Flag of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (1806-1918)
History
The Landgraviate of Hesse was established in 1264 and was directly represented in the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire but the landgraves did not have the right to elect emperors. In 1567 Hesse was divided among 4 sons with parts in Kassel, Darmstadt, Marburg and Rheinfels. The brothers and their descendants were not so friendly to each other, and fought out several conflicts including during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648).
The Marburg line became extinct in 1604 and was divided over Kassel and Darmstadt, but not without a fight over who got what. Rheinfels was already reunited with Kassel in 1583. In 1622 the Darmstadt line partitioned which created the County of Hesse-Homburg that would exist as a tiny state until 1866.
During the Napoleonic Wars (1792-1815) the Holy Roman Empire was reorganised in what was called the Mediatisation of 1803. Many smaller ecclesiastical states were united with larger German states. Both Hesse-Kassel and Hesse-Darmstadt expanded their territories. Hesse-Kassel became an electorate in 1803 and remained so even if there was no emperor to elect after the HRE's dissolution in 1806. Hesse-Darmstadt became a grand duchy in 1806. Hesse-Kassel was briefly part of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Westphalia.
The Hessian states Kassel (KH), Darmstadt and Homburg (LH) in 19th century Germany.
All 3 Hessian states (Kassel, Darmstadt and Homburg) joined the German Confederation in 1815. Hesse-Kassel was politically the most unstable, and turned against Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In response Prussia fully annexed the electorate and turned it into a province.
The Hesse-Homburg line became extinct in 1866 and was reunited with Darmstadt. Hesse-Darmstadt partly joined the North German Confederation in 1866 (its southern part stayed out, confusingly enough) and the entire grand duchy joined the German Empire in 1871. The last grand duke abdicated during the aftermath of World War 1 in 1918. After World War 2 the territories of Hesse, Nassau and Frankfurt were merged to form the federal state of Hesse.
Currency
The Hessian states' currency system was based on the Rhenish monetary union that was in place in the Rhine region of the Holy Roman Empire from 1384. It was based on the gold Gulden which in turn was based on the Fiorino d'Oro from Florence. It was divided in 20 Albus each of 12 Heller. As coin values fluctuated this changed to 24 Albus each of 12 Heller or 8 Pfennig from 1432.
In the 16th century the Thaler became a widely used coin in Germany, also in Hesse-Kassel, where a Thaler was divided in 32 Albus each of 12 Heller, but this Thaler was also divided in 90 Kreuzer. Hesse-Darmstadt followed southern German states and continued the Gulden which was equal to 60 Kreuzer, 40 Stüber, 30 Albus, 240 Pfennig or 480 Heller.
The Conventionsthaler was introduced in 1753 and was set at 1/10 of a Cologne Mark (233.86g) of pure silver and worth 1⅓ regular Thaler in Hesse-Kassel. Consequently a Gulden was worth ⅔ Thaler or ½ Conventionsthaler. Hesse-Darmstadt followed the other South German states by adopting a 24 Gulden standard which meant that a Conventionsthaler was 2.4 Gulden and divided in 120 Conventionskreuzer or 144 Kreuzer Landmünze. It also minted Kronenthalers of 1/9 of a Cologne Mark which were valued at 2.7 Gulden.
In 1828 Hesse-Darmstadt (and Hesse-Homburg) devalued slightly to a 24½ Gulden standard to align it with Prussia's 14 Thaler standard, which made a Gulden worth 4/7 Prussian Thaler. In 1841 Hesse-Kassel followed suit by making its Thaler equal to a Prussian one and changing its subunits to 30 Silbergroschen each of 12 Heller.
When the German Empire introduced its national currency in 1873 Hesse-Kassel was already a Prussian Province, but Hesse-Darmstadt continued to mint small amounts of higher denomination Mark coins.
Catalogue
Landgraviate of Hesse (1264-1567)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_landgraviate-1.html
Landgraviate of Hesse-Kassel (1567-1803)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_kassel_landgraviate-1.html
Electorate of Hesse-Kassel (1803-1866)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_kassel_electorate-1.html
Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (1567-1806)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_darmstadt_landgraviate-1.html
Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt (1806-1918)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_grand_duchy-1.html
Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg (1622-1866)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_homburg_landgraviate-1.html
Landgraviate of Hesse-Marburg (1567-1604)
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/hessen_marburg_landgraviate-1.html
