse
See also
- List of Finnish monarchs
- Rulers of Hesse
- Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
- Mindaugas II of Lithuania
Ancestry
Ancestors of Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse References
- Large article on Helsingin Sanomat newspaper about Friedrich Karl and his descendants, including the current "pretender" for the throne.
External links
Prince Frederick Charles of HesseHouse of HesseBorn: 6 November 1896 Died: 12 July 1989Preceded by
Alexander Frederick of HesseHead of the House of Hesse
15 March 1925 – 28 May 1940Succeeded by
Landgraf PhilippPreceded by
Grand Duke Nicholas II of FinlandKing-elect of Finland
9 October 1918 – 14 December 1918Succeeded by
Office abolished
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud as Regent (New creation)Titles in pretence New title — TITULAR —
King of Finland
14 December 1918 - 28 May 1940
Reason for succession failure:
Kingdom never establishedSucceeded by
Prince Wolfgang of Hesse3rd generation Prince Frederik* · Prince Christian* · William II* · Prince William* · Prince Charles Frederick* · Prince Frederick William* · Prince Louis Charles* · Prince George Charles*4th generation 5th generation Prince William · Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse · Alexander Frederick, Landgrave of Hesse · Väinö I, King-Elect of Finland6th generation Prince Friedrich Wilhelm · Prince Maximilian · Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse · Wolfgang, Crown Prince of Finland · Prince Christoph · Prince Richard7th generation Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse · Prince Heinrich · Prince Otto Adolf · Prince Karl Adolf · Prince Rainer8th generation 9th generation Prince Moritz · Prince Tito* prince and landgrave of Hesse-Kassel until 1803Categories:- Rulers of Finland
- House of Hesse-Kassel
- German princes
- 1868 births
- 1940 deaths
- Equestrians at the 1912 Summer Olympics
- Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath
- Kings
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