- Brother of Prince Heinrich of Hesse and by Rhine (1838-1900), Princess Anna of Hesse and by Rhine (1843-1865) and Prince Wilhelm of Hesse and by Rhine (1845 - 1900).
- Son of Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine (23 April 1809 - 20 March 1877) and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (18 June 1815 - 21 March 1885).
- In March 1877, Louis became heir presumptive to the Hessian throne when his father died and, less than three months later, found himself reigning grand duke upon the demise of his uncle, Louis III.
- Brother-in-law of Victoria, Princess Royal, King Edward VII, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Henry of Battenberg.
- Father-in-law of Prince Louis of Battenberg, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia, Prince Henry of Prussia (1862-1929), Princess Eleonore of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich, and Tsar Nicholas II.
- Son-in-law of Prince Albert and Queen Victoria.
- Grand Duke Ludwig IV died on 13 March 1892 of a heart attack in the New Palace in Darmstadt and was succeeded by his son, Ernest Louis. His remains are buried at Rosenhöhe, the mausoleum for the Grand Ducal House outside of Darmstadt.
- On 13 June 1877, he succeeded his uncle as Grand Duke of Hesse, taking the name "Ludwig IV".
- Ex-father-in-law of Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
- Adopted Grandfather of Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich.
- During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Louis commanded the Hessian cavalry in support of the Austrian side. In the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War, Louis led the Hessian contingent of the armies of the North German Confederation.
- A year and a half later, however, Grand Duke Louis was stricken with diphtheria along with most of his immediate family, from which he recovered but to which his four-year-old daughter Marie succumbed, along with his wife of 16 years. From then on, he reigned and raised his five surviving children alone.
- On 1 July 1862, Louis married Princess Alice, a daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. On the day of the wedding, the Queen issued a royal warrant granting her new son-in-law the style of Royal Highness in the United Kingdom. The Queen also subsequently made Prince Louis a knight of the Order of the Garter.
- Grandfather of Princess Alice of Battenberg, Queen Louise, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, Louis Mountbatten, Prince Waldemar Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Viktor Heinrich of Prussia, Prince Sigismund of Prussia, Prince Heinrich Viktor Ludwig Friedrich of Prussia, Princess Elisabeth, Hereditary Grand Duke Georg Donatus, Prince Louis, Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Tatiana, Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and Tsarevitch Aleksey Nikolaeyvitch Romanov.
- Preceded by Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine1877-1892 and Succeeded by Ernest Louis.
- House of Hesse-Darmstadt.
- Father of Victoria Mountbatten, Elizabeth Feodorovna, Princess Irene of Prussia, Ernest Louis, Prince Friedrich of Hesse and by Rhine (1870 - 1873), Tsarina Alexandra, and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.
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