Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz (; 18 March 172228 June 1800) was the first Prince Reuss of Greiz from 1778 to 1800.

Early life

Heinrich XI was born at

Greiz Greiz ( ; ) is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the Greiz (district), district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of the state capital Erfurt, on the White Elster river. Greiz has a large park ...

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

, youngest child of Count Heinrich II Reuss-Obergreiz (1696–1722), (son of Heinrich VI, Count Reuss-Greiz and Baroness Henriette Amalie von

Friesen Friesen (; ) is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Haut-Rhin département The following is a list of the 366 communes of the French department of Haut-Rhin. The communes co ...

) and his wife, Countess Sophie Charlotte von

Bothmer The House of Bothmer is the name of an ancient German noble comital family whose members occupied significant military and diplomatic positions in the Kingdom of Hanover, Kingdom of Bavaria and later within the German Empire. History The family wa ...

(1697–1748), (daughter of Count Hans Kaspar von Bothmer and Gisela Erdmuth von

Hoym Hoym () is a town and former municipality in the district of Salzlandkreis in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. Since 15 July 2009, it is part of the town Seeland. Hoym is located on the river Selke, between the towns Aschersleben and Quedlinbu ...

Succession to Obergreiz and Untergreiz

Heinrich succeeded his brother Henry IX as Count of Reuss-Obergreiz 17 March 1723. After the death of Count Henry III Reuss-Untergreiz, in 1768, including the city of Untergreiz passed to the domains of the Heinrich XI and he was able to gather these possessions and guaranteed the line of succession.

Prince Reuss of Greiz

On 12 May 1778 Heinrich was elevated to

Prince of the Holy Roman Empire Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

() by the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

. He received the

Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary The Order of Saint Stephen () is an order of chivalry founded in 1764 by Maria Theresa. In 1938, Miklós Horthy took the rights and activities of Grand Master as Regent of Hungary. The name of the Order changed to the Royal Hungarian Order of ...

as well.

First marriage and issue

Heinrich XI married on 4 April 1743 in Köstritz to Countess Conradine Reuss-Köstritz (1719–1770), youngest daughter of

Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Köstritz Heinrich XXIV, Count Reuss of Köstritz (26 July 1681 in Schleiz — 24 July 1748 in Greiz) was Count Reuss of Köstritz from 1692 to his death. He was the founder of the Reuss-Köstritz line of the House of Reuss. Marriage and issues On 6 Ma ...

, and his wife, Baroness Marie Eleonore Emma von Promnitz-Dittersbach. They had eleven children: *Count Heinrich XII of Reuss-Greiz (25 April 1744 – 30 December 1745) *Countess Amalie of Reuss-Greiz (25 October 1745 – 3 October 1748) * Heinrich XIII, Prince Reuss-Greiz (16 February 1747 – 29 January 1817), married in 1786 to Princess Wilhelmine Louise of Nassau-Weilburg, had issue. *Princess Friederike of Reuss-Greiz (9 July 1748 – 14 June 1816), married firstly in 1767 to Friedrich Ludwig, Count of

Castell-Rüdenhausen Castell-Rüdenhausen was a County in the region of Franconia in northern Bavaria of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by a branch of the Counts of Castell. It was created as a partition of Castell and in 1806, it was mediatised to Bavaria. On 7 Ma ...

, no issue, divorced in 1769; Married secondly in 1770 to

Friedrich Wilhelm, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Kirchberg Friedrich William, Fürst zu Hohenlohe-Kirchberg was born in Kirchberg, Hohenlohe, Holy Roman Empire (now part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany) on 2 December 1732. He was a member of an old comital and, subsequently, princely (''Fürstlich'' ...

, no issue. *Prince Heinrich XIV of Reuss-Greiz (6 November 1749 – 12 February 1799), married

morganatically Morganatic marriage, sometimes called a left-handed marriage, is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which in the context of royalty or other inherited title prevents the principal's position or privileges being passed to the spouse ...

in 1797 to Marie Anne

Meyer Meyer may refer to: People *Meyer (surname), listing people so named * Meyer (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Companies * Meyer Burger, a Swiss mechanical engineering company * Meyer Corporation * Meyer Sound Labo ...

, no issue. * Prince Heinrich XV of Reuss-Greiz (22 February 1751 – 30 August 1825) *Princess Isabelle Auguste of Reuss-Greiz (7 August 1752 – 10 October 1824), married in 1771 to Burgrave Wilhelm Georg of Kirchberg-Hachenburg, had issue. *Countess Marie of Reuss-Greiz (1 November 1754 – 28 September 1759) *Princess Viktoria of Reuss-Greiz (20 January 1756 – 2 December 1819), married in 1783 to Wolfgang Ernst II, Prince of Isenburg und Büdingen zu Birstein, no issue. *Count Heinrich XVI of Reuss-Greiz (30 August 1759 – 13 December 1763) *Prince Heinrich XVII of Reuss-Greiz (25 May 1761 – 27 February 1807), married morganatically in 1805 to Babette von Wenz, issue: Isabelle von Wenz zum Lahnstein (1806-1886).

Second marriage

Heinrich married secondly on 25 October 1770 in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

to Countess Alexandrine of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim (1732–1809), second daughter of Christian Karl Reinhard, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Heidesheim, and his wife, Countess Catharine Polyxene of Solms-Rödelheim und Assenheim; they had no issue.

Ancestry

Notes and sources

*Ancestors of Queen Juliana, Jaarboek Centraal Bureau Genealogie, Den Haag, Reference: 246 *L'Allemagne dynastique, Huberty, Giraud, Magdelaine, Reference: 309 *Les 256 quartiers genealogiques de Jacques Henri VI, chef de la maison de France, 1980., Vollet, Charles, Reference: 174 {{DEFAULTSORT:Heinrich 11, Prince Reuss Of Greiz 1722 births 1800 deaths People from Greiz (district) Princes of Reuss Grand Crosses of the Order of Saint Stephen of Hungary Princes of the Holy Roman Empire