Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse


Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse was the son of Prince Philip, Landgrave of Hesse, and the head of the House of Hesse, also known as the House of Brabant.

Life

Landgrave Moritz was born at Racconigi Castle, in Italy. During the Second World War, Moritz's mother, Princess Mafalda of Savoy, was arrested by the Nazis for alleged subversive activities and died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944 as a result of a U.S. bombing raid on the camp. Moritz and his siblings were given sanctuary in the Vatican under the care of their uncle Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine and aunt Margaret Campbell Geddes who adopted them.
After the War they were reunited with their father in Germany. Together with his younger brothers, he took part in the ship tour organized by Queen Frederica and her husband King Paul of Greece in 1954, which became known as the “Cruise of the Kings” and was attended by over 100 royals from all over Europe.
Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, the last head of the Hesse-Darmstadt line, died in 1968, at which time Moritz's father succeeded him as head of the entire house. Moritz became the head of the House of Hesse after the death of his father Philip on 25 October 1980.
Moritz was a world-famous art collector. He presided over the Foundation of the House of Hesse which is the proprietor of the Kronberg Palace Hotel and several manor estates and palaces. He lived at Schloß Wolfsgarten south of Frankfurt am Main and Panker estate in Schleswig-Holstein
He died aged 86 of a lung disease in a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany.

Marriage and children

Moritz married Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, daughter of Prince Gustav Albrecht. Their marriage took place in the summer of 1964 in Giessen and ended in divorce in 1974. They had four children.