Photograph of Louis of Hesse, later Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, in a half length portrait, facing three-quarters to the left and looking down.

Prince Louis was born on the 12 September 1837 at the Prinz-Carl-Palais in Darmstadt. His father was Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine and his mother, Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. Prince Louis married Princess Alice at Osborne House on the 1 July 1862. He died at the New Palace in Darmstadt on the 13 March 1892 and was buried at Rosenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany.