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Principality of Lippe
Fürstentum Lippe
State of the Holy Roman Empire (until 1806)
← 1123–1918 →
Flag (1815–1880) Coat of arms
Lippe within the German Empire (1871-1918)
Capital		Detmold
Government		Principality
History
-	Established	1123
-	Raised to County	1528
-	Raised to Principality	1789
-	German Revolution	1918

Map of Lippe in 1918.

The princely castle at Detmold

Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a historical state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser River and the southeast part of the Teutoburg forest.

History[edit]

The founder of what would become the Principality of Lippe was Bernhard I, who received a grant of the territory from Lothar Röttgering III, Holy Roman Emperor and King of the Germans in 1123. Bernhard I assumed the title of Lord of Lippe. Bernhard's successors inherited and obtained several counties. Lord Simon V was the first ruler of Lippe to style himself as a count.

Following the death of Simon VI in 1613, the principality was split into three counties; Lippe-Detmold went to Simon VII, Lippe-Brake to Otto and Lippe-Alverdissen went to Philip I. The Lippe-Brake county was reunited with the main Detmold line in 1709. Another branch of the family was founded by Jobst Herman, a son of Simon VII, who was founder of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line.

The Counts of Lippe-Detmold were granted the title of Prince of The Empire in 1789.

Shortly after becoming a member state of the German Empire in 1871, the Lippe-Detmold line died out on 20 July 1895. This resulted in an inheritance dispute between the neighboring principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line. The dispute was resolved by the Imperial Court in Leipzig in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty.

The Principality of Lippe came to an end on 12 November 1918 with the abdication of Leopold IV, with Lippe becoming a Free State. In 1947, Lippe merged into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The princely family still owns the estate and castle at Detmold.

Lords of Lippe[edit]

• Bernard I (1123–1158)
• Herman I (1158–1167)
• Bernard II (1168–1196)
• Herman II (1196–1229)
• Bernard III (1230–1265)
• Herman III (1265–1273)
• Bernard IV (1265–1275)
• Simon I (1273–1344)
• Simon II (1344)
• Otto (1344–1360)
• Bernard V (1344–1364)
• Simon III (1360–1410)
• Bernard VI (1410–1415)
• Simon IV (1415–1429)
• Bernard VII (1429–1511)
• Simon V (1511–1536)

Raised to County in 1536.

Counts of Lippe (-Detmold from 1613)[edit]

• Simon V (1511–1536)
• Bernhard VIII (1536–1563)
• Simon VI (1563–1613)
• Simon VII (1613–1627)
• Simon Louis (1627–1636)
• Simon Philip (1636–1650)
• John Bernard (1650–1652)
• Herman Adolph (1652–1665)
• Simon Henry (1665–1697)
• Frederick Adolphus (1697–1718)
• Simon Henry Adolphus (1718–1734)
• Simon Augustus (1734–1782)
• Leopold I (1782–1789)

Raised to Principality 1789.

Princes of Lippe[edit]

• Leopold I (1789–1802)
• Leopold II (1802–1851)
• Leopold III (1851–1875)
• Woldemar (1875–1895)
• Alexander (1895–1905)
  • Prince Adolphus of Schaumburg-Lippe (regent 1895–1897)
  • Count Ernest of Lippe-Biesterfeld (regent 1897–1904)
  • Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld (regent 1904–1905)
• Leopold IV (1905–1918)
• Leopold IV (1918–1949)
• Armin (1949–present)

The present prince's heir apparent is Stephan (born 1959).

See also[edit]

• List of consorts of Lippe
• Ostwestfalen-Lippe

References[edit]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• German Genealogy: Lippe (-Detmold)

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Principality of Lippe.

• Ordinances and by-laws of the county of Lippe online (German)
• Guidelines for the integration of the Land Lippe within the territory of the federal state North-Rhine-Westphalia of 17 January 1947 (German)

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v t e States of the Confederation of the Rhine (1806–13) Rank elevated by Napoleon Kingdoms Bavaria Saxony Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Duchies Nassau States created Kingdoms Westphalia Grand Duchies Berg Frankfurt1 Würzburg Principalities Aschaffenburg2 Leyen Regensburg2 Pre-existing states Saxon duchies Coburg-Saalfeld Gotha-Altenburg Hildburghausen Meiningen Weimar3 Eisenach3 Weimar-Eisenach4 Other duchies Anhalt (Bernburg Dessau Köthen) Arenberg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Principalities Hohenzollern Hechingen Sigmaringen Isenburg-Birstein Liechtenstein Lippe-Detmold Reuss Ebersdorf Greiz Lobenstein Schleiz Salm5 Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck 1 from 1810 2 until 1810 3 until 1809 4 from 1809 5 until 1811

v t e States of the German Confederation (1815–66) Empires Austria1 Kingdoms Prussia1 Bavaria Saxony Hanover Württemberg Electorates Hesse Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Luxembourg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Bernburg2 Dessau2 Köthen3 Brunswick Holstein Limburg4 Nassau Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg5 Coburg-Saalfeld6 Coburg-Gotha5 Gotha-Altenburg6 Hildburghausen6 Meiningen Principalities Hesse-Homburg Hohenzollern Hechingen7 Sigmaringen7 Liechtenstein Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck and Pyrmont City-states Bremen Frankfurt Hamburg Lübeck Unrecognized 1 w/o areas listed under other territories 2 Merged with Anhalt from 1863 3 until 1847 4 from 1839 5 from 1826 6 until 1826 7 until 1850 8 1849–60 9 as of 1849 10 until 1837 11 until 1829 12 until 1848/57 13 until 1848 14 as of 1848 15 as of 1829 16 as of 1864

v t e States of the North German Confederation (1866–71) Kingdoms Prussia Saxony Grand Duchies Hesse Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Brunswick Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg Coburg and Gotha Meiningen Principalities Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Waldeck-Pyrmont City-states Bremen Hamburg Lübeck

v t e States of the German Empire Kingdoms Bavaria Prussia Saxony Württemberg Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Brunswick Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Lauenburg (until 1876) Saxe-Meiningen Principalities Lippe Reuss-Gera (Junior Line) Reuss-Greiz (Senior Line) Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Waldeck-Pyrmont City-States Bremen Hamburg Lübeck Imperial state Alsace-Lorraine Other territories German colonial empire