The Washington herald., 1912-06-17

Commenting upon the visit Of the
German fleet to this country, the news
papers deliberately record that while
the flagship Of the squadron, the
Moltke. has among its ofhcers two
princes-Prlnce Henry XSxvn OF
Reuss, and Prince Christian Of Hesse-
PhIIipsthal-B l-Barchfeld-neither Of them
Is Of the blood royal This is an abb
surd and misleading statement.
There are two sovereign principali-
ties Of Reuss IN the German fedora
tion, separated from each other by the
county OF Neustadt in the grand duchy
OF Saxe-weimer. Since the year 1916
the possessions OF the House OF Reuss
have been divided between the elder
and the Junior branch. The former
rules over the principality OF Reuss-
GreiZ. the latter over Reuss-Schleiz
and Lobenstein. Between the two OF
them they own 446 square miles of
territory.
But they are sovereign, as much so
as the German Emperor is as King Of
Prussia and, strangely enough. be IL
said, they possess such weighty inhu-
ence, no doubt owing to their family
relations and kinship with the most
Po"NEAuA oguhHAlGEs AAdA AlOA even DIS
marck, when he formed the new Ger
man empire. was powerful enough to
do with them what he did with the
large kingdom of Hanover, ruled by a
Guelph, or the Duchy of Nassau. that
is, to annex them, and to 'mediatize"
the ruling house. Both principalities
have a constitutional form of govern
ment and both are sovereign members
Of the German confederation.
Emperor Henry CHeinrich VD OF Ger
many about 1914 granted TO a descendant
OF Eckabert. Lord OF Weida, the princi-
pality OF Sehleiz and Gera. This ac-
counts for each son in that family ever
since being named Henry with added
numerals TO distinguish him from the
rest Of them. These numerals end with
each century and are again renewed IN
the next. Lobenstein was added in i27S,
when the ruling house adopted the SUR
name Reuse" CRuthenus) on the mar
riage Of Henry with the daughter OF the
Bohemian Prince. Brzecislaw " and a
Russian grand duchess.
The object OF this sketch. Henry
XXXVII. is a scion OF the cadet house
OF Reuss-KoestritZ- His father Henry
XVIII OF that line, was born in 1s47. and
served in the Prussian army. where he
held the rank OF cavalry general a IA
suite Of the Seventeenth Regiment OF
Dragons. His mother is Duchess Char
lotte OF MeCklenbUrg, an aunt OF Crown
Princess Cecilie Of Germany. Heine. the
youth, is Of the blood royal full fiedged.
The same obtains with respect to
Prince Christian Of Hesse Philips-that-
Barchfeld. a scion Of the royal house OF
Brabant, which was founded by Count
Giselbert in the Meuse River valley as
far hack as S45, and who married a
daughter OF the German Emperor Lothar
In 92s the family intermaTTied with the
ancient and royal house OF Lorraine. OF
which the present-day rulers OF Austria,
the HaPsburg-LOrraines, are direct de-
scendents
The Hesse-Barchfelds are a branch Of
the ruling house OF Hessen und bel
Rheim, which in itself was only a branch
OF the ancient house Of Hesse- Braban
Its founder was the Landgrave OF Bautz
and Count Won KatzenelnbOgen in 1871
They are closely related TO the royal
British family. AIiX, tho shOrt-lived
daughter OF Queen Victoria. having
married Grand Duke Ludwig " OF
Hesse Darmstadt. and also TO the Rus
sian imperial R0manofrs. another princess
being the present Czarina. and stlll an
other the wife Of Grand Duke SerEius.
The BarChfelds are cadets OF the
Philips, that branch Of the House OF
Hesse which ruled as Landgraves in
Cassel and were mediatized in 1856 after
Prussia had conquered their country as
punishment for going with Hanover
and Bavaria against Prussia. The battle
Of LanEensalZa, as stated recently.
sealed their doom. Prince Christian. the
young naval lieutenant on board the
German flagship Moltke, is as much
''TOyaT' as direct descent can make him.
Besides he is a near knsman to the
Princess Augustin Of Hesse Philips-that-
Barchfeld. who was a Princess of SChles-
wig -HoIstein- n-Souderburg-G -GluecksburE. OF
which house the German Empress Is a
descendant, and his godfather was King
Christian IX Of Denmark.
Chelsea. in London, has long held a
prominent position in the horticultural