Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

On 17 February 1781, Gustav was born the fourth son of Frederick V, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg and his wife, Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt.Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, pp. 150–51.Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf. Gustav joined the Swedish army in service of his godfather King Gustav III, but left soon after in favour of an Austrian regiment. The prince saw action in the early 19th-century battles of Nördlingen, Hohenlinden, Ratisbon, Aspern-Essling, Wagram, Dresden, and Leipzig. His sister-in-law, Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom, later wrote that Gustav "gained as much fame and glory on the battlefield as any of his brothers."Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England, p. 81.

In 1818, Gustav married his niece, Princess Louise of Anhalt-Dessau, the same year Elizabeth married his eldest brother Frederick. Gustav and Louise lived at Homburg Castle,Princesses, p. 336. and would eventually produce three children: Caroline, Elizabeth, and Frederick. The youngest, Frederick, contracted scarlet fever when he was two years old but recovered.Princesses, p. 355. Gustav, Louise, and their children kept to themselves and did little socializing with their sister-in-law, Elizabeth, to her dismay.Princesses, pp. 355, 366. Their eldest child Caroline married Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz,Princesses, p. 366. in 1839.

In 1846, Gustav inherited rule of Hesse-Homburg from his brother, Philip. In reaction to a petition put forth by his people, in 1848 Gustav emancipated Homburg's Jews, decreeing that "in local and state affairs no difference shall henceforth be made between our Christian and our Jewish subjects."The Jewish Encyclopedia, p. 376. That same year, Hesse-Homburg was one of nine German states that allowed Jews to be elected to Parliament for the first time.Revolution and Evolution, p. 26.

Due to an illness, his only son predeceased him; as a result, when Gustav died on 8 September 1848, he was succeeded by his brother Ferdinand. In 1851, a monument was built in Gustav's honor in Homburg.

• Princess Caroline (1819–1872); married in 1839 to Henry XX, Prince Reuss of Greiz (1794–1859)
• Princess Elisabeth (1823–1864)
• Prince Frederick (1830–1848)

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|1= 1. Gustav, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

|2= 2. Frederick V

|3= 3. Landgravine Caroline of Hesse-Darmstadt

|4= 4. Frederick IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg

|5= 5. Countess Ulrike Louise of Solms-Braunfels

|6= 6. Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

|7= 7. Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken

|8= 8. Landgrave Casimir William of Hesse-Homburg

|9= 9. Countess Christine Charlotte of Solms-Braunfels

|10= 10. Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Solms-Braunfels

|11= 11. Countess Sophie Magdalena Benigna of Solms-Laubach-Utphe

|12= 12. Louis VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt

|13= 13. Countess Charlotte of Hanau-Lichtenberg

|14= 14. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken

|15= 15. Caroline of Nassau-Saarbrücken

}}

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Works cited

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• {{Cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0rw5AQAAMAAJ&dq=gustave+hesse-homburg+1848&pg=PA376 |title=A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Volume 6 |journal=Jewish Encyclopaedia |year=1916 |location=New York}}
• {{cite book|first=Flora|last=Fraser|authorlink=Flora Fraser (writer) |title=Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=2004 |isbn=0719561094 }}
• {{Cite journal|url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/BLK%C3%96:Hessen-Homburg,_Gustav_Adolph_Friedrich_Landgraf |title=Hessen-Homburg, Gustav Adolph Friedrich Landgraf |journal=Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich |language=German |year=1862}}
• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PxtFYP9wxgYC&dq=hesse-homburg&pg=PR7 |title=Revolution and Evolution, 1848 in German-Jewish History |first=Reinhard |last=Rurup |publisher=Leo Baeck Institut |year=1981 |location=Tubingen|isbn=9783167437520 }}
• {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ug8MAAAAYAAJ&dq=gustave+hesse-homburg+1848&pg=PA151 |title=Letters of Princess Elizabeth of England: daughter of King George III., and Landgravine of Hesse-Homburg |first=Princess Elizabeth of the |last=United Kingdom |authorlink=Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom |editor-first=Philip |editor-last=Yorke |publisher=T. Fisher Unwin |year=1898 |location=London }}

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{{S-hou|House of Hesse|17 February|1781|8 September|1848}}

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{{S-ttl|title=Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg|years=1846–1848}}

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Category:1781 births

Category:1848 deaths

Category:Landgraves of Hesse

Category:House of Hesse-Homburg

Category:Knights Cross of the Military Order of Maria Theresa

Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary