Landgrave Friedrich Karl has died

June 1, 1940

The Associated Press is reporting the death of Landgrave Friedrich Karl of Hesse, who was "elected King of Finland in 1918 by the Finnish Parliament but refused the throne because of the attitude of the Entente powers." He died on Wednesday at Kassel at the age of 72.

The Landgrave was a "descendant of the ancient line of Hesse-Kassel, founded in the seventeenth century by the Landgrave Charles, who later assumed the throne of Sweden." Friedrich Karl was born on May 1, 1868 at Schloss Panker, one of the family;s castles, in Holstein. He was the son of Landgrave Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse and Princess Anna of Prussia. He held the rank of Royal Highness.
Friedrich Karl succeeded as Landgrave on March 25, 1925, after the renouncement of the title by his older brother, Prince Alexander Friedrich.

On January 25, 1893 in Berlin, Prince Friedrich Karl married Princess Margarete of Prussia, the youngest sister of the former Kaiser Wilhelm II.

They were the parents of six sons, including two sets of twins. The Landgrave is succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Philipp, who was born in 1896. Philipp is married to Princess Mafalda of Savoy, and served as President of the province of Hesse. After the Nazis took power in Germany, Philipp "became a group leader of the Sturm Abteilung troops and a captain in the aviation reserve."
Friedrich Karl is also survived by his widow and three other sons, Princes Wolfgang, Richard and Christoph. Prince Wolfgang is married to Princess Marie Alexandra of Baden and is a lieutenant in the German Army's reserves. Prince Christoph is the husband of Princess Sophie of Greece, and he has served in the Reich Air Ministry.