, house =

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 ...

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) *Reuss (river) in Switzerland *Reuss (state) or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the Republic of Reuss *Reuss Elder Line and Reuss Younger Line (House of Reuss), members incl ...

, father =

Heinrich XXVII, Prince Reuss Younger Line , house = House of Reuss Younger Line , father =Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line , mother =Duchess Agnes of Württemberg , birth_date = , birth_place =Gera, Reuss Younger Line , death_date = , death_place =Gera, Weim ...

, mother = Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Ebersdorf,

Principality of Reuss-Gera 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 ...

, death_date = 1945 (disappeared) Heinrich XLV, Prince Reuss Younger Line (german: Heinrich XLV Prinz Reuß jüngere Linie; 13 May 1895presumably 1945) was the head 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 ...

from 1928 to 1945, as well the last male member of the Reuss-Schleiz branch of the Younger Line.

Early life

Heinrich XLV was born at Ebersdorf, in the

(present-day

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and larg ...

), only surviving son of

(1858–1928), (son of

Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line Heinrich XIV, Prince Reuss Younger Line (german: Heinrich XIV Fürst Reuß jüngere Linie; 28 May 183229 March 1913) was Prince Reuss Younger Line from 1867 to 1913. Early life Heinrich XIV was born at Coburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, sixth child o ...

, and

Duchess Agnes of Württemberg , house =House of Württemberg House of Reuss Younger Line , father = Duke Eugen of Württemberg , mother =Princess Helene of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , birth_date = , birth_place = Carlsruhe, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , ...

) and his wife,

Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (; 4 September 1864 – 18 March 1929) was Princess Reuss Younger Line as the wife of Heinrich XXVII. She was the eldest daughter of Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg and his wife Princess Leopoldin ...

(1864–1929), (daughter of

Hermann, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , house = Hohenlohe-Langenburg , father = Ernst I, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg , mother = Princess Feodora of Leiningen , birth_date = , birth_place = Langenburg, Kingdom of Württemberg , death_date = , death_place = ...

and Princess Leopoldine of Baden). He attended high school in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

and served as a lieutenant in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. After the war he studied in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

, literature, music and philosophy. He was a great theatre lover and supporter and was a director, writer and consultant. In 1923, Heinrich XLV became head of the dramaturgy department at Reussian Theatre in

Gera Gera is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the ''Thüringer Städtekette'', an almost straight string of cit ...

Prince Reuss

At the death of his father on 21 November 1928 he became head of the

after the Younger and Elder Lines merged, when the Elder Line became extinct in the male line in 1927. In 1935 he adopted one of his relatives, Prince Heinrich I (1910–1982) a member of the Köstritz branch of the Princely family of Reuss. The adoption took place for

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

reasons, not for succession rights for the headship of the House of Reuss. In 1939 Heinrich I married

Duchess Woizlawa Feodora of Mecklenburg Woizlawa Feodora Princess Reuss (née ''Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin'', 17 December 1918 – 3 June 2019) was a German royal and by birth member of the House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. At the time of her death at the age of 100, she was the ol ...

, the niece of Heinrich XLV. During the 1930s Heinrich XLV became an enthusiastic

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

sympathizer and member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

. In August 1945 he was

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

officer, arrested in Ebersdorf by the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

military, and is presumed missing. Although he was most likely interned and killed in NKVD special camp Nr. 2 in

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...

, his name is not in any of the special camps' lists of the dead. On 5 January 1962 he was declared dead by a court in

Büdingen Büdingen is a town in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is mainly known for its well-preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and half-timbered houses. Geography Location Büdingen is in the south of the Wetterau below the Vogelsb ...

. His entire fortune was seized and confiscated in 1948 by the Soviet Military Administration, including the Ebersdorf Castle, Thallwitz Castle, Osterstein Castle in Gera. Heinrich XLV remained unmarried and childless and the succession of the House of Reuss passed to Prince Heinrich IV of the Reuss of Köstritz branch.

Ancestry

Notes and sources

*The Royal House of Stuart, London, 1969, 1971, 1976, Addington, A. C., Reference: II 224 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich 45, Hereditary Prince Reuss Younger Line 1895 births 1945 deaths People from Saalburg-Ebersdorf People from the Principality of Reuss-Gera Princes of Reuss Royalty in the Nazi Party Heirs apparent who never acceded People who died in NKVD special camp Nr. 2 German people executed by the Soviet Union Sons of monarchs