Charles of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich

Charles of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich
Spouse(s)	Princess Emma of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Noble family	Solms-Hohensolms-Lich
Father	Hermann of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich
Mother	Countess Agnes of Stolberg-Wernigerode
Born	(1866-06-27)27 June 1866 Lich, Germany
Died	Lich, Germany

Prince Charles Ferdinand William of Solms-Lich-Hohensolms (27 June 1866, in Lich – 26 July 1920) was a German politician. He was president of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

Life

Charles was the eldest son of Prince Hermann of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich (1838–1899) and his wife Agnes, Countess of Stolberg-Wernigerode (1842–1904).

He married on 16 October 1894 in Wernigerode with Princess Emma (1875–1956), daughter of the prince Otto of Stolberg-Wernigerode. The marriage produced four children:

• Philip Hermann (1895–1918), Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich; fell in battle at Kostiantynivka (Ukraine)
• Anne-Agnes (1899–1987), married in 1923 Prince Carl of Castell-Castell (1897–1945)
• Elizabeth (1903–1992), married in 1944 Otto Vossler (1902–1987)
• Joana Marie (1905–1982), married in 1924 Count George Frederick of Solms-Laubach (1899–1969; grandson of Bruno, 3rd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen); they had issue, among which:
  • Countess Irene of Solms-Laubach, mother of Countess Donata of Castell-Rüdenhausen
  • Countess Monika of Solms-Laubach, wife of Prince Ernest Augustus of Hanover

As his only son Philip was killed in World War 1 in 1918, after Charles' death in 1920 his younger brother Reinhard Louis (1867–1951) inherited the title of prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich.

Politics

When his father, Hermann, Prince of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, died in 1899, Charles took over as sovereign. As a Hessian nobleman, he was a member of the First Chamber of the Estates of the Grand Duchy of Hesse under the 1899 constitution until the November Revolution of 1918. He was Vice President of the First Chamber from 1908 to 1914 and President from 1814 to 1918. From 1901 to 1918, he was also a member of the Prussian House of Lords.

References

• Jochen Lengemann: Hesse Landtag 1808–1996, 1996, ISBN 3-7708-1071-6, page 361
• Gothaisches Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Fürstlichen Häuser (Hofkalender), 179 (1942), p. 312