In the Darmstadt archives of the Hessian House Foundation
there are extensive letters that Grand Duke
Ernst Ludwig received from his four sisters. This
letters, mostly written in English,
are presented in this book for the first time.
The letters begin in 1878 with the outbreak of the
diphtheria in Darmstadt and the death of their mother, and
end in 1892, shortly before the death of Grand Duke Ludwig IV.
They give interesting, unbiased insights into
everyday life of the grand-ducal family from the point of view of the
adolescent trips to England
or Scotland to grandmother Queen Victoria; or
to Russia to the tsar family; an educational trip
Italy; the engagements and marriages of the three older
Princesses; but also first-hand reports in 1888
from St. Remo, where the future German Emperor Friedrich III.
was seriously ill. The four sisters always kept their brother
up to date.
While Ernst Ludwig in 1892 became Grand Duke
by Hesse and by Rhine, his sisters played
as a result of her marriages also significant roles: Victoria as
wife of the future Chief of the British Navy,
Ella as the wife of the governor of Moscow, Irène as
Sister-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and, the best known,
Alix in her tragic role as Alexandra Fyodorovna
Romanova, the last Russian tsarina. Hardback edition, in English, 357 pages, size 15.24 x 22.86 cm
