by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Note about the Reuss numbering system: All males of the House of Reuss were named Heinrich plus a number. In the Reuss-Greiz (Older Line), the numbering covered all male children and the numbers increased until 100 was reached and then started again at 1. In the Reuss-Gera (Younger Line), the system was similar but the numbers increased until the end of the century before starting again at 1. This tradition was seen as a way of honoring Holy Roman Emperor Heinrich VI (reigned 1191 – 1197) who had benefitted the family. Therefore, the Roman numerals seen after names are NOT regnal numbers.

Principality of Reuss-Gera: The House of Reuss began its rule circa 1010. Heinrich XLII became Count of Reuss-Schleiz in 1784, and then also became Count of Reuss-Gera in 1802. In 1806,  the united county was raised to the Principality of Reuss-Gera or Reuss Younger Line.  Between 1824 and 1848, the senior line of Gera gradually combined the territory of the surviving cadet branches (Lobenstein, Köstritz, and Ebersdorf).

On November 11, 1918, Heinrich XXVII abdicated his position as 5th Prince Reuss of Gera and as Regent abdicated for the disabled Heinrich XXIV, 6th Prince Reuss of Greiz. The new government of Reuss-Gera made an agreement with Heinrich XXVII and granted him some castles and land. The territory encompassing the Principality of Reuss-Gera is now located within the German state of Thuringia.

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Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera was born on May 28, 1832, in Coburg, Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now in Bavaria, Germany. He was the sixth of the eight children and the fourth and the only surviving son of the five sons of Heinrich LXVII, 3rd Prince Reuss of Gera and Princess Adelheid Reuss of Ebersdorf.

Heinrich XIV had seven siblings but only his sister Anna survived childhood:

• Prince Heinrich V Reuss of Gera (1821 – 1834), died in childhood
• Princess Anna Reuss of Gera (1822 – 1902), married Prince Adolf of Bentheim-Tecklenburg (link in German), had four sons and three daughters
• Princess Elisabeth Reuss of Gera (1824 – 1833), died in childhood
• Prince Heinrich VII Reuss of Gera (1827 – 1828), died in infancy
• Prince Heinrich XI Reuss of Gera (1828 – 1830), died in childhood
• Prince Heinrich XVI Reuss of Gera (1835 – 1836), died in infancy
• Princess Marie Reuss of Gera (1837 – 1840), died in childhood

Heinrich XIV attended gymnasium, in the German education system the most advanced of the three types of German secondary schools, in Meinigen, Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, now in Thuringia, Germany. After finishing his studies in Meiningen, he joined the Prussian Army. On March 23, 1850, he was promoted to second-lieutenant. From 1850 – 1853, Heinrich XIV took a break from the army while he studied history and law at the University of Bonn, then called Rhine University, in the Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He returned to the Prussian Army in August 1853, serving in the 1st Guards Infantry Regiment until 1859. After retiring from active duty, Heinrich XIV was taken over into the officers à la suite, princes and generals who were given a special honor. As an officer à la suite, Heinrich LXVII’s highest rank was general. He was entitled to wear a regimental uniform but otherwise had no official position.

On February 6, 1858 in Carlsruhe, Silesia, Kingdom of Prussia, now Pokój, Poland, Heinrich XIV married Duchess Agnes of Württemberg, daughter of Duke Eugen of Württemberg and his second wife Princess Helene of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Heinrich XIV and Agnes had two children:

• Heinrich XXVII, 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera (1858 – 1928), married Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, had three sons and two daughters
• Princess Elisabeth Reuss of Gera (1859 – 1951), married Prince Hermann of Solms-Braunfels (link in German), had four daughters and two sons

From 1863, Heinrich XIV and his family lived at the newly restored Schloss Osterstein (link in German) in Gera, the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Gera. During the summer, the family was in residence at Schloss Ebersdorf (link in German). The Reuss-Gera family came into the possession of Schloss Ebersdorf after the German revolutions of 1848, when Heinrich LXXII, Prince Reuss of Lobenstein and Ebersdorf abdicated. Lobenstein and Ebersdorf then were united with Reuss-Gera.

Upon the death of his father Heinrich LXVII, 3rd Prince Reuss of Gera on July 11, 1867, Heinrich XIV became the 4th Prince Reuss of Gera. In 1871, upon the formation of the German Empire, the Principality of Reuss-Gera became one of the German Empire’s twenty-six constituent states. Despite the loss of foreign policy sovereignty, the constituent states remained sovereign in internal affairs

The capital city Gera became an industrial center due to the growth of textile production and the development of machine-building factories and population growth increased significantly. During Heinrich XIV’s reign as the 4th Prince Reuss of Gera, a chain of stores was created, a municipal water system was established, an electric tram system began, and a sports organization was founded. The Principality of Reuss-Gera provided its population with a good education. In addition to the elementary schools, there were gymnasiums (in the German education system the most advanced of the three types of German secondary schools), girls’ schools, trade and construction schools, an agricultural college, a seminary, and a school for the deaf.

In 1886, Heinrich XIV’s wife Agnes died at the age of 50. Four years after the death of his first wife, on February 14, 1890, in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German federal state of Saxony, 57-year-old Heinrich XIV morganatically married 49-year-old Friederike Graetz. On May 28, 1890, Heinrich XIV gave his wife the title of Baroness von Saalburg. The couple had a son who was born fifteen years before the marriage:

• Baron Heinrich von Saalburg (1875 – 1954), married Margarethe Groenwoldt, no children

In 1902, Heinrich XIV became the Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz. Heinrich XXIV, 6th and last Prince Reuss of Greiz, succeeded his father in 1902 but was unable to rule because of his physical and mental disabilities as a result of an accident in his childhood. Heinrich XIV was the Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz until his death in 1913. His son and successor Heinrich XXVII, 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera then became Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz until the German monarchies were abolished in 1918 at the end of World War I.

Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera died on March 29, 1913, aged 80, in Schleiz, Principality of Reuss-Gera. He was buried with his first wife at the Bergkirche St. Marien (link in German) now in Schleiz, Thuringia, Germany.

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Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Heinrich XIV. (Reuß Jüngere Linie). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_XIV._(Reu%C3%9F_j%C3%BCngere_Linie)> [Accessed 20 March 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_XIV,_Prince_Reuss_Younger_Line> [Accessed 20 March 2020].
• Uk.wikipedia.org. 2020. Генріх XIV (Князь Ройсс-Ґери). [online] Available at: <https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%93%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%80%D1%96%D1%85_XIV_(%D0%BA%D0%BD%D1%8F%D0%B7%D1%8C_%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%B9%D1%81%D1%81-%D2%90%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B8)> [Accessed 20 March 2020]. (Ukrainian Wikipedia)

Reuss-Gera Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Reuss-Gera Index
• Profiles: Reuss-Gera Rulers and Consorts
• Royal Burial Sites of the Principality of Reuss-Gera