My latest Hessian

[Liongules]

Well, as I've said many, many times I can't afford haubes, I just love to look at the ones you guys have and learn about them, so I collect postcards instead. I concentrate almost exclusively on royalty and nobility. Lately I've been keeping my eye out for colorized cards and I just recently got this nice one of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig from evilBay.

 

[Rendsburg]

Hi Mike,
I love it.
Otto

 

[joerookery]

Nice card Mike! Ok here is the Hessian question that you MIGHT know. During the 1866 war all the Hesse's joined Austria as a result of a German Confederation vote. As a result of the war, Hesse-Kassel and Homberg were absorbed by Prussia. Hesse-Darmstadt was not. Why? Were the nobilities common? I understand Hannover, I even understand the absorption of the neutral Frankfort. I do not understand this.

 

[Liongules]

Nice card Mike! Ok here is the Hessian question that you MIGHT know. During the 1866 war all the Hesse's joined Austria as a result of a German Confederation vote. As a result of the war, Hesse-Kassel and Homberg were absorbed by Prussia. Hesse-Darmstadt was not. Why? Were the nobilities common? I understand Hannover, I even understand the absorption of the neutral Frankfort. I do not understand this.

Joe,

I'm no expert, but I did some hunting and here's something I came up with.

In the War of 1866, it fought on the side of Austria against Prussia, but retained its autonomy in defeat, because a greater part of the country was situated south of the Main river and Prussia did not dare to expand beyond the Main line as this might have provoked France. But the parts of Hesse-Darmstadt north of the Main river (the region around the town of Gießen, commonly called Oberhessen) were incorporated in the Norddeutscher Bund, a tight federation of German states, established by Prussia in 1867. In 1871 the rest of the Grand Duchy joined the German Empire.

So it appears that the part of Hesse that was NORTH of the Main River was absorbed into Prussia, but the lower, larger, portion remained independent and then joined the Empire in 1871.

That's about all I could find on the subject.

Mike

 

[joerookery]

Tilt.
Mike this is not an easy nut! Let me make it more complex. Hesse Darmstadt North of ther Main was part of the North German Federation. The enclave to the south WAS NOT!.. I read the quote but I do not think so. It is a real conundrum. A separate agreement was needed to bring the southern enclave in to the Bund. If the quote were accurate why was Darmstadt left with two different enclaves. Something else I think but what?

 

[Liongules]

Tilt.
Mike this is not an easy nut! Let me make it more complex. Hesse Darmstadt North of ther Main was part of the North German Federation. The enclave to the south WAS NOT!.. I read the quote but I do not think so. It is a real conundrum. A separate agreement was needed to bring the southern enclave in to the Bund. If the quote were accurate why was Darmstadt left with two different enclaves. Something else I think but what?

Joe,

Here is the reply I got from Dave Danner on the other forum I posted this question on:

There was only one other Hesse at the time, the Electoral Principality of Hesse-Kassel (Kurfürstentum Hessen-Kassel). Hesse-Homburg's line had died out in March 1866 and passed to Hesse-Darmstadt. The Duchy of Nassau was, with Hesse-Kassel, the Kingdom of Hannover and the city-state of Frankfurt, the other states of north Germany on the losing side.

Hesse-Darmstadt did lose territory in the war, though not its independence. It lost the recently acquired Hesse-Homburg and a few smaller enclaves (such as Vöhl and Biedenkopf). Ironically, though, it gained as well, as parts of Hesse-Kassel were joined to it rather than the new Prussian province of Hessen-Hassau.

Hesse-Darmstadt was not the only state that fought against Prussia but maintained its independence. Baden, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemberg, Sachsen-Meiningen, Schaumburg-Lippe and Reuß-Greiz also were all on the losing side and had to pay indemnity to Prussia and/or lose territory, but all remained independent.

Notwithstanding its rapid victory over Austria, Prussia could still fear losing if it pushed too far too fast. Allowing the southern states to retain their independence left a buffer running from Saxony to the Saxon duchies to Bavaria to Hesse to Bavaria again (the Palatinate) and down to Baden and Württemberg against not only France but also Austria.

Internal politics also probably played a role. Elector Friedrich Wilhelm I of Hesse-Cassel was an unpopular reactionary. King Georg V of Hannover (grandson of King George III of England) had opposed his own Landtag's desire to remain neutral in the conflict between Prussia and Austria. This doesn't explain all - Duke Adolf of Nassau was apparently relatively popular in his duchy - but local popularity may have been a factor in helping various rulers retain the loyalty of their subjects and making Prussia think twice about the costs of annexation.

Again, I don't really know, so this is just someone else's input.