The Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt: I. A Brief Introduction The
Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (it would be more properly termed
the Grand Duchy of Hesse but the former title will be used
throughout this history to avoid confusion with the elector
state of Hesse-Kassel) rose out of the ashes of the Holy Roman
Empire in 1806. It was in August of that year that the last Holy
Roman Emperor, Francis II, was forced to abdicate following his
defeat at the hands of the forces of the French Emperor,
Napoleon Bonaparte. With his abdication came the dissolution of
a political entity that had existed in Germany for centuries.
The majority of the German states that had comprised the Holy
Roman Empire were then organized by Napoleon into a new entity
termed the Confederation of the Rhine. What was at the time the
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was included in this new pro-
French organization. Francis II- Last Holy Roman Emperor Now
when Napoleon created the Confederation he was looking first and
foremost to form a milita