The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital

cadet line In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets—realm, titles, ...

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 ...

(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

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 ...

in 1905, after the extinction of the ruling main branch, when count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld became

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe (''Leopold Julius Bernhard Adalbert Otto Karl Gustav''; 30 May 1871 – 30 December 1949) was the final sovereign of the Principality of Lippe. Succeeding to the throne in 1905 he had been governing the state since ...

. He continued to rule until the

German Revolution of 1918 German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. In 1916, he created his younger brother, count

Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

, a prince. Through the latter's son,

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

(1911–2004), the prince consort of

Queen Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. S ...

, it also became a title of the

Dutch Royal House In the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the monarchy is a constitutional office and is controlled by the Constitution of the Netherlands. A distinction is made between members of the royal family and members of the royal house. Membership According t ...

, created in 1937.

History

The branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld was founded by count Jobst Herman (1625–1678), youngest son of count Simon VII of Lippe-Detmold. He received Biesterfeld with parts of the former county of Schwalenberg, as a ''paragium''. From the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch the line 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 ...

was separated in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called ''paragiums'' (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) of the ruling

. Jobst Herman built the manor of Biesterfeld around 1660.

Frederick Charles Augustus, Count of Lippe Count Frederick Charles Augustus of Lippe-Biesterfeld (20 January 1706 in Biesterfeld – 31 July 1781 in Friedrichsruh) was a Count of Lippe and Lord of Lippe-Biesterfeld, Sternberg and Schwalenberg and a Knight of the Order of the Red Ea ...

, moved the comital brewery from Schwalenberg to Biesterfeld in 1740. However, both the lands of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Lippe-Weissenfeld were ceded and sold to the princely line of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. The d ...

(-Detmold) on 24 May 1762. Frederick Charles Augustus preferred to live in a hunting lodge in the

Sachsenwald The Sachsenwald () is a forest near Hamburg, Germany. It is an unincorporated area in the amt Hohe Elbgeest. It derives its name (which means 'Saxon woods' in English) from being located in the former Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg, earlier also called ...

forest, near Hamburg, named after him,

Friedrichsruh Friedrichsruh () is a district in the municipality of Aumühle, Herzogtum Lauenburg district, Schleswig-Holstein, in northern Germany. Friedrichsruh manor is known as a residence of the princely House of Bismarck, mainly of Chancellor Otto von Bis ...

, the current home of the princes Bismarck. Lippisches Landhaus Oberkassel

Frederick William (1737-1803), the eldest surviving son of count Frederick Charles Augustus, married Elisabeth Johanna, Edle von Meinertzhagen (1752-1811) who inherited a small manor house at

Oberkassel, Bonn Oberkassel is a suburb in the Bonn municipal district of Beuel and lies on the right bank of the Rhine on the edge of the Siebengebirge mountains. Oberkassel has about 7,200 inhabitants. History In 1914, workers in a quarry detected a grave w ...

, where the couple moved in 1770, and which was to become the home to the Lippe-Biesterfeld family for the following 209 years.

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

is said to have been the piano teacher of the couple's children. The Head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld family was given the style ''

Illustrious Highness His/Her Illustrious Highness ( abbreviation: H.Ill.H.) is the usual English-language translation for ''Erlaucht'', a style historically attributed to certain members of the European aristocracy. It is not a literal translation, as the German wor ...

'' (german: Erlaucht) at

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 ...

on 27 August and 1 October 1844. When, in 1895, the mentally ill Prince Alexander ascended the throne of the

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 t ...

was appointed to act as regent of Lippe, according to a then secretly kept decree of the predecessor Prince Woldemar. Alexander was the last male of the

Lippe-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. It was founded in the 1640s under a separ ...

line; the next senior lines of the

were the Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld, followed by the Counts of

, and then by 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 ...

. Shortly after becoming a member state of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

in 1871, Prince Woldemar of the Lippe-Detmold line died on 20 July 1895. The next ruler was his brother, Alexander, Prince of Lippe, but the power needed to be exercised by a regent throughout his reign on account of his mental illness. This right for regency resulted in an inheritance dispute between the neighboring principality of

and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line. LeopoldIVofLippe

Ernest, Count 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 Principalit ...

, hitherto living at Oberkassel, became

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 ...

of the principality from 1897 until his death in 1904. The dispute was only resolved by the Imperial Court in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty. Ernest's son Prince Leopold IV (1871–1949) was the first and only count of Lippe-Biesterfeld to become ruling prince of Lippe, residing at

Castle.

Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934) , house = House of Lippe , father =Ernest II, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld , mother =Countess Karoline of Wartensleben , birth_date = , birth_place = Oberkassel, Kingdom of Prussia , death_date = , death_place =Mun ...

, the younger brother of Leopold IV and father of prince consort

, was born at Oberkassel and grew up there. Later he acquired castle Reckenwalde and an estate in

East Brandenburg The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

(today Wojnowo, Poland), where his son grew up. A first cousin of the prince-consort,

Prince Ernst August of Lippe Prince Ernst August of Lippe (german: Prinz Ernst August Bernhard Alexander Eduard Friedrich Wilhelm zur Lippe; 1 April 191715 June 1990) was a claimant to the headship of the House of Lippe. Between 1950 and 1954 he was the president of the Vesp ...

(1917–1990), sold the house at Oberkassel in 1979, after he had acquired Syburg castle at Bergen, Middle Franconia, in 1970. The current head of the

is Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 24 May 1959), a grandson of Leopold IV, and present owner of Detmold Castle. He is also a first cousin once removed of

Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

(1911–2004), the prince consort of

(1909–2004).

1627–1905: Lords and Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld

1916-1918: Princes of Lippe-Biesterfeld

, Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld 1916–1918 (1911-2004) 20111_Wojnowo_palac

1909–1916: Morganatic title and new cadet line

On 8 February 1909, the title ''Countess of Biesterfeld'' (not related to the previous title Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld) was created for Armgard von Cramm (1883–1971) and her descendants. Armgard was the wife of

, the brother of Prince Leopold IV. On 24 February 1916, Armgard and her two sons

Bernhard Bernhard is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar (1604–1639), Duke of Saxe-Weimar * Bernhard, Prince of Saxe-Meiningen (1901–1984), head of the House of Saxe-Meiningen 194 ...

(1911–2004) and Aschwin (1914–1988) were created ''Prince(ss) of Lippe-Biesterfeld'' with the style ''

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness ( abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...

''. They returned to a more senior position in the line of succession to the Lippian throne, in which they previously had been the very last. The suffix Biesterfeld was revived to mark the foundation of a new cadet line.

1937 – present: Dutch Royal title

royal decree A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...

of 6 January 1937, the titles ''Prince of the Netherlands'', with the style ''

Royal Highness Royal Highness is a style used to address or refer to some members of royal families, usually princes or princesses. Monarchs and their consorts are usually styled ''Majesty''. When used as a direct form of address, spoken or written, it takes ...

'', and ''Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld'', were created in the

Kingdom of the Netherlands , national_anthem = ) , image_map = Kingdom of the Netherlands (orthographic projection).svg , map_width = 250px , image_map2 = File:KonDerNed-10-10-10.png , map_caption2 = Map of the four constituent countries shown to scale , capital = ...

for

Prince Bernhard , house = Lippe , father = Prince Bernhard of Lippe , mother = Armgard von Cramm , birth_date = , birth_name = Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld , birth_place = Jena, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany , death_date = ...

and his descendants. The Lippe-Biesterfeld title hereby became also a Dutch one. On 7 January 1937, Bernhard married

Princess Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Prince Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. S ...

(who later was the

Queen regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns ''suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reignin ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

between 1948 and 1980). From this marriage, four daughters were born who all hold the title ''Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld'': *

Beatrix Beatrix is a Latin feminine given name, most likely derived from ''Viatrix'', a feminine form of the Late Latin name ''Viator'' which meant "voyager, traveller" and later influenced in spelling by association with the Latin word ''beatus'' or "bles ...

(born 1938,

Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

from 1980 to 2013) *

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...

(born 1939) * Margriet (born 1943) * Christina (1947–2019) Since the title is only inheritable in male line, with them the title will become extinct.

1998 – present: Other

By royal decree of 26 May 1998, the descendants of

Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven Prince Maurits Willem Pieter Hendrik of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born 17 April 1968) is a member of the Dutch royal family as the eldest son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven. Before the succession of his ...

(born 1968), eldest son of

Princess Margriet Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands (born 19 January 1943) is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently ...

, all have the newly created surname ''van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven''.Royal decree about the surname of the children of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven
– official legal website of the Dutch government

References

{{Authority control House of Lippe