Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Princess Reuss of Gera

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Princess Reuss of Gera; Credit – Wikipedia

Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was the wife of Heinrich XXVII, 5th and the last reigning Prince Reuss of Gera. Elise Victoria Feodora Sophie Adelheid was born on September 4, 1864, in Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She was the second of the three children and the elder of the two daughters of Hermann, 6th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and Princess Leopoldine of Baden. Elise’s paternal grandmother was Princess Feodora of Leiningen, the half-sister of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and two of Elise’s names reflect that family connection.

Elise had two siblings:

  • Ernst, 7th Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1863 – 1950), married Princess Alexandra of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (granddaughter of Queen Victoria via her son Prince Alfred), had three daughters and two sons; their son Gottfried married Princess Margarita of Greece and Denmark, sister of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
  • Princess Feodora Viktoria Alberta of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1866 – 1932), married Emich, 5th Prince of Leiningen (grandson of Karl, 3rd Prince of Leiningen, half-brother of Queen Victoria), had four sons and one daughter; their son Karl married Grand Duchess Maria Kirillovna of Russia, daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia and Princess Victoria Melita of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (granddaughter of Queen Victoria via her son Prince Alfred)

Since 1806, the Princes of Hohenlohe-Langenburg were no longer reigning princes. The Principality of Hohenlohe-Langenburg was mediatized, annexed to another state while allowing certain rights to its former sovereign such as retaining titles, to the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806. Württemberg was a County, a Duchy, and an Electorate before being recognized as Kingdom in 1806 by Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, in exchange for contributing forces to France’s armies. Between 1803 and 1806, the final years of the Holy Roman Empire, the vast majority of the states of the Holy Roman Empire were mediatized. These states lost their imperial rights and became part of other states. The number of states was reduced from about three hundred to just thirty-nine.

Heinrich XXVII Reuss of Gera and Elise, 1884; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 11, 1884 in Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg, now in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Elise married Heinrich XXVII, the future 5th Prince Reuss of Gera, son of Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera and Duchess Agnes of Württemberg.

Heinrich XXVII and Elise had five children:

Elise with three of her children, before 1912; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1902, Elise’s father-in-law Heinrich XIV, 4th Prince Reuss of Gera 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.

Elise with her husband Heinrich XXVII, circa 1910; Credit – Wikipedia

Upon the death of his father on March 29, 1913, Elise’s husband Heinrich XXVII became the 5th Prince Reuss of Gera and the Regent of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz. His reign was only five years long. After the German defeat in World War I, 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 that granted him some castles and land. The territory encompassing the Principality of Reuss-Gera is now located within the German state of Thuringia.

After his abdication, Heinrich XXVII and his wife Elise continued to live at Schloss Osterstein (link in German) in Gera. When the disabled 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. Heinrich XXVII, the 5th and last Prince Reuss of Gera died at the age of 70 on November 21, 1928, at Schloss Osterstein in Gera, Germany. Elise survived her husband by only four months, dying on March 18, 1929, aged 64, at Schloss Osterstein in Gera, Germany. Elise and her husband were buried in the family cemetery in the Park of Schloss Ebersdorf (link in German), now in Saalburg-Ebersdorf in Thuringia, Germany.

Tombs at Schloss Ebersdorf; Credit – https://www.saalburg-ebersdorf.de/touristinformation/sehenswertes/park

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Reuss-Gera Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. German Mediatisation. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_mediatisation> [Accessed 23 March 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Hohenlohe-Langenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohenlohe-Langenburg> [Accessed 23 March 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Princess Elise Of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Elise_of_Hohenlohe-Langenburg> [Accessed 23 March 2020].
  • Flantzer, Susan., 2020. Heinrich XXVII, 5th Prince Reuss Of Gera. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/heinrich-xxvii-5th-prince-reuss-of-gera/> [Accessed 23 March 2020].