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| Schloss Friedrichshof |
HRH Donatus, Landgrave of Hesse, and Benedikt Kuhn, head of the Hessian State Chancellery, are in discussions for a transfer of Hessian properties to the German state of Hesse. The properties include Schloss Fasanerie and Schloss Friedrichshof in Kronberg.
He is the eldest son of the late Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, and Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg.
The Frankfurt Allgemeine (FAZ) was the first to report the possible transfer of historic lands and artwork to Hesse.
The Landgrave of Hesse said, "For almost 100 years, since 1928, we have been fulfilling a quasi-sovereign duty through our foundations. Originally,. This was done solely through the Hessian House Foundation (Hessisches Hausstiftung); in 2012, we established the non-profit Cultural Foundation as a separate entity from the House Foundation. Our sovereign duty is to preserve the castles and art objects and make them accessible to the public. However, these obligations have become too great because costs have risen dramatically in recent years, especially since the pandemic. We are reaching our financial limits."
He was adamant that the properties are not in dilapidated conditions.
"No, the properties are in truly excellent conditions. Especially Schloss Fasanerie, there aren't many comparable buildings in Germany. But of course, maintaining such buildings is an ongoing process; they're never truly finished. And that's where we've reached our limits. That's why we approached the state government to see if it would be willing to assume responsibility for the cultural foundation."
The two "crown jewels in the list of properties are Schloss Fasanerie in Eichenzell, near Fulda, and Schloss Friedrichof in Kronberg.
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| Schloss Fasanerie |
Fasanerie has often been described as the "Hessen Versailles." Schloss Friedrichshof was built between 1880 and 1893 following the death of Emperor Friedrich III. The castle was named for the late emperor who was married to Princess Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Empress Friedrich, as she was styled after her husband's death, lived in the castle until her death in 1901. She left the estate to her youngest daughter, Princess Margarete, who was married to Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hesse. In 1925, hesucceeded as the Landgrave of Hesse.
During the Second World War, Margarete's son, Prince Wolfgang, hid the family jewels in a zinc-lined box in a sub-cellar of the castle. After the war, Friedrichshof was commandeered as a US Army officers' club. The club's manager, Captain Kathleen Nash, found the jewels. With her future husband, Captain Jack Durant, and Major David Wilson, the jewels were broken into pieces and sold. It was not until 1946 that Princess Margarete discovered the theft. She had planned to lend the jewels to her widowed daughter-in-law, Princess Sophie, who was going to marry Prince Georg Wilhelm of Hanover.
The two women reported the theft to US officials.
In 1951, the three Americans were arrested, tried, and sentenced to jail time. Only 10% of the jewels were found.
In 1954, the Schloss became Schlosshotel Friedrichshof. I had the pleasure of staying at the hotel for two nights in the late 1980s as the guest of HRH Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse. I had the run of the place and got a private tour from the Landgrave, which included Empress Friedrich's suite.
https://schlosshotel-kronberg.com/en/hotel/geschichte
The value of the properties is "internally estimated" at 450 million Euros. The Hessian collection includes tens of thousands of artworks.
Benedict Kuhn said, "This offer from the House of Hesse represents a great show of trust in the state. We see it as an opportunity to jointly preserve our state's cultural treasures. There is, after all, a long and established history between the House of Hesse and the state of Hesse. Much of what we exhibit in the State Palaces and Gardens is on loan from the House of Hesse. We can build upon this shared heritage. Therefore, it goes without saying that we will examine this offer very closely and determine whether and how we can realize this opportunity together."
Donatus acknowledged that we will have to "submit applications to the Hessian House Foundation to our supervisory authority, the Fideicommis Court, a senate of the Higher Regional Court." This will be followed by submitting a "further application to the Regional Council for the Cultural Foundation of the House of Hesse."
The purpose of the Fiedeicommiss Court is to make sure the Hessian Foundation is not "depleted and unable to fulfil its duties." The Landgrave plans to transfer "assets of comparable size", which will include properties in Munich and Frankfurt. According to Donatus, the "aim of this transaction is to stabilize both the charitable Cultural Foundation of the House of Hesse and the Hessian House Foundation."
There would still be "significant challenges," Donatus said. "To fulfil these challenges, we need financial resources, and we have to generate them."
The Hessische Hausstiftung's holdings comprise Schloss Wolfsgarten, in Langen, the art collection at Wolfsgarten, the art and cultural collection at the Schloss Museum, and the Die Großherzoglich-Hessische Porzellansammlung (Porcelain Museum) in Darmstadt, Kronberg Castle's chapel and cemetery, the cemetery at Schloss Rumpenheim's chapelin Offenbach, Schloss Panker and properties in Schleswig-Holstein.
Schloss Rumpenheim was bombed during World War II. In 1965, the town of Offenbach purchased the castle and park from the Hausstiftung and restored it as luxury apartments.
With the exception of Schloss Friedrichshof, these properties will remain with the House of Hesse. The palace and the hotel will be transferred to the Cultural Foundation, established in 2012 as a "spin-off" of the Hausstiftung. The other properties in this foundation include Schloss Fasanerie and its museum, artworks, park, and forests; Schloss Friedrichshof's artworks and collections; the palace's park and golf course; a golf course and buildings in Hanau-Wilhelmsbad; and the two mausoleums in Rosenhöhe in Darmstadt.
The income from the Munich properties will be used to "maintain the cultural assets in Hesse" that remain with the Hausstifung.
Wolfsgarten, the Darmstadt properties, and the Mausoleums were part of the Hesse and By Rhine inheritance. In 1960, Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine adopted Prince Moritz as his heir. Ludwig was the last male in the Hesse and By Rhine line. He and his wife, the Hon. Margaret Campbell Geddes, had no children.
Ludwig was the younger son of HRH Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine and his second wife, Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.
His elder brother, HRH Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus, was married to Princess Cecilie of Greece and Denmark, an older sister of Princess Sophie, whose first husband was Prince Christoph of Hesse. Georg Donatus, Cecilie, their two sons, Ludwig and Alexander, Grand Duchess Eleonore, and several others, were killed in a plane crash in Belgium in November 1937, en route to Ludwig and Margaret's wedding. Left behind at Wolfsgarten was their year-old daughter, Johanna Marina, who was adopted by Ludwig and Margaret. She died from meningitis in June 1939.
The mausoleums and burial ground at Rosenhöhe include the graves and tombs for the Grand Dukes of Hesse and By Rhine and members of their family. Queen Victoria's second daughter, Princess Alice, who in 1862 married Grand Duke Ludwig IV of Hesse and by Rhine, is interred in the Mausoleum.
When I visited Darmstadt in the late 1980s, I had the privilege of entering the Mausoleum, where I saw the graves of Alice and Ludwig. Outside the Mausoleum are the graves for Georg Donatus and his family, Prince Ludwig and Princess Margaret, and Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine, who was Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig's daughter from his first marriage to Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh, Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
I was given the tour by Dr. Manfred Knodt, a Lutheran Pastor, who was also an authority on the Grand Ducal family. He was one of several people with a key to the Mausoleum.
Kuhn says the offer will be examined "very carefully." There are questions about the state government owning a historic five-star hotel. The Schloss, according to Kuhn, "has enormous significance in shaping our identity. And it also has potential future development."
One of FAZ's writers, Carsten Knop, considers the Hessian state "operating a five-star hotel in a listed castle is a high-risk venture."
Landgrave Donatus is confident that the acquisition would be a win-win situation for Hesse and for his family. "I believe we could get a bit closer to the same level as Bavaria. Just think of the antiquities collection of the Cultural Foundation, one of the most private collections of its kind north of the Alps, but also the collections of porcelain, furniture, and paintings."
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-hesse-air-tragedy-november-16-1937.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-curse-of-november-16.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2011/11/prince-ludwig-marries-after-air-crash.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2020/12/sophie-of-greece-weds-prince-christoph.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/10/former-grand-duke-of-hesse-has-died.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2017/04/princess-margarete-identifies-hessian.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2013/01/royal-marriage-prussia-hesse.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2010/06/landgrave-friedrich-karl-has-died.html
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2011/07/von-hesse-family-sells-holbein-madonna.html
https://schlosshotel-kronberg.com/en
https://www.schloss-fasanerie.de/startseite/
https://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2013/11/looking-back-1984.html
I am one of the experts on the jewel heist in this program.
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