Heinrich X, Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf (29 November 1662 in

Bad Lobenstein Bad Lobenstein is a spa town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany with a population of about 6,000 inhabitants. Until 2005, the town was named Lobenstein. The town, grouped round a rock, upon which stand the ruins of an old c ...

– 10 June 1711 in Ebersdorf), was a member of the

House of Reuss 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 Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Imperial ...

(younger line). He was Count of Lobenstein, and from 1678, Count of Ebersdorf. He was the founder 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 Confederation ...

line.

Life

Henry was the youngest son of

Henry X, Count of Reuss-Lobenstein Henry X, Count of Reuss-Lobenstein (9 September 1621, in Gera – 25 January 1671, in Lobenstein) was a German nobleman, and rector of the University of Leipzig. Life Henry X was the son of Henry II "the Posthumous" of Reuss-Gera. After his f ...

(1621–1671), Lord of Lobenstein, Hirschberg and Ebersdorf and his wife Marie Sibylle of Reuss-Obergreiz. His paternal grandfather was Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera. When the county was divided in 1678, Henry X was assigned as his residence the village of Ebersdorf, which was unusual, since it was a village. Before he married, he had the existing manor house expanded to a modest castle between 1692 and 1694, and added a

Baroque garden The Baroque garden was a style of garden based upon symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The style originated in the late-16th century in Italy, in the gardens of the Vatican and the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome and in the ...

. When his castle was ready, Henry X finally married, on 29 November 1694, in

Laubach Laubach () is a town of approximately 10,000 people in the Gießen (region), Gießen region of Hesse, Germany. Laubach is known as a ', a climatic health resort. It is situated east of Gießen. Surrounding Laubach are the towns of Hungen, Grünbe ...

with Erdmuthe Benigna (1670–1732), daughter of Count Johann Frederick of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...

(1625–1696) and his wife Baroness Benigna of Promnitz-Sorau (1648-1702). Both spouses were seen as extremely pious. They were close friends of the Pietist-pedagogue

August Hermann Francke August Hermann Francke (; 22 March 1663 – 8 June 1727) was a German Lutheran clergyman, theologian, philanthropist, and Biblical scholar. His evangelistic fervour and pietism got him expelled as lecturer from the universities of Dresden and ...

from Halle, and later with the Count Nikolaus Ludwig of Zinzendorf, who would marry their daughter Erdmuthe Dorothea. Ebersdorf soon became a center of the

Pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

in Thuringia.

Issue

Count Henry X had the following children: * Benigna Marie (1695-1751) * Friederike Wilhelmine (1696-1698) * Charlotte Louise (1698-1698) * Heinrich XXIX (1699-1747), Count of Reuss-Ebersdorf, married in 1721 Countess Sophie Theodora of Castell-Remlingen (1703-1777) * Erdmuthe Dorothea (1700-1756), married in 1722 with Count Nicholas Ludwig of Zinzendorf (1700-1760) * Bibiane Henriette (1702-1745), married in 1741 with Baron George Adolph Marschall of Bieberstein * Sophie Albertine Dorothea (1703-1708) * Ernestine Eleanor (1706-1766)

References

* Thomas Gehrlein: "Das Haus Reuss: Älterer und Jüngerer Linie", booklet, August 2006 Counts of Reuss House of Reuss 1662 births 1711 deaths 17th-century German people {{Germany-noble-stub