Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse

Princess Mafalda with her two sons, Moritz and Heinrich in the 1930s.

Moritz with Emil Eikner (wearing the Swedish Costume of 1778) and Jacob Truedson Demitz at Kronberg in 2010.

Landgrave Moritz was born at Racconigi Castle, in Italy. During the Second World War, Moritz's mother, Princess Mafalda of Savoy, was arrested by the Nazis for alleged subversive activities and died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1944.

Prince Louis of Hesse and by Rhine, the last head of the Hesse-Darmstadt line, died in 1968, at which time Moritz's father succeeded him as head of the entire house. He had been the head of the House of Hesse since the death of his father Philip on 25 October 1980.

Moritz was a world-famous art collector. He was also the proprietor of the Kronberg Palace Hotel up until his death.

He died of lung illness in a hospital in Frankfurt, Germany.

Moritz married Princess Tatiana of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. Their marriage took place in the summer of 1964 in Giessen and ended in divorce in 1974. They had four children:

• Princess Mafalda Margarethe of Hesse (born 6 July 1965). Married 1st, Enrico dei Conti Marone Cinzano (born 5 April 1963 Turin) on 8 July 1989 (div. 1990), no issue. Married 2nd, Carlo Galdo (born 26 March 1954, Naples) on 19 December 1991 (div. 1999) and had two daughters, Tatiana Marie Galdo (born 20 January 1992) and Polissena Galdo (born 30 September 1993). Married 3rd Ferdinando dei Conti Brachetti-Peretti (born 13 January 1960, Rome) on 14 July 2000 in Rome (div. 2014), and had two sons, Cosmo Maria Tebaldo Maurizio Enrico Brachetti-Peretti (born 11 January 2000) and Briano Maria Tebaldo Brachetti-Peretti (born 16 April 2002).
• Landgrave Heinrich Donatus Philipp Umberto of Hesse (born 17 October 1966). Married Countess Floria of Faber-Castell (born 14 October 1974, Düsseldorf, Germany) in 2003 and has a daughter and two sons, Princess Paulina and Hereditary Prince Moritz (twins, born 26 March 2007, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) and Prince August (born 24 August 2012).
• Princess Elena Elisabeth Madeleine of Hesse (born 8 November 1967). She has an illegitimate daughter with Massimo Caiazzo (born 1976), Madeleine Immacolata Tatiana Theresa Caiazzo (born 29 November 1999).
• Prince Philip Robin of Hesse (born 17 September 1970). Married Laetitia Bechtolf (born 5 May 1978, Wedel, Pinneberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) on 5 May 2006 (civil wedding) and 10 June 2006 (religious wedding), and has three children: Princess Elena Margherita Lotti Christiane Elisabeth (born 5 December 2006), Prince Tito (born 24 August 2008), and Princess Mafalda (born 2014).

Moritz (right) with his mother and brothers

1. Gilbert I, Count of the Maasgau, d. 842
2. Gilbert II, Count of the Maasgau, 825–875
3. Reginar, Duke of Lorraine, 850–915
4. Reginar II, Count of Hainaut, 890–932
5. Reginar III, Count of Hainaut, 920–973
6. Lambert I, Count of Leuven, 950–1015
7. Lambert II, Count of Leuven, d. 1054
8. Henry II, Count of Leuven, 1020–1078
9. Godfrey I, Count of Leuven, 1060–1139
10. Godfrey II, Count of Leuven, 1110–1142
11. Godfrey III, Count of Leuven, 1140–1190
12. Henry I, Duke of Brabant, 1165–1235
13. Henry II, Duke of Brabant, 1207–1248
14. Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1244–1308
15. Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1272–1328
16. Louis the Junker of Hesse, 1305–1345
17. Hermann II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1341–1413
18. Louis I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1402–1458
19. Louis II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1438–1471
20. William II, Landgrave of Hesse, 1469–1509
21. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, 1504–1567
22. William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1532–1592
23. Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1572–1632
24. William V, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1602–1637
25. William VI, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1629–1663
26. Charles I, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1654–1730
27. William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1682–1760
28. Frederick II, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, 1720–1785
29. Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, 1747–1837
30. Prince William of Hesse-Kassel, 1787–1867
31. Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel, 1820–1884
32. Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, 1868–1940
33. Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse, 1896–1980
34. Moritz, Landgrave of Hesse, 1926–2013