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| @DPA/Picture Alliance |
In raids throughout Germany today, police arrested a group of 25 former military and far-right persons who were preparing for a "Day X" to storm German's parliament, the Reichstag, in Berlin and take power.
Heinrich XIII Prinz Reuss, 71, is among those who were arrested. He is said to be one of two ringleaders and "central to their plans." The other ringleader is alleged to be Rüdiger von Pescatore.
The alleged domestic terrorists included members of the Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) and the QAnon movement. The Reichsbürger group has "long been in the sights of German police, according to the BBC, due to "violent attacks and racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories." This group does not recognize the "modern German state."
This group believes that post-war Germany is not a "sovereign country but a corporation set up by the victorious Allies," reports the New York Times.
The prince was arrested in Frankfurt-am-Main where he has a home and a business. His life partner, a Russian citizen, identified only as Vitalia B., was arrested near their home, Jagdschloss Waidmannsheil in Bad Lobenstein.
The group's aim was to "overthrow the existing state order in Germany and to establish its own form of state, the outlines of which have already been worked out."
QAnon supporters are convinced that Germany is controlled by the "deep state," which has "secret powers pulling the political strings."
HSH Prince Heinrich XIII was born on December 4, 1951, the fifth of six children of HSH Prince Heinrich I (1910-1982) and HH Duchess Woizlawa-Feodora of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1918-2019).
News organizations have reported the prince's name as Reuss of Greiz, which is incorrect. Greiz was the Elder Line of the former princely house of Reuss. It became extinct in 1927 with the death of HSH Heinrich XXIV Prince Reuss zu Greiz, who renounced his throne on November 11, 1918.
Heinrich XXIV was the only son of Heinrich XII, Prince of Reuss zu Greiz, and Princess Ida of Schaumburg-Lippe. One of his sisters. Princess Hermine was the second wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II.
With Heinrich XXIV's death the Younger Line (Reuss zu Köstritz) became the only surviving branch of the Princely House of Reuss. The family dropped the use of the Younger Line in 1931.
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| The wedding of Duchess Woizlawa of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Prince Heinrich I Reuss |
Prince Heinrich XIII is a collateral descendant of the Köstritz branch. He "recounted how his great-grandfather [Heinrich XXVII] was forced to abdicate his rule when Germany became a republic." Heinrich XIII's line of descent from Heinrich XXVII is through his mother and not his father.
Heinrich XXVII was the Prince of Reuss zu Schleiz (1858-1928), who married Princess Elise of Hohenlohe-Langenburg. Their first child, Princess Viktoria-Feodora Reuss (1889-1918), died shortly after the birth of their daughter, Duchess Woizlawa-Feodora.
Through his mother, Woizlawa, Heinrich XIII is a great-great-great grandchild of Princess Feodora of Leiningen (Princess of Hohenlohe-Langenburg), who was Queen Victoria's older half-sister.
Woizlawa was a first cousin of the late Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and was one of the bridesmaids at Juliana's wedding to Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Juliana and Woizlawa's fathers were brothers, Duke Heinrich and Duke Adolf Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, respectively. However, due to Adolf Friedrich's support for the Nazi Party, Juliana and her family cut ties with their Mecklenburg relatives, including her cousin Woizlawa.
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| Viktoria-Feodora, Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin |
It was at the WorldWeb Forum in Zurich in 2019 that Heinrich spoke out against the German republic and proclaimed that the German monarchy should be restored. He said that his ancestors' subjects "lived happy lives because the administrative structures were straightforward and transparent." He spoke for about sixteen minutes, railing that "after thousands of years of rule," his family had been "dispossessed after the first world war. He charged that the war was brought about by "foreign powers," and he claimed that the "driving forces" for the 20th-century wars were the Freemasons and the Rothschild banking family.
The prince has been estranged from his family for fourteen years due to his extremist beliefs. In August 2022, a spokesman for Heinrich XIV, the head of the Princely House issued a statement after Heinrich attended a reception hosted by Bad Lobenstein's controversial mayor Thomas Weigelt, who justified the invitation by saying Heinrich XIII is a "historical person." The spokesman said the head of the house and the Reuss family have distanced themselves from Heinrich XIII, who was described as a "distant" relative, who is a "partially confused old man" caught up in "conspiracy theory misconceptions".
Heinrich IV and Heinrich XIII are third cousins as both are great-great-grandchildren of Prince Heinrich LXIII and Princess Eleonore of Stolberg-Wernigerode.
Earlier today, Prince Heinrich XIV spoke to MDR Thüringen about his distant cousin's alleged actions have rubbed off "catastrophically" on the whole family. He said he never imagined that Heinrich XIII would be the alleged ringleader of a terrorist group. Thirty years ago, he was a modern businessman who "became radicalized through disappointments."
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| @Marianne van Dam |
Heinrich XIII owns a hunting lodge in Bad Lobenstein. He worked in real estate for many years before becoming radicalized.
He married Susan Doukht Jaladi, an Iranian, in Frankfurt on August 1, 1989. This was a morganatic marriage according to Reuss family statutes, which meant it was not recognized as equal although this status does not exist in German law as titles have ceased to exist since August 1919 and the establishment of the then Weimar Republic. Titles are a part of one's surname.
They had two children, Elena (1989) and Heinrich XXVIII (1991) before the marriage was dissolved by divorce. Susan calls herself Princess Susan Reuss. She is a "certified alternative practitioner with numerous additional training for special treatment methods." According to Susan's personal website, her daughter, Elena, has Down Syndrome.
The other alleged ringleader Rüdiger von Pescatore was also arrested today. He is a 69-year-old retired army officer who was described as the terrorist group's "military leader. He served as commander of paratrooper battalion 251 and was "reportedly" expelled from the German military over the "unauthorized sale of weapons from the stocks of the old East Germany military."
Von Pescatore was born in Munich on July 25, 1953, the son of Bonaventura von Pescatore and Traute Christel Plep. In 1979 he married Karin Fröhlich.
He is a great-great-grandson of Max Heinrich, Count of Wuthenau-Hohenthurm and Countess Pauline von Württemberg.
|https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/europe/prince-heinrich-reuss-germany.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/world/europe/germany-coup-arrests.html
What a guy.
ReplyDeleteSo many famous relatives.
He is a bad guy.
Cu
Andrea