Hesse-Darmstadt
former landgraviate, Germany Alternate titles: Hessen-Darmstadt By The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Date: 1567 - 1945 Key People: Wilhelm Heinrich August, Freiherr von GagernErnest Louis Related Places: Germany Hesse-Darmstadt, German Hessen-darmstadt, former landgraviate, grand duchy, and state of Germany. It was formed in 1567 in the division of old Hesse; after Hesse-Kassel was absorbed by Prussia in 1866, Hesse-Darmstadt was usually known simply as Hesse. Hesse-Darmstadt was originally only the small territory of Upper Katzenelnbogen with Darmstadt, being situated in what is now the extreme southern portion of the present-day Land (state) of Hessen. But the…