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Heinrich XLV of Reuss is the 6th and current Prince of the Principality of Reuss-Gera and the 7th Prince of the Principality of Reuss-Greiz, two constituent states of the German Empire ruled in a personal union since 1927. He succeeded his father Heinrich XXVII on 21 November 1928.
History[]
Early Life[]
Heinrich XLV was born at Ebersdorf, in the Principality of Reuss-Gera, the only surviving son of Heinrich XXVII, Prince of Reuss-Gera (1858–1928) and his wife, Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1864–1929). His older sister, Victoria Feodora, later married Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg in 1917, who would become Duke of the United Baltic Duchy in 1918.
Heinrich attended school in Gera and Dresden. When the Weltkrieg kicked off, his father, an avid military man, urged him to serve his country in the Prussian Army. Heinrich served as a lieutenant on the Western and Eastern Front and later also took part in the German Intervention in the Russian Civil War.
After the war, he studied literature, music and philosophy in Leipzig, Marburg, Munich and Kiel. Additionally, he continued his service in the Prussian Army, becoming Gardeoffizier in the mid-1920s.
However, Heinrich's biggest passion remained the theatre and the emerging movie industry. As crown prince of Reuss, he traveled around meeting high-ranking theatre performers and actors, attending performances across the principality and personally sponsored building projects dedicated to the fine arts, for example the expansion of the Princely Theatre of Reuss in Gera. Already by the mid-1920s, it hosted more than 250.000 visitors every season.
Prince of United Reuss[]
WIP