Reuss Junior Line

Infobox Former Country
native_name = Fürstentum Reuß Jüngerer Linie
conventional_long_name = Principality of Reuss Junior Line
common_name = Reuss Junior Line
continent = Europe
region =
country = Germany
government_type = Principality
year_start = 1806
year_end = 1918
event_start =
date_start =
event_end = Merged with Elder line
date_end =
event_post = Thuringia founded
date_post = 1919
p1 = Reuss (state)
s1 = Republic of Reuss
flag_s1 = Flagge Fürstentum Reuß ältere Linie.svg

---

flag_type =


symbol =
symbol_type =

---

image_map_caption = Reuss Junior Line within Thuringia
capital = Gera
stat_year1 = 1905
stat_area1 = 827
stat_pop1 = 145000

The Principality of Reuss Junior Line ( _de. Fürstentum Reuß Jüngerer Linie) was a state in Germany, ruled by members of the House of Reuss. The Counts Reuss of Gera, of Schleiz, of Lobenstein, of Köstriz and of Ebersdorf, became princes in 1806, and its members bore the title "Prince Reuss, Younger Line", though they are also referred to by their branch names (e.g. Prince Reuss of Köstriz).

The house is unusual for its system of naming and numbering the male members of the family, every one of which has been named "Heinrich" for centuries. While most royal and noble houses give numbers only to the reigning head of the house, and that in the order of his reign, the Reuss Junior Line used a numbering sequence for all male family members which began and ended roughly as centuries began and ended. A consequence of this naming system is that certain heads of the Reuss Younger Line have had the highest numbers attached to their name of all the European nobility. Note also that the male children within a single nuclear family are not numbered sequentially, as all members of the larger family are part of the same numbering system. For example, the sons of Prince Heinrich LXVII Reuss of Schleiz were, in order, Heinrich V, Heinrich VIII, Heinrich XI, Heinrich XIV, and Heinrich XVI.

The Principality of Reuss Younger Line had an area of 827 km² and a population of 145,000 in 1905. Its capital was Gera. A notable member of this family was Augusta, the maternal grandmother of Queen Victoria.

In the aftermath of World War I, the territory of the Junior Line was merged with the Elder Line in 1919 as the Republic of Reuss, which was incorporated into the new state of Thuringia in 1919.

The designation younger line was dropped in 1930; the "elder line" had become extinct as its last member, Heinrich XXIV, renounced his rights in 1918 and died unmarried in 1927.

Princes Reuss, Younger Line (1806-1918)

*Heinrich XLII 1806-1818
*Heinrich LXII 1818-1854
*Heinrich LXVII 1854-1867
*Heinrich XIV 1867-1913
*Heinrich XXVII 1913-1918

Princes post monarchy

*Heinrich XXVII 1918-1928 "(Became Prince of Reuss on the death of the last Prince of the Elder Line)"
*Heinrich XLV 1927-1945/1962 "(Went missing 1945, declared dead 1962)"
*Heinrich IV 1962-present