Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss of Gera

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

NOTE: 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.

Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss of Gera; Credit – Wikipedia

Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss of Gera was born on May 13, 1895, at Schloss Ebersdorf (link in German) in Ebersdorf, Principality of Reuss-Gera, now in Saalburg-Ebersdorf in Thuringia, Germany. He was the youngest of the five children and the youngest of the three sons of Heinrich XXVII, 5th and the last reigning Prince Reuss of Gera and Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg.

Heinrich XLV had four elder siblings:

  • Princess Viktoria Feodora Reuss of Gera (link in German) (1889 – 1918) married Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin; Viktoria Feodora died in childbirth a day after giving birth to her only child, a daughter Woizlawa Feodora
  • Princess Luise Adelheid Reuss of Gera (1890 – 1951), unmarried
  • Prince Heinrich XL Reuss of Gera (born and died 1891)
  • Prince Heinrich XLIII Reuss of Gera (1893 – 1912), died at age 18

Sitting: Heinrich XLIII & Elise, Princess Reuss of Gera; Standing: Heinrich XLV & Viktoria Feodora; Credit – Wikipedia

Heinrich XLV attended the Rutheneum-Gymnasium (since 1949 the Goethe-Gymnasium), founded in 1608, the oldest high school in Gera, then the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Gera, now in the German state of Thuringia. In the German education system, a Gymnasium is the most advanced of the three types of German secondary schools. He also attended the Vitzthum-Gymnasium in Dresden, then in the Kingdom of Saxony, now in the German state of Saxony.

Heinrich XLV was the only surviving son of his parents. The eldest son Heinrich XL died shortly after his birth in 1891 and the second son Heinrich XLIII died in 1912 at the age of 18. In 1913, when his father succeeded to the throne of the Principality of Reuss-Gera, Heinrich XLV became the Hereditary Prince Reuss of Gera. During World War I, Heinrich XLV served as a first lieutenant in the Imperial German Army. After World War I, Heinrich XLV studied literature, musicology, and philosophy at universities in Leipzig, Marburg, Munich, and Kiel.

Heinrich XXVII, 5th Prince Reuss of Gera, Elise, Princess Reuss of Gera and their son Heinrich XLV; Credit – WIkipedia

On November 11, 1918, following the German defeat in World War I, Heinrich XLV’s father, Heinrich XXVII, abdicated his position as 5th Prince Reuss of Gera. The new government of Reuss-Gera made an agreement with Heinrich XXVII that granted him some castles and land. After his abdication, Heinrich XXVII continued to live with his family at Schloss Osterstein (link in German) in Gera. When Heinrich XXIV, the 6th and last Prince Reuss of Greiz died in 1927, the House of Reuss-Greiz became extinct and any claims to titles passed to Heinrich XXVII. When Heinrich XXVII, the 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera died on November 21, 1928, Heinrich XLV became Head of the House of Reuss.

Heinrich XLV was a lover of theater and worked in the theater as a director, author, and consultant. In 1923, he became head of the dramaturgy at the Reussian Theatre (link in German) in Gera. In 1931, with Hans Oppenheim, he founded the Deutsche Musikbühne, a touring opera company. Hans Oppenheim was forced out of the opera company in 1933 because of his Jewish origins and immigrated to the United States. Heinrich XLV gave up his position in 1934.

Because Heinrich XLV was unmarried and had no heirs, he adopted Prince Heinrich I Reuss of Köstritz for inheritance reasons but not for succession rights as the Head of the House of Reuss. Prince Heinrich I Reuss of Köstritz married Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the daughter of Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Viktoria Feodora Reuss of Gera, the sister of Heinrich XLV. Viktoria Feodora had died delivering Woizlawa Feodora, her only child. Woizlawa Feodora was the only niece or nephew of Heinrich XLV and so Heinrich XLV’s private assests would remain in the family.

Heinrich XLV became a Nazi sympathizer and member of the Nazi Party. After World War II, the area that included the property and assets of Heinrich XLV was in the area of Germany which was controlled by the Soviet Union. It eventually became part of East Germany. In August 1945, Heinrich XLV was arrested at Schloss Ebersdorf by the Soviet military and has been missing ever since. He was likely imprisoned and killed at NKVD special camp Nr. 2, the former German concentration camp Buchenwald, which was transformed into one of the post–World War II internment camps in the Soviet-occupied parts of Germany. However, Heinrich XLV’s name is not on any of the internment camps’ lists of the dead. He was legally pronounced dead on January 5, 1962, by a court in Büdingen, West Germany, retroactive to December 31, 1953.

Heinrich XLV’s entire personal fortune was seized and confiscated in 1948 by the Soviet Military Administration in Germany, including Schloss Ebersdorf, Schloss Thallwitz, Schloss Osterstein and Jagdschloss Waidmannsheil (all links in German) as well as other property in Gera and works of art. After the German reunification in 1990, Heinrich XLV’s niece Woizlawa Feodora, as her husband’s heir, sued for restitution based on the fact that her late husband was of British nationality, as well as German, and his property should not have been confiscated under occupation law. A legal restitution claim for movable assets (works of art) was passed by the Bundestag (the German legislature) and many works of art in museums were returned to Woizlawa Feodora. In another settlement, Woizlawa Feodora received two castles and some forest property. Woizlawa Feodora lived to be 100 years old, dying in 2019.

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Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Heinrich XLV. (Reuß Jüngere Linie). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_XLV._(Reu%C3%9F_j%C3%BCngere_Linie)> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Feodora Reuß Jüngere Linie. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feodora_zu_Reu%C3%9F> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Duchess Woizlawa Feodora Of Mecklenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchess_Woizlawa_Feodora_of_Mecklenburg> [Accessed 24 March 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss Younger Line. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_XLV,_Hereditary_Prince_Reuss_Younger_Line> [Accessed 24 March 2020].