World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbasePrince Philipp of the House of Hesse-Kassel was born at Schloss Rumpenheim in Offenbach, Grand Duchy of Hesse, German Empire. He was the third son of Prince Frederick Charles and Princess Margaret (daughter of German Emperor Frederick III and granddaughter of British Queen Victoria). He was of twin birth, having been born moment before his immediate younger brother Wolfgang. As a child, he had an English governess. In 1910, he was sent to Bexhill-on-Sea, England, United Kingdom for schooling. Upon his return to Germany, he continued his education in Frankfurt and Potsdam. Although he was the only one among the six male siblings who did not attend a military academy, he nevertheless served with the Hessian 24th Dragoon-Regiment during WW1, where he would witness the death of his older brother Maximilian in Belgium. In 1915 and 1916, he was transferred to the the Eastern Front, where he served in Ukraine as a low ranking (lieutenant) logistics officer. In 1916, his older brother Friedrich Wilhelm passed away, thus making him next in line to succeeded his uncle as the head of the House of Hesse-Kassel. In 1917, he returned to the Western Front in a combat role and was wounded. On 9 Oct 1918, his father Prince Frederick Charles was elected the king of a planned Kingdom of Finland, which had just broken away from the Russian Empire, but Philipp was not named the planned Crown Prince of Finland (Wolfgang was planned to hold this title instead) as he was already the heir to the House of Hesse-Kassel; ultimately the formation of the Kingdom of Finland was aborted, and Prince Frederick Charles renounced the throne on 14 Dec 1918. After WW1, Philipp was briefly a member of the

Last Major Revision: Aug 2015

Philipp Interactive Map

Photographs

Philipp Timeline

6 Nov 1896	Philipp was born in the castle Schloss Rumpenheim, Offenbach, Grand Duchy of Hesse, Germany.
23 Sep 1925	Philipp married Princess Mafalda of the House of Savoy, daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, at the Castello di Racconigi in Italy.
8 Sep 1943	Philipp was arrested by the Nazi Party.
25 Jan 1944	Philipp was formally dismissed as the governor of Hessen-Nassau, Germany.
4 May 1945	Prince Philipp was arrested by US troops at Niederdorf in Sudtirolo (South Tyrol), Italy.
25 Oct 1980	Prince Philipp passed away in Rome, Italy.

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