Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse
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| Frederick Charles | |
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| Landgrave of Hesse | |
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| Reign | 9 October 1918 - 14 December 1918 |
| Predecessor | Elected king |
| Regent | Pehr Evind Svinhufvud |
| Successor | Renounced throne |
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| 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 Richard |
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| Full name | |
| Frederick Charles Louis Constantine | |
| Father | Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse |
| Mother | Princess Anna of Prussia |
| Born | 1 May 1868 Gut Panker, Plön, |
| Died | May 28, 1940 (aged 72) |
Frederick Charles Louis Constantine, Prince and Landgrave of Hesse (May 1, 1868, Gut Panker – May 28, 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 October 9 to December 14, 1918.
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[edit] 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).
On January 25, 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 (1893–1916), died in World War I
- Maximilian Friedrich Wilhelm Georg (1894–1914), 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.
[edit] The Finnish throne
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.
[edit] Later life
Landgrave Alexander of Hesse abdicated as the head of the House of Hesse on March 15, 1925, and was succeeded by Frederick, 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.
[edit] See also
- List of Finnish monarchs
- Rulers of Hesse
- Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria
- Mindaugas II of Lithuania
[edit] Ancestry
[edit] References
- Large article on Helsingin Sanomat newspaper about Friedrich Karl and his descendants, including the current "pretender" for the throne.
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| Preceded by Grand Duke Nicholas II of Finland |
King-elect of Finland October 9, 1918 – December 14, 1918 |
Succeeded by Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim as Regent |
| Preceded by Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht Georg |
Head of the House of Hesse March 15, 1925 – May 28, 1940 |
Succeeded by Landgraf Philipp |
