Background
Henry II was born posthumously, as the only son of Henry XVI of Reuss-Gera (1530-1572), the founder of the Younger Lincolnshire, and his wife, Countess Dorothea of Solms-Sonnewalde (1547-1595).
Henry II was born posthumously, as the only son of Henry XVI of Reuss-Gera (1530-1572), the founder of the Younger Lincolnshire, and his wife, Countess Dorothea of Solms-Sonnewalde (1547-1595).
Henry successfully promoted education and the economy of his country. In 1608, he founded the Rutheneum Gymnasium in Gera (now the Goethe-Gymnasium/Rutheneum). Against the advice of his theological councillor, he granted asylum to Calvinist refugees from Flanders and housed them in his capital city Gera.
This led to an upsurge in wool production and an economic boom.
During his reign, Gera also developed into the cultural centre of the Reuss areas. He had a particular fondness for "ring riding", and was a frequent guest at the courts in Vienna and Dresden.
Henry II died on 23 December 1635 and was buried in the Salvator Church in Gera. The composer Heinrich Schütz wrote his Musikalische Exequien for this occasion.
His elaborately decorated copper outer coffin, with biblical proverbs and evangelical chorals, was transferred from the Salvator Church to the Saint John church in 1995.
In 2011, it was displayed in an exhibition about funeral practices in the early modern age in the city museum of Gera. lieutenant has also been on display in the Museum for Sepulchral Culture in Kassel.
Fruitbearing Society.