For the region sometimes known in English as Rhine-Hesse, see
Rhenish Hesse.
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The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (German: Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein), or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse (German: Großherzogtum Hessen)—as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German monarchies were overthrown. Before 1866, its northern neighbour was its former sister Landgraviate, since 1803 an Electorate, of Hesse-Kassel – for this reason, this state was sometimes colloquially known as Hesse-Darmstadt.
Hesse-Darmstadt's was a member of Napoleon's Confederation of the Rhine during the Napoleonic Wars. Rapidly expanding during the mediatizations, Hesse-Darmstadt became an amalgamation of smaller German states, such as the Electorate of Cologne. The legal patchwork of the state culminated in a decree issued on 1 October 1806 by Louis I. The old territorial estates were abolished, which altered Hesse-Darmstadt "from a mosaic of patrimonial fragments into a centralized, absolute monarch."[3] During the Congress of Vienna it was forced to cede the Duchy of Westphalia, which Hesse-Darmstadt had received in 1803, to the Kingdom of Prussia. However, Hesse-Darmstadt received some territory on the western bank of the Rhine, including the important federal fortress at Mainz.
Residenzschloss (city palace) of the Grand Dukes in Darmstadt
The Grand Duchy changed its name to the Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (German: Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) in 1816.
The majority of the state combined with Frankfurt am Main, the Waldeck area (Rhine-Province) and the former Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau to form the new state of Hesse following the Second World War. Excluded were the Montabaur district from Hessen-Nassau and that part of Hessen-Darmstadt on the left bank of the Rhine (Rhenish Hesse), which became part of the Rhineland-Palatinate state. (Bad) Wimpfen—an exclave of Hessen-Darmstadt—became part of Baden-Württemberg, in the district of Sinsheim. After the vote, Bad Wimpfen was transferred from Sinsheim district to Heilbronn one in 29 April 1951. This change to Heilbronn was carried out on May 1, 1952.
Because of the disjointed nature of the state, it did not develop its own state railway to begin with, but set up joint railway projects with its neighbouring states: These were the: