Alexander, Prince of Lippe (german: Karl Alexander Fürst zur Lippe) (16 January 1831 – 13 January 1905) was the penultimate sovereign of the

Principality of Lippe 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. It was founded in the 1640s under a separa ...

. Succeeding to the throne in 1895, Alexander had his power exercised by a regent throughout his reign on account of his mental illness.

Early life and ascension

Prince Alexander of Lippe was born in

Detmold Detmold () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of . It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947. Today it is the administrative center of ...

the seventh child of Leopold II, Lippe's reigning prince and Leopold's consort Princess Emilie of

Schwarzburg-Sondershausen Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a small principality in Germany, in the present day state of Thuringia, with its capital at Sondershausen. History Schwarzburg-Sondershausen was a county until 1697. In that year, it became a principality, which ...

(1800–1867). Prince Alexander for a time served as a captain in the Hanoverian Army. Alexander succeeded as Prince of Lippe on 20 March 1895 following the death of his brother Prince Woldemar. As Alexander had been showing signs of a mental illness and had been placed under legal restrictions in 1870 and in 1893, it was necessary for a regency to be established in Lippe. Alexander was the last male of the Lippe-Detmold line, the next senior line of the

House of Lippe The House of Lippe (german: Haus Lippe) is the former reigning house of a number of small Germany, German states, two of which existed until the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Principality of Lippe and the Schaumburg-Lippe, Principality of S ...

were the Counts of

Lippe-Biesterfeld The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank). The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended the throne of the Princ ...

followed by the Counts of

Lippe-Weissenfeld The House of Lippe-Weissenfeld (German spelling: Lippe-Weißenfeld) is one of the junior branches of the House of Lippe, a dynasty ruling the Principality of Lippe until the German Revolution of 1918–19. Branches of the House of Lippe The Li ...

and then the most junior line the Princes of

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bück ...

Regency dispute

Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe (german: Adolf Wilhelm Viktor; 20 July 1859 – 9 July 1916) was a German prince of the House of Schaumburg-Lippe and a Prussian General of the Cavalry. He was regent of the Principality of Lippe from 1895 ...

, the brother-in-law of the German Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

, immediately claimed the position of

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

on Alexander's ascension, basing the claim on a decree that had been issued by Prince Woldemar in 1890, but kept secret until Woldemar's death. This act was disputed by

Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (''Ernst Kasimir Friedrich Karl Eberhard''; 9 June 1842 – 26 September 1904) was the head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe. From 1897 until his death he was the regent of the Principality o ...

who also put forward a claim to the regency. Lippe's

diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

confirmed Prince Adolf as regent on 24 April 1890, pending a settlement over the disputed regency. A settlement was reached in 1897 when a commission under the presidency of King

Albert of Saxony en, Frederick Augustus Albert Anthony Ferdinand Joseph Charles Maria Baptist Nepomuk William Xavier George Fidelis , image = Albert of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg , image_size = , caption = Photograph by Nicola Persch ...

ruled in favour of the claims of Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Prince Adolf then resigned the regency and was replaced by Count Ernst, who would rule until his death in 1904 as regent for Alexander. Ernst's son Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld succeeded as regent.

Life as prince

While unable to exercise power Alexander lived at the

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

of St Gilgenberg near

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...

, where he would often be seen attending

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

s and the

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

. He also passed time by playing chess, copying pictures from newspapers and listening to music. He was also aware of his position as a sovereign prince and would insist on royal etiquette being observed. Alexander's death at St Gilgenberg brought about the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line. Count Leopold of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line succeeded him as Prince of Lippe.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Prince of Lippe 1831 births 1905 deaths House of Lippe Princes of Lippe