Greiz in the context of "White Elster"

Gera (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeːʁa] ) is a city in the German state of Thuringia. With around 93,000 inhabitants, it is the third-largest city in Thuringia after Erfurt and Jena as well as the easternmost city of the Thüringer Städtekette, an almost straight string of cities consisting of the six largest Thuringian cities from Eisenach in the west, via Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar and Jena to Gera in the east. Gera is the largest city in the Vogtland, and one of its historical capitals along with Plauen, Greiz and Weida. The city lies in the East Thuringian Hill Country, in the wide valley of the White Elster, between Greiz (upstream) and Leipzig (downstream). Gera is located in the Central German Metropolitan Region, approximately 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of Saxony's largest city of Leipzig, 80 km (50 miles) east of Thuringia's capital Erfurt, 120 km (75 miles) west of Saxony's capital Dresden and 90 km (56 miles) north of Bavaria's city of Hof (Saale).

First mentioned in 995 and developing into a city during the 13th century, Gera has historical significance as being one of the main residences of the Ducal House of Reuss and subsequently the capital of the Principality of Reuss-Gera (1848-1918) and of the People's State of Reuss (1918-1920), one of the many microstates the Thuringian region consisted of, before they were unified to form Thuringia in 1920.

Plauen (German pronunciation: [ˈplaʊən] ; Upper Sorbian: Pławno; Czech: Plavno) is a town in Saxony, Germany with a population of around 65,000. It is Saxony's 5th most populated city after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the largest city in the Saxon Vogtland region (Sächsisches Vogtland).

The city lies on the upper reaches of the White Elster River, a tributary of the Saale, in the Central Vogtlandian Hill Country. Plauen is the southwesternmost city of a string of cities sitting in the densely populated foreland of the Elster and Ore Mountains, stretching from Plauen in the southwest via Zwickau, Chemnitz and Freiberg to Dresden in the northeast. It is the county seat of the Vogtland District. Plauen directly borders Greiz in Thuringia to the north, and it is also situated near the Saxon border with Bavaria (Franconia) and the Czech Republic (Bohemia).

Reuss (German: Reuß [ˈʁɔʏs] ) was the name of several historical states located in present-day Thuringia, Germany. Several lordships of the Holy Roman Empire which arose after 1300 and became Imperial Counties from 1673 and Imperial Principalities in the late 18th century were ruled by the House of Reuss.

A varying number of these counties came into being by partition; they were partially merged and divided again. After the end of the empire in 1806, the principality of the elder line, as well as several of the younger, became sovereign member states of the German Confederation, with the younger ones merging into a unified principality by 1848. The two remaining territories became federal principalities of the German Empire in 1871, the Principality of Reuss Elder Line with the state capital of Greiz and the Principality of Reuss Younger Line with the state capital of Gera. Both states were ruled by the House of Reuss until the German Revolution of 1918–1919. The head of each branch bore the German title Fürst (Prince, as head of a princely house) while their children and all other members of the house bore the title Prinz/Prinzessin (Prince/Princess, as agnate members of a princely house).