#grand duke ernst ludwig

[grossherzoginalice]

The family of the Prince and Princess Louis of Hesse in 1872. From left to right- Irene, Ernst, Louis, Elisabeth, Alice, Victoria and Friedrich.

[adini-nikolaevna]

“I was photographed as Princess Charlotte because Grandmother thinks I look like her.”

— Princess Victoria of Hesse to her brother, Hereditary Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, 1882.

[foreverinthepagesofhistoryy]

Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana Nikolaevna playing with their little cousins Princes Georg Donatus and Ludwig of Hesse and By Rhine, also with their maternal uncle Grand Duke Ernst Louis of Hesse and By Rhine, Livadia Crimea 1912 🤍

[loiladadiani]

Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich and the Hessians

The main reason I like this picture is that Ella is smiling in a very different, spontaneous way. Her eyes are involved in the smile. She has not turned into the “ethereal” beauty yet. I don't have a date for the picture. It might be around her engagement to Serge.

In the picture, from left to right: A very young Ernst Ludwig with a pup under each arm, Ella with a little girl in her arms whom I don't know; sitting on the steps in front of Ella, Princess Victoria, standing by Ella, Princess Alix, sitting right in front of Alix, the Grand Duke Ludwig IV, and sitting next to him, Grand Duke Serge.

There are two young women in the photo, one sitting next to Victoria and the other standing behind Sergei, whom I do not know.

[princesselisabethofhesse]

1902-1903 Postcards

In December 1902, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig began his trip to India and Egypt. During his journey, he sent his daughter, Princess Elisabeth of Hesse, numerous postcards, which are preserved in the Hessian State Archives in Darmstadt.

When he departed in December 1902, Ernst Ludwig left his first “Gruss Haus Darmstadt” postcard for his beloved daughter, where he wrote in English: “Goodbye my darling. God bless you. Papa’s love is always near you, sleeping or walking."

On the outward journey, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig sent numerous postcards to Elisabeth, e.g. “tender kisses” from Paris or a picture of his hotel in Marseille with details of his balcony.

On the postcard above, written on board the Arabia on December 16, 1902, Ernst Ludwig told his daughter: "I send you a big kiss. Till now the weather was bad & I was seasick but now it is lovely & the sun is shinning & it is warm. I saw flying fish. A big kiss from Papa.” He celebrated Christmas on board the "Arabia" and Elisabeth sent him and his entourage a Christmas card.

On January 1, 1903, Ernst Ludwig enthusiastically reported to his daughter about his impressions from Delhi: “All those many people dressed in every color of the rainbow. It was lovely. A big kiss from Papa.” The cards are mostly in black and white, but for her daughter to get a better impression, he also described the colours of everything he saw.

On the postcard above, written on January 15, 1903, he wrote: "This lovely place is all in white marble with a blue (sky ?) & lots of green parrots flying about & screaming. They are green with red beak & a red ring round their necks. Papa"

Almost every day he sent his daughter postcards with picturesque pictures and short, sweet greetings. Postcards with motifs that were exotic to Elisabeth document his journey to destinations in northern India that are still classic today, such as Benares, Agra with the Taj Mahal, Jaipur and Fatehpur Sikri.

At the end of February, Ernst Ludwig finally began his return journey - but made a stopover in Egypt. On March 5, 1903, on a postcard from the Shephard's Hotel, the most famous luxury hotel in Cairo at that time, Ernst Ludwig announced to his daughter what should not be missed on a trip to Egypt: “Today, I go for a week up the Nile.”

On March 11, 1903, he sent birthday greetings to Elisabeth on a card from Aswan. He also visited Luxor and Karnak and, of course, the pyramids of Giza at the end.

On the postcard above, written on March 22, 1903, he proudly reported to Elisabeth about his climb to the pyramids: "I klimbed (sic.) up the pyramid yesterday & got very out of breath. Today I krept (sic.) into the inside. It was very difficult because all was so very slippery. Papa."

On the postcard above, written on March 23, 1903, Ernst Ludwig sent his daughter "a big hug from Papa".

He finally returned to Darmstadt via Genoa on April 3, 1903. In the following months, Ernst Ludwig continued to send postcards with loving greetings to Elisabeth from his travels through Germany. In one of his last cards, written on August 6, 1903, he told her: “Next time you must come with me.”

source: landesarchivhessen.de Thank you Thomas Aufleger for sharing this little treasure with me!

[ykzzr]

Hereditary Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine Cecilie with some friends, behind them Grand Duke Ernst Louis of Hesse and by Rhine 1930s.

[foreverinthepagesofhistory]

A candid photo of Grand Duke Ernst Louis of Hesse with his two sons Prince Georg Donatus (smiling at camera) and Prince Ludwig (looking down), Livadia 1912

[postcard-from-the-past]

Ernst Ludwig Karl Albrecht Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Hesse and her daughter Princess Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria of Hesse

German vintage postcard, mailed in 1903

[otmacamera]

5th May 1912 part 1/2

Photo 1-2 : Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna and Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna in Oreanda, 5th May 1912.

Photo 3 : Grand Duchess Eleonore of Hesse and by Rhine and Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine in Oreanda, 5th May 1912.

Photo 4 : Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna at the ruins of the Oreanda palace, 5th May 1912.

Photo 5 : Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna at the ruins of the Oreanda palace, 5th May 1912.

Photo 6 : Tsar Nicholas II at the ruins of the Oreanda palace, 5th May 1912.

Photo 7 : Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna in Oreanda, 5th May 1912.

Photo 8 : Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna and Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna in Oreanda, 5th May 1912.

"5th May. Saturday. With A[unt] and T[atiana] rode on horseback to Oreanda on the Cross Hill. Zlebov and Kublitsky had breakfast with us. In the afternoon, all together and with Mama went to Oreanda and from there we 2 with Aunts, Papa and Uncle went to Harax for tea. The weather was wonderful. Was at vsenoshchnoy. Had dinner on the balcony. There was a thunderstorm."

1912 Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna

Photos from: Tsaritsa Alexandra Feodorovna's 1912-1916 Album/ Pages 9&9b - photo 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 132 Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna's 1910-1912 Album/ Page 25b - photo 384, 385

[heavyarethecrowns]

Prince Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Ernst Ludwig of Hesse (future Grand Duke of Hesse) and Prince George of Wales (future King George V of the United Kingdom)

[stupidgirl2003]

The Old Mausoleum and Princess Elisabeth.

In the Grand Ducal Hessian family, the name Elisabeth evokes melancholic feelings; as the lives of the beholders of this beautiful name, which means 'God-given', the princesses Elisabeth, later Grand Duchess Elizaveta Feodorovna (1864-1918) and Elisabeth, Elizaveta Feodorovna's niece (1895-1903), were princesses whose lives and destinies were intermingled with happiness, devotion, service, and sadness. Today, remembering the beholders of this name, we can remember another Hessian princess named Elisabeth who, like Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig's daughter, also died in childhood. Being so young when she passed away, information about her is scarce. She was the fourth child and first daughter of the Hereditary Princely couple of Darmstadt, Ludwig and Wilhelmine, but the fact is that Elisabeth's parents had been leading separated lives for a while and, the age gap with her older brothers, Princes Ludwig and Karl, was of more than a decade. Therefore, that her biological father was not the Hereditary Prince does not come as a surprise, being the most probable biological father August von Senarclens-Grancy, a Swiss noble in service to the court. He was also the possible biological father of her younger siblings, Alexander and Marie, but, like her, they were also recognized by Ludwig. Wilhelmine's pregnancy with Elisabeth is mentioned in a letter from her sister, Russian Empress Elizaveta Alexeievna to her mother, Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt: '...I am very sorry for my poor aunt in Darmstadt [Luise, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by the Rhine, mother-in-law of Wilhelmine], whose eyes are in such a bad state. Is she happy with Mimi's [Wilhelmine's nickname] pregnancy ? Dear mother, I don't think I have been secretive with you, but when Mimi told me that I was the first person she had spoken to about her pregnancy, I thought it was not for me to be the first to speak of it, but for her in every way. I still don't know how far along she is, she hasn't told me, but I'm sure you do, dear mother...' . Three months after this letter was written, on the 20 of May of 1821, Amalie Elisabeth Luise Caroline Friederike was born. Although not directly mentioned, she was possibly named in honor of her maternal grandmother and maternal aunts and her official paternal grandmother. She, as a child, possibly spent the majority of her time with nannies that took care of her, and with her mother Wilhelmine. Elisabeth has been referred to as her mother's favorite daughter. Her mother, who loved to travel to Switzerland and had visited it several times before, decided to take all her children in a travel there, but what was to be a happy event, was marked by tragedy, as Elisabeth, in the outward journey, contracted scarlet fever and died on May 27, 1826, in Lausanne, a week after her fifth birthday.

Little Elisabeth was laid to rest first in the Darmstadt City Church for some time until 1831, when the mausoleum her mother had asked court architect Georg Moller to erect in the Rosehöhe, a most loved place for her, was finished. This mausoleum with time became an important burial place for the Hessian Grand Ducal family.

As for Wilhelmine, with the death of Elisabeth, her love for Switzerland, traveling, and life in general decayed. She said some years later 'the old wanderlust is no longer to be found in me'.

Wilhelmine died in 1836, and asked her husband, now Grand Duke Ludwig II, to have a simple funeral and to be laid to rest with her beloved Elisabeth.

Sources: L'impératrice Élisabeth, épouse d'Alexandre 1er by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, podcast 'Treffpunkt Heilingenberg' #3 'Eine Affäre in der Schweiz', Die Hessin auf dem Zarenthron: Maria, Kaiserin von Russland, http://www.park-rosenhoehe.info/Park_Geschichte.html and https://freunde-des-schlossmuseum-darmstadt.de/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/flyer_palais.pdf

Thanks to @abigaaal for her feedback on this!

[imperial-russia]

Hello, do you know if there are any surviving notes, letters, whatever, from GD Elizabeth Feodorovna, with her siblings, or Grandmother? Assuming she might had a diary, it was problably burnt after she assumed religious vows

Yes, there most definitely are letters from Ella to various people. In fact, if you are interested, there is a recent new publication with letters written to Grand Duke Ernest of Hesse by his sisters - including Ella! It is called Darling Ernie; Letters to Prince Ernst Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.

Bits of Ella´s correspondence are also included in her various biographies. I myself have included a few in my bachelor thesis, most notably the one in which Ella defends her choice to marry Sergei to her grandmother.

[otmaaromanovas]

Hi! Where do you read letters and diaries of NAOTMAA? Do you read it online and if not where do you buy books? I luv ur blog sm ❤️‍🩹🙃

Hello! Thank you for your question and compliments!

I read the diaries and letters from physical books. A few books are online, and Olga and Tatiana's diaries are online, but require institutional access - you can see more about that here.

If you have an amazon prime account or free trial, you can read some online using the kindle app.

The most prolific translator is Helen Azar, who collaborates often with George Hawkins and Nicholas B. A. Nicholson.

I am going to list all the books that I am aware of that are dedicated purely to translations:

1895 Diary of Tsar Nicholas II, Lottie Bailey 1913 Diary of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna: Complete Tercentennial Journal of the Third Daughter of the Last Tsar, Helen Azar, Amanda Madru A Lifelong Passion, Andrei Maylunas, Sergei Mironenko (this book is huge, almost 800 pages, and has translated letters and diaries from Nicholas and Alexandra, some of OTMA's notes, and extended family) Alexei: Russia's Last Tsesarevich - Letters, diaries and writings, George Hawkins Anastasia Romanov: The Tsar's Youngest Daughter Speaks Through Her Writings, Helen Azar, George Hawkins Correspondence of the Russian Grand Duchesses: Letters of the Daughters of the Last Tsar, George Hawkins In the Steps of the Romanovs: Final Two Years of Russian Imperial Family (1916-18), Helen Azar Journal of a Russian Grand Duchess: Complete Annotated 1913 Diary of Olga Romanov, Eldest Daughter of the Last Tsar, Helen Azar MARIA and ANASTASIA: The Youngest Romanov Grand Duchesses In Their Own Words, Helen Azar MARIA ROMANOV: THIRD DAUGHTER OF THE LAST TSAR. Diaries and Letters 1908-1918, Helen Azar, George Hawkins Romanov Family Yearbook: On This Date in Their Own Words, Helen Azar, Amanda Madru Russia's Last Romanovs: In Their Own Words, Helen Azar Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913–1918, Helen Azar, Nicholas B.A. Nicholson The Complete Wartime Correspondence of Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra, April 1914-March 1917 (Documentary Reference Collections), Joseph Fuhrmann (at a whopping 800 pages, this book went out of print several years ago. It not sells for over $100 regularly, though you can get it cheaper second hand. It is the only completely uncut edition of all of Nicholas and Alexandra's telegrams and letters during WWI.) The Correspondence of the Empress Alexandra of Russia with Ernst Ludwig and Eleonore, Grand Duke and Duchess of Hesse. 1878-1916, Petra H. Kleinpenning (includes both the original German letters and English translations) The Diary of Grand Duchess Olga Nicholaievna - 1913, Marina Petrov, Reagan Baker The Diary of Olga Romanov: Royal Witness to the Russian Revolution, Helen Azar The Last Diary of the Tsaritsa Alexandra, Vladimir Khrustalev, Robert K. Massie

Diaries and letters are occasionally quoted by historians in their books, but books solely dedicated to these writings tend to not be online for free reading unfortunately. However, here are a few:

Nicholas's 1917-1918 diary is translated and available to read for free here!

A Lifelong Passion is available to read for free here!

Anna Vyrubova includes a few letters from Alexandra, which you can read for free here!

My recommendations if you are just starting to get into the Romanovs and their writings would be either A Lifelong Passion, Correspondence of the Grand Duchesses, and the diaries and letters of OTMAA. Note that some of the other books by Azar have letters from other members of the family, rather than being focussed on just one member, so expect repeated letters and diary entries if you decide to purchase all of her books. For example, letters published in Maria's book are also published in the book dedicated to Maria and Anastasia.

In terms of where I buy them, I like to get my books second hand - helps out the planet and also means that you usually can get a good discount!! Translated books often aren't cheap, because of the time and money spent visiting archives and translating each piece of writing individually. For example, I managed to get a book almost 70% cheaper than the retail price by buying it second hand. I use websites like eBay, WOB (world of books), and abebooks.

I hope that this was helpful!

[loiladadiani]

Nicholas II, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse, Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duke Ernst’s sons and unknown ladies, probably Nannies

Grand Duchess Anastasia and her cousins. There is a little boy I don’t recognize.

Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig with his sons, George Donatus and Ludwig and his nieces the Grand Duchesses.

Tsar Nicholas II and Grand Duke Ernst were excellent fathers who enjoyed their children

[princesselisabethofhesse]

Cabinet photograph by Hugo Thiele depicting Princess Elisabeth of Hesse with her father, Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, in 1903.

source: Hessisches Staatsarchiv Darmstadt

+close-up enhance & edited by me

[ykzzr]

Grand Duke of Hesse Ernest Louis and his family 1920s

Grand Duchess of Hesse Eleonore, Georg Donatus Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, Grand Duke of Hesse Ernst Louis , Prince Louis (Ludwig) of Hesse.