Heinrich LXXII, Prince Reuss of Lobenstein and Ebersdorf (27 March 1797 – 17 February 1853) was the ruling prince of

Reuss-Lobenstein Reuss-Lobenstein (german: link=no, Reuß-Lobenstein) was a state located in the German part of the Holy Roman Empire. History The members of Reuss-Lobenstein family belonged to the Reuss Junior Line. Reuss-Lobenstein has existed on two occasions ...

from 7 May 1824 until his

abdication Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societ ...

on 1 October 1848, and of

Reuss-Ebersdorf Reuss-Ebersdorf was a county and from 1806 a principality located in Germany. The Counts of Reuss-Ebersdorf belonged to the Reuss Junior Line. Reuss was successively a part of the Holy Roman Empire, Confederation of the Rhine, German Confederatio ...

from 1822 to 1848. He was a cousin of king

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Loui ...

. Unlike with most European monarchies, his large regnal number does not indicate that he was preceded by seventy-one previous rulers also named Heinrich. By tradition, all male members of the

House of Reuss Reuss (german: Reuß , ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in ...

are named Heinrich, and are numbered by order of birth within the family in general. In the

Reuss Younger Line The Principality of Reuss-Gera (german: Fürstentum Reuß-Gera), called the Principality of the Reuss Junior Line (german: Fürstentum Reuß jüngerer Linie) after 1848, was a sovereign state in modern Germany, ruled by members of the House of Re ...

, the numbering system was reset at the beginning of each century; thus Heinrich LXXII's high number is directly related to his having been born at the very end of the eighteenth century. Heinrich LXXII abdicated in 1848, due to civil unrest in connection with the

revolutions In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

that spread through Germany and elsewhere in Europe that year. Because he was the last of his branch of the family, on his death his principality passed to the Prince Reuss zu Schleiz, unifying the lands of the

Ancestry

Notes

References

External links

The Fürst on a coin
1797 births 1853 deaths People from Saalburg-Ebersdorf Princes of Reuss {{Germany-noble-stub