House of Reuss

House of Reuss

In 1306 the Plauen branch of the vogts was subdivided into an elder line (at Plauen) that died out around 1380, and a younger line (at Greiz and Reichenbach), called Reuss. In 1564 the latter was subdivided into three branches, the Elder (extinct in 1927), the Middle (extinct in 1616), and the Younger (of which the ruling line became extinct in 1945) and a side line, split off in 1692, Reuss-Köstritz, which had been raised to (however, non-ruling) princes in 1806, still exists with about 30 male relatives, all named Heinrich, as the last surviving branch of the family, with the senior of this branch, the Prince Reuss-Köstritz, as head of the entire house, hence now The Fürst Reuss, while the others hold the agnatic title of prince.