Henry II, Count of Reuss-Gera

Henry ( II ) Posthumus of Reuss ( younger line ) ( born June 10, 1572 Gera; † 3 Dezemberjul / December 13 1635greg ibid. . ) Was Mr. Gera, Lord of Lobenstein and Mr. Crane to upper field.

Biography

Henry ( II ) was the only and posthumous son of Henry XVI. ( ( I) ) Reuss Gera ( 1530-1572 ), the founder of the younger line of Reuss, and his second wife Countess Dorothea of ​​Solms- Sonnenwalde ( 1547-1595 ).

Heinrich tried successfully in his country in order to promote the economy and the educational system, so he founded in 1608 the high school Rutheneum in Gera. Against the advice of his theological advisers he brought Calvinist religious refugees from Flanders to the land and settled them in his residence Gera. This led to an upswing of the wool production and to a first economic boom. Under his reign, Gera also developed into a cultural center of the Reuss areas. Heinrich was a counselor of three Emperors and a frequent guest at the courts in Vienna and Dresden.

On the occasion of the death of Heinrich Posthumus Heinrich Schütz composed in memory of his musical rulers the musical funeral. The prince had in his surviving death - memory written down in his lifetime Bible texts and reformation temporal chorale verses with which his coffin was labeled. This became the basis of the first part of the funeral, the funeral mass. With the " Musicalisches Exequien " Heinrich Schütz created the first Begräbnismissa in German instead of Latin. The traditional copper sarcophagus, the coffin of Heinrich Posthumus Reuss, is prominent as one of the first if not the first of its kind testimony of early modern funeral culture and national cultural monument of European importance.

In 1922 the coffins of Russias were moved from the original grave on the Gera locust space available in depots of Gera St. Saviour's Church. In 1995, the sarcophagus of Heinrich Posthumus was salvaged for reasons of conservation of the Salvator Church and transferred to the new St John's Church Gera. In 2007, the entire folder of the Russias sarcophagi in turn was implemented for reasons of conservation in the old ceremonial hall of the Ostfriedhofs Gera. This perspective unexplained interim solution leads to this unique baroque testimony is not accessible in its historical and musical and historical importance of the public.

In solo shows the importance of the sarcophagus was recognized: he was called as a showpiece in the entrance during the Thuringian State Exhibition 2004 Castle Sondershausen welcome visitors. After that, he was temporarily exhibited in Heinrich Schütz House in Bad Koestritz, the birthplace of Heinrich Schütz and Gera neighboring town. In the years 2010 and 2011 he was finally in the exhibition With peace and joy I depart. Protestant burial culture of the early modern period in the Museum of Sepulchral Culture in Kassel and shown at the City Museum Gera.

Marriages and descendants

Henry ( II ) was married twice. First in 1594 with Magdalena ( 1572-1596 ), daughter of Count Wolfgang of Hohenlohe- Langenburg Weikersheim, with whom he had one daughter:

  • Dorothea Magdalene (1595-1640), married in 1620 Viscount George of Kirchberg

His second wife he married in 1597 Magdalene ( 1580-1652 ), daughter of Count Albrecht VII of Schwarzburg- Rudolstadt, with whom he had the following children:

  • Juliane Marie (1598-1650), married 1614 David Graf von Mansfeld - Schraplau
  • Henry I (* / † 1599)
  • Agnes (1600-1642), married in 1627, Count Ernst Ludwig von Mansfeld- Heldrungen
  • Elisabeth Magdalene (1601-1641)
  • Henry II (1602-1670), Lord of Gera Hall and Castle
  • Henry III. (1603-1640)
  • Henry IV (1604-1628)
  • Henry V (* / † 1606 )
  • Henry VI. (* / † 1606 )
  • Sophie Hedwig (1608-1653)
  • Dorothea Sibylle (1609-1631), married in 1627 Christian Freiherr Schenk von Tautenburg († August 3, 1640 )
  • Henry VII (1610-1611)
  • Henry VIII (* / † 1613 )
  • Anna Katharina (1615-1682)
  • Henry IX. (1616-1666), Lord of Schleiz
  • Ernestine (1618-1650), married in 1639 Otto Albrecht von Schoenburg - Hartenstein
  • X. Henry (1621-1671), Lord of Lobenstein and Ebersdorf

Honors

He wears honor since 2008 a train of Gera tram his name.

Bad Lobenstein Calvinism Albrecht VII, Count of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie Integrated Authority File
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