| Ludwig Wilhelm | |
| Full Name: | de|link=no|Ludwig Wilhelm Louis William |
| Reign: | 3 November 186628 September 1890 |
| Succession: | Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt |
| Successor: | Alexis |
| Predecessor: | Alexius |
| House: | House of Bentheim and Steinfurt |
| Spouse: | Landgravine Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld |
| Issue: | Adelheid, Landgravine Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld Juliane, Landgravine Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld Marie, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt Prince Karl Prince Georg |
| Birth Date: | 1 August 1812 |
| Birth Place: | Burgsteinfurt, Electorate of Hanover |
| Death Place: | Burgsteinfurt, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire |
| Father: | Alexius, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt |
| Mother: | Countess Wilhelmine of Solms-Braunfels |
Ludwig Wilhelm, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt (de|link=no|Ludwig Wilhelm Fürst zu Bentheim und Steinfurt; 1 August 181228 September 1890) was a Royal Hanoverian and Prussian Lieutenant General and the Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt from 3 November 1866 to 28 September 1890.
Ludwig Wilhelm was born in Burgsteinfurt, Electorate of Hanover on 1 August 1812 and was the eldest son and child of Alexius, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1781 - 1866) and his wife Princess Wilhelmine of Solms-Braunfels (1793 - 1865). Ludwig Wilhelm was an elder brother of Prince Wilhelm Ferdinand of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1814 - 1849), Prince Julius Arnold of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1815 - 1857), Prince Karl Everwin of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1816 - 1854), Princess Augusta Juliana of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1817 - 1880), and Prince Ferdinand Otto of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1819 - 1889).
From 1844, Ludwig Wilhelm was made Rittmeister à la suite of the Royal Hanoverian Regiments Garde du Corps and rose to major in 1849. In 1855, Ludwig Wilhelm was made lieutenant colonel, colonel in 1859, major general in 1862, and lieutenant general in 1879.
In 1866, Ludwig Wilhelm succeeded his father as head of the Princely House of Bentheim and Steinfurt. As such, he became a hereditary member of the Prussian House of Lords and the First Chamber of the Diet of the Kingdom of Hanover. Following Hanover's annexation by Prussia, Ludwig Wilhelm served as a member of Westphalian Provincial Council.
Beginning in 1875, Ludwig Wilhelm became a member of the Württembergian Chamber of Lords. He inherited the seat from his childless uncle Prince Ferdinand of Solms-Braunfels who died in 1873. After 1884, Ludwig Wilhelm was represented at the Württembergian Chamber of Lords in Stuttgart by his son, Alexis.
Ludwig Wilhelm married Landgravine Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, eldest child and daughter of Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and his first wife Princess Augusta of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen, on 27 June 1839 at Schloss Barchfeld, Barchfeld. Ludwig Wilhelm and Bertha had six children:
∞ 1879 Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1831–1890)
∞ 1873 Prince William of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1831–1890)
∞ 1867 Ludwig, Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Hohenstein (1831–1912)
∞ 1881 Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont (1855–1925)
∞ 1889 Gertrud Porth (1866–1942), created Freifrau von Althaus by Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
He received the following orders and decorations:[1]