House of Reuss

Imperial County of Reuss
Reichsgrafschaft Reuß
State of the Holy Roman Empire
ca 1010–1778/1806
Coat of arms
Reuss in 1820: Elder (green) and Younger (orange) line
Capital		Weida until 1531, then Plauen, Gera and Greiz
Government		Principality
Historical era		Middle Ages
•	Established	ca 1010
•	Partitioned to R.-Gera,     R-Plauen and R-Weida	ca 1206
•	Partitioned into Elder,     Middle and Younger line	1564
•	Principality of Reuss     Elder Line	1778
•	Principality of Reuss     Junior Line	1806
Preceded by Succeeded by Vogtland Reuss Elder Line Reuss Junior Line

Coat of arms

Reuss (German: Reuß) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Its rulers, the House of Reuss, named all of their male children Heinrich (English: Henry) after the end of the 12th century in honour of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1190–97), to whom they owed the estates of Weida and Gera. The head of each branch of the family bore the German title Fürst (Prince) as did their children.

Several different principalities of the House of Reuss which had previously existed had by the time of the formation of the German Confederation become part of the two remaining lines (the Elder and the Younger lines). Before then, they had been part first of the Holy Roman Empire, and then the Confederation of the Rhine.

The region including what would become the Principality of Reuss was inhabited in early medieval times by Slavic people who were converted to Christianity by the German Emperor Otto I (936–973). In church matters the region was under the Diocese of Zeitz (founded in 968), which became a suffragan of Magdeburg. On account of the frequent inroads of the Slavs, the residence of the Bishop of Zeitz was removed to Naumburg in 1028, after which the See was called Naumburg-Zeitz.