The Battenberg family was a morganatic branch of the House of Hesse-Darmstadt, rulers of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in Germany. The first member was Julia Hauke, whose brother-in-law Grand Duke Louis III of Hesse created her Countess of Battenberg with the style Illustrious Highness (H. Ill.H.) in 1851, at her morganatic marriage to Grand Duke Louis' brother Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine, and elevated her title to Princess of Battenberg with the style Serene Highness (HSH) in 1858. The name "Battenberg" was last used by her youngest son, Prince Francis Joseph of Battenberg, who died childless in 1924. Most members of the family, residing in the United Kingdom, had renounced their German titles in 1917, due to rising anti-German sentiment among the British public during World War I, and changed their name to "Mountbatten", an anglicised version of Battenberg. The name Battenberg refers to the town Battenberg, Hesse.
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