Prince Heinrich of Hesse-Kassel explained

Prince Heinrich
Full Name:Henry William Constantine Victor Francis
Birth Date:30 October 1927
Birth Place:Rome, Kingdom of Italy
Death Place:Frankfurt, Germany
House:Hesse-Kassel
Father:Prince Philipp of Hesse
Mother:Princess Mafalda of Savoy

Prince Heinrich Wilhelm Konstantin Viktor Franz of Hesse-Kassel (30 October 1927 – 18 November 1999), known as Enrico d'Assia, was the second child of Prince Philipp of Hesse and Princess Mafalda of Savoy. Heinrich became an artist, set designer, and memoirist after World War II.

Life

Prince Heinrich was born in Rome, Italy, as the second son of Prince Philipp of Hesse and Princess Mafalda of Savoy, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy.[1] [2]

During the Second World War, Heinrich's father, an important former aristocratic Nazi party member, was arrested by the Gestapo. His mother was detained and imprisoned in Buchenwald concentration camp, where she was killed by Allies' bombardments in 1944. Heinrich and his siblings (Moritz, Otto and Elisabeth) were given sanctuary in the Vatican under the care of their Aunt and Uncle Louis, Prince of Hesse and by Rhine and Margaret Campbell Geddes who adopted them.[3] After the War they were reunited with their father in Germany.

Heinrich was an artist and set designer, active mainly in Italy under the name Enrico d'Assia. He published a volume of memoirs, notably Der Kristallene Lüster (1994). He died in Frankfurt, unmarried.

Notes and References

  1. http://www.dogworld.co.uk/product.php/3163/1/enrico_d%E2%80%99assia%E2%80%99s_pugorama_paintings_by_nick_waters Enrico d’Assia’s Pugorama paintings by Nick Waters
  2. http://www.thepeerage.com/p10407.htm#i104066 Heinrich Wilhelm Konstantin Viktor Franz Prinz von Hessen-Kassel
  3. Web site: Jenni . 2015-03-04 . The Princess in the Concentration Camp: Mafalda of Savoy . 2022-08-08 . Jenni Wiltz . en-US.