Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse (Georg Donatus Wilhelm Nikolaus Eduard Heinrich Karl, 8 November 1906 – 16 November 1937), was the first child of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, and his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich. He was a nephew of Empress Alexandra and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and a great-grandson of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Marriage and children On 2 February 1931, in Darmstadt, Georg Donatus, a great-grandson of Queen Victoria, married his first cousin once removed, Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, daughter of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The couple had four children:
Prince Ludwig Ernst Andreas of Hesse and by Rhine (25 October 1931 – 16 November 1937), killed in the air accident. Prince Alexander Georg Karl Heinrich of Hesse and by Rhine (14 April 1933 – 16 November 1937), killed in the air accident. Princess Johanna Marina Eleonore of Hesse and by Rhine (20 September 1936 – 14 June 1939), died from meningitis. Unnamed son (16 November 1937), apparently born just before the air accident."Curse of Hesse". Time 29 November 1937. "Searchers poking in the charred wreck of the plane stumbled on the remains of an infant, prematurely delivered when the plane crashed." Retrieved 20 December 2009
On 1 May 1937, Georg Donatus and Cecilie both joined the Nazi Party.Jonathan Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 382.
Death In October 1937, Georg Donatus's father, Grand Duke Ernest Louis of Hesse, died.
A few weeks after the funeral, his younger brother, Prince Louis, was due to marry the Hon. Margaret Geddes, daughter of Lord Geddes. On 16 November 1937, Georg Donatus, Cecilie, their two young sons, Georg Donatus's mother, Grand Duchess Eleonore, the children's nurse, a family friend, a pilot, and two crewmen took off in a Sabena Junkers Ju 52 aeroplane from Darmstadt, bound for the United Kingdom, where Louis's marriage ceremony was to take place. The aeroplane struck a factory chimney near Ostend, in Belgium, and crashed, bursting into flames and killing everyone on board. Cecilie was in an advanced state of pregnancy with their fourth child at the time of the crash. The remains of the newborn baby were found in the wreckage, indicating that Cecilie had gone into labour during the flight. The inquiry by the Belgian authorities suggested that, because of the birth, the pilot had attempted to land at the Stene aerodrome in Ostend despite poor weather conditions.
Aftermath Louis's wedding had been scheduled for the 20 November but, following discussions with his future father-in-law Lord Geddes, was brought forward to the day after the accident (17 November) as a small and quiet ceremony, with the guests dressed in mourning.
Immediately afterwards, he set off with his new wife Margaret, to Belgium to visit the crash site. The funeral and burial of Georg Donatus and his family took place at the Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Hesse, a few days later. Among those attending were Prince Philip, Prince Christoph of Hesse, Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Prince Philipp of Hesse, Berthold, Margrave of Baden, Prince August Wilhelm of Prussia, and Lord Louis Mountbatten. A photograph of the funeral procession, showing Prince Louis as chief mourner, depicts crowds saluting the mourners with the Hitler salute. World War II began less than two years later.
Georg Donatus and Cecilie's 14‑month‑old daughter, Johanna, was the only member of the immediate family who was not on board the aircraft. She was adopted by her uncle Louis and aunt Margaret in early 1938. Johanna died of meningitis in 1939.
With the death of the childless Louis in 1968, the male line of the Hesse and by Rhine became extinct.
Titles 8 November 1906 – 16 November 1937: His Royal Highness The Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine
Georg Donatus never acceded to the grand‑ducal throne, as it had been abolished at the end of the First World War. After that point, former titles were often adopted as surnames, and it became uncommon for the head of a royal, grand‑ducal, or ducal family to change his title upon succeeding as head of the house.
Ancestry
Patrilineal descent Gilbert I, Count of the Maasgau, d. 842 Gilbert II, Count of the Maasgau, 825–875 Reginar, Duke of Lorraine, 850–915 Reginar II, Count of Hainaut, 890–932 Reginar III, Count of Hainaut, 920–973 Lambert I, Count of Leuven, 950–1015 Lambert II, Count of Leuven, d. 1054 Henry II, Count of Leuven, 1020–1078 Godfrey I, Count of Leuven, 1060–1139 Godfrey II, Count of Leuven, 1187–1226 Godfrey III, Count of Leuven, 1140–1190 Henry I, Duke of Brabant, 1165–1235 Henry II, Duke of Brabant, 1207–1248 Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1244–1308 Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1272–1328 Louis the Junker of Hesse, 1305–1345 Hermann II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1341–1413 Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1402–1458 Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1438–1471 William II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1469–1509 Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1504–1567 George I, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1547–1596 Louis V, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1577–1626 George II, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1605–1661 Louis VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1630–1678 Ernest Louis, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1667–1739 Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1691–1768 Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, 1719–1790 Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1753–1830 Louis II, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1777–1848 Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine, 1809–1877 Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1837–1892 Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, 1868–1937 Georg Donatus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Hesse, 1906–1937
See also Sabena OO-AUB Ostend crash Former German nobility in the Nazi Party
References
Works cited