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REUSS

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 210 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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REUSS , the name of two small principalities of the See also:

German See also:empire, called Reuss, See also:elder See also:line, or Reuss-See also:Greiz, and Reuss, younger line, or Reuss-See also:Schleiz-See also:Gera. With a See also:joint See also:area of 441 sq. m. they See also:form See also:part of the complex of Thuringian states, and consist, roughly speaking, of two See also:main blocks of territory, separated by the See also:Neustadt See also:district of the duchy of See also:Saxe-See also:Weimar. The more southerly, which is much the larger of the two portions, belongs to the See also:bleak, mountainous region of the See also:Frankenwald and the See also:Vogtland, while the See also:northern portion is hilly, but fertile. The See also:chief See also:rivers are the See also:Weisse See also:Elster and the See also:Saale. About 35% of the See also:total See also:surface is occupied by forests, while about. 4o% is under tillage and about 19% under meadow and pasture. See also:Wheat, See also:rye and See also:barley are the See also:principal crops grown, and the breeding of See also:cattle is an important See also:industry. Reuss-Greiz, with an area of 122 sq. m., belongs to the larger of the two divisions mentioned above, and consists of three large and several small parcels of See also:land. On the whole, the See also:soil is not favourable for See also:agriculture, but the rearing of cattle is carried on with much success. About 63% of the inhabitants maintain themselves by See also:industrial pursuits, the chief products of which are the making of woollen fabrics at Greiz, the See also:capital, and of stockings at See also:Zeulenroda. Other See also:industries are See also:machine-See also:building, See also:printing and the making of See also:paper and See also:porcelain. In 19o5 the See also:population of the principality was 70,603.

The constitution of Reuss-Greiz See also:

dates from 1867, and provides for a representative chamber of twelve members, of whom three are appointed by the See also:prince, while two are chosen by the landed proprietors, three by the towns and four by the rural districts. The See also:revenue and See also:expenditure amount to about £76,000 a See also:year, and there is no public See also:debt. The reigning prince is See also:Henry See also:XXIV. (b. 1878), but as he is incapable of discharging his duties, these are now undertaken by a See also:regent. Reuss-Schleiz-Gera, with an area of 319 sq. m., includes part of the See also:southern and the whole of the northern of the two main divisions mentioned above; it touches See also:Bavaria on the See also:south and Prussian See also:Saxony on the See also:north. The former portion is known as the Oberland and the latter as the Unterland. Owing to the fertility of the Unterland, quite one-See also:quarter of the See also:people are supported by agricultural pursuits, although there is also much industrial activity. The chief industrial product consists of woollen goods, and the manufacture centres in the capital Gera, the largest of the six towns of the principality. Other industries are jute-See also:spinning, See also:dyeing and See also:brewing, and the manufacture of musical See also:instruments, chemicals, See also:tobacco, cigars, porcelain and machinery. A considerable See also:trade is carried on in these goods and also in See also:timber, cattle and See also:slate. See also:Iron is See also:mined in the Oberland, and large quantities of See also:salt are yielded by the brine springs of Heinrichshall.

In 1905 Reuss-Schleiz contained 144,584 inhabitants. Its See also:

annual revenue and expenditure amount to about £129,000, and in 1908 it had a public debt of £52,027. The constitution, which rests on See also:laws of 1852 and 1856, provides for a representative See also:assembly of 16 members which possesses limited legislative See also:powers, the administrative duties being discharged by a See also:cabinet of three members. The reigning prince is Henry XIV. (b. 1832), but since 1892 his duties have been undertaken by a regent. The states of Reuss return one member each to the Bundesrat, and one each to the Reichstag of the German empire. See also:History.—The history of Reuss stretches back to the times when the German See also:kings appointed vogts, or bailiffs (advocati imperii), to administer their lands. One of these vogts was a certain Henry, who died about 1120, after having been entrusted by the See also:emperor Henry IV. with the vogtship of Gera and of Weida, and he is generally recognized as the ancestor of the princes of Reuss. His descendants called themselves lords of Weida, and some of them were men of See also:note in their See also:day, serving the emperors and German kings and distinguishing themselves in the ranks of the See also:Teutonic See also:order. The land under their See also:rule gradually increased in See also:size, and it is said that the name of Reuss was applied to it owing to the fact that one of its princes married a See also:Russian princess, their son being called " der Russe," or the Russian. Another version is that the prince received this See also:sobriquet because he passed many years in See also:Russia.

The district thus called Reuss was at one See also:

time much more extensive than it is at See also:present, and for some years its rulers were margraves of See also:Meissen. In 1564 the See also:family was divided into three branches by the sons of Henry XVI. (d. 1535). One of these became See also:extinct in 1616, but the remaining ones are those of Reuss-Greiz and Reuss-Schleiz-Gera, which are flourishing to-day. Although there have been further divisions these have not been lasting, and the lands of the former family have been undivided since 1768 and those of the latter since 1848. The lords of Reuss took the See also:title of See also:count in 1673; and the See also:head of the elder line became a prince of the Empire in 1778, and the head of the younger line in 1806. In 1807 the two princes joined the See also:Confederation of the See also:Rhine and in 1815 the German confederation. In 1866 Reuss-Greiz was compelled to atone for its active sympathy with See also:Austria by the See also:payment of a See also:fine. In 1871 both principalities became members of the new German empire. The princes of Reuss are very wealthy, their private domain including a See also:great part of the territory over which they rule. In the event of either line becoming extinct, its possessions will fall to the other.

A curious See also:

custom prevails in the See also:house of Reuss. The male members of both branches of the family all See also:bear the name of Henry (Heinrich), the individuals being distinguished by See also:numbers. In the elder line, according to an arrangement made in 1701, the enumeration continues until the number one See also:hundred is reached when it begins again. In the younger line the first prince See also:born in a new See also:century is numbered I., and the numbers follow on until the end of the century when they begin again. Thus Henry XIV. of Reuss younger line, who was born in 1832, was the son of Henry LXVII. (1789-1867), the former being the 14th prince born in the 19th century, and the latter the 67th prince born in the 18th. See B. See also:Schmidt, See also:Die Reussen, Genealogie See also:des Gesamthauses Reuss (Schleiz, 1903) ; H. von See also:Voss, Die Ahnen des reussischen Hauses(See also:Lobenstein, 1882) ; C. F. Collmann, Reussische Geschichte. Das Vogtland See also:im Mittelalter (Greiz, 1892), and O. Liebmann, Das Staalsrecht des Furstenlhums Reuss (1884).

End of Article: REUSS

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