Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss

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His Serene Highness
The Prince Reuss
Prince Heinrich IV in 2011 at the funeral of Otto, Crown Prince of Austria
Head of the House of Reuss
Period 5 January 1962 - 20 June 2012
Predecessor Hereditary Prince Heinrich XLV
Successor Prince Heinrich XIV
Born (1919-10-26)26 October 1919
Ernstbrunn, Austria
Died 20 June 2012(2012-06-20) (aged 92)
Ernstbrunn, Austria
Spouse Princess Marie Luise of Salm-Horstmar (1918-2015)
Father Prince Heinrich XXXIX Reuss
Mother Countess Antonia of Castell-Castell

Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss, Count and Lord of Plauen, Lord of Greiz, Kranichfeld, Gera, Schleiz and Lobenstein (26 October 1919 – 20 June 2012)[1] was the Prince Reuss (German: Fürst Reuß) and head of the Princely House of Reuss from 1962 until his death.

Background and career[edit]

Prince Heinrich IV was born at his family's summer residence of Schloss Ernstbrunn near Vienna in Austria, the eldest child of Prince Heinrich XXXIX Reuss, head of the non reigning Köstritz branch of the House of Reuss, and his wife Countess Antonia of Castell-Castell.[1]

He was born just under a year after the House of Reuss had ceased to reign on 11 November 1918 following the German revolution at the end of the First World War. The family's two principalities were originally merged into the republican People's State of Reuss before becoming part of Thuringia in 1920. Despite the House of Reuss losing their thrones, Prince Heinrich IV's branch of the family retained their possessions in Köstritz where they lived part of the year, spending their summers at Schloss Ernstbrunn.[2]

After taking his high school exams in Dresden in 1937,[3] Prince Heinrich IV pursued a career in the German Army achieving the rank Rittmeister (cavalry master).[1] He served during the Second World War and was decorated with the 1st and 2nd Class of the Iron Cross, as well as the War Order of the German Cross in Gold.[4]

Prince Heinrich IV later studied for a degree in economics (Diplom-Volkswirt) and worked as an economist.[1]

Prince Reuss[edit]

In the autumn of 1945 the head of the House of Reuss, Heinrich XLV, Hereditary Prince Reuss Younger Line went missing. The following year Prince Heinrich IV’s father died leaving him as head of the Köstritz branch of the family and the immediate dynastic heir to the missing Hereditary Prince Heinrich XLV who was the last male member of the Schleiz branch.

At the end of the Second World War Prince Heinrich IV's possessions in Köstritz, which fell into communist East Germany, were expropriated by the communist government. Likewise Schloss Ernstbrunn in Austria was confiscated by the Soviet Union before being returned in the early 1950s.[2]

On 5 January 1962 Hereditary Prince Heinrich XLV was legally declared dead with effect from 31 December 1953, at which point Prince Heinrich IV became the official head of the entire House of Reuss.[5]

With German reunification in 1990 Prince Heinrich IV was able to return to his Reuss homeland where, with his son, he opened an agricultural and forestry business. He was also able to recover a number of his possessions which had been expropriated in 1945.[2]

Prince Heinrich IV died at Ernstbrunn where he was also buried.[2]

Marriage and children[edit]

On 10 June 1954 the prince married Princess Marie Luise of Salm-Horstmar (1918-2015), daughter of Otto II, Prince of Salm-Horstmar and Countess Rosa of Solms-Baruth. They had one son and three daughters:

  • Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss (b. 14 July 1955)
  • Princess Anna Elisabeth Johanette Reuss (b. 29 June 1957)
  • Princess Karoline Adelma Henriette Anna Elisabeth Reuss (b. 23 June 1959), married to Carl Philipp, Baron von Hohenbuhel gennant Heufler zu Rasen.
  • Princess Anna Elisabeth Eleonore Reuss (b. 22 July 1962), married to Count Johannes Ferdinand Kinsky von Wchinitz und Tettau.

Titles, styles and honours[edit]

Prince Heinrich IV was styled as His Serene Highness Prince Heinrich IV Reuss Younger Line from birth until 5 June 1930 when the designation Younger Line was dropped, the princes Reuss Elder Line having become extinct in the male line in 1927.[1] As head of the House of Reuss he was styled His Serene Highness The Prince Reuss, Count and Lord of Plauen, Lord of Greiz, Kranichfeld, Gera, Schleiz and Lobenstein.

As head of the House of Reuss, Prince Heinrich IV was the grand master of the Cross of Honour of Reuss. He was also a Commander of the Bailiwick of Brandenburg Order of St John and the holder of the Grand Officer's Cross of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.[6]

Ancestry[edit]

Ancestors of Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss
8. Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss-Köstritz
4. Prince Heinrich XXIV Reuss
9. Princess Luise Caroline Reuss-Greiz
2. Prince Heinrich XXXIX Reuss
10. Prince Heinrich LXXIV Reuss-Köstritz
5. Prince Elisabeth Reuss-Köstritz
11. Countess Eleonore of Stolberg-Wernigerode
1. Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss
12. Carl, Count of Castell-Castell
6. Friedrich Karl, Prince of Castell-Castell
13. Countess Emma of Solms-Rödelheim and Assenheim
3. Countess Antonia of Castell-Castell
14. Count Constantin of Stolberg-Wernigerode
7. Countess Gertrud of Stolberg-Wernigerode
15. Countess Antonie of Stolberg-Wernigerode

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Gothaisches Genealogisches Handbuch (2015) Page 229
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Der letzte Fürst Reuß ist mit fast 93 Jahren verstorben (29 June 2012). Ostthüringer Zeitung
  3. ↑ Wiener Salonblatt (21 March 1937)
  4. ↑ Reuss, Prince, Heinrich IV.. Traces of War
  5. ↑ Burke's Royal Families of the World Volume 1 Europe & Latin America. Page 250
  6. ↑ Fürst Heinrich IV Reuß - Death Notice
Heinrich IV, Prince Reuss
Born: 26 October 1919 Died: 20 June 2012
Titles in pretence
Preceded by — TITULAR —
Prince Reuss
5 January 1962 – 20 June 2012
Reason for succession failure:
Monarchy abolished in 1918 		Succeeded by
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