The House of Lippe (german: Haus Lippe) is the former reigning house of a number of small

German 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 **Ge ...

states, two of which existed until the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Principality of Lippe and the

Principality 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 ...

. Princess

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...

, former Queen of the Netherlands (1980–2013), is an agnatic member of this house.

History

The House of Lippe descends from Jodocus Herman, Lord of Lippe (died c. 1056), whose descendant Bernhard I was the founder of the state 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 ...

in 1123. The family has produced several of the longest-reigning monarchs in Europe, including the longest reigning (for 82 years), Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe (d. 1511). In 1528, Simon V was elevated to the rank of a ruling

count of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

. In 1613, the House's territory was split into the counties of

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 ...

, Lippe-Brake and Lippe-Alverdissen. In 1643, Count Philipp of Lippe-Alverdissen inherited half of the neighboring County of Schaumburg and founded the

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 ...

line of the House of Lippe. The Brake branch extinguished in 1709, disputedly inherited by the main, Lippe-Detmold line. Alverdissen was bought back from Schaumburg-Lippe by Lippe-Detmold in 1812. In the 18th century, the cadet line of Lippe-Biesterfeld split from the Detmold branch, and shortly thereafter Lippe-Weissenfeld split from Lippe-Biesterfeld as a further cadet branch. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called ''paragiums'' (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) within the County of Lippe. Both branches, owning only modest manor houses in the county, acquired other (non-sovereign) property by marriage and moved out of the county in the late 18th century, the Biesterfeld branch to the Rhineland, and the Weissenfeld branch to Saxony. The counts of

were granted the title of

Imperial prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. '' Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors ...

in 1789, while the counts of Schaumburg-Lippe became in fact princes by entering the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

in 1807 and legally by becoming a member state of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

in 1815. The Principality of Lippe existed until the end of the German monarchies in 1918. In 1905, with the death of Alexander, Prince of Lippe, the senior Lippe-Detmold branch of the family became extinct and Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld (head of the non-ruling junior branch line Lippe-Biesterfeld) succeeded him as Prince, after an Imperial court ruling, in fact against the wishes of

Wilhelm II, German Emperor 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 Emp ...

, who would have preferred his brother-in-law

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 ...

to succeed. Leopold IV 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 **Ge ...

. During the revolution, the ruling Princes of Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe were forced to abdicate, ending the family's 795-year rule. In 1928, Prince Leopold's three sons by his first wife signed up to the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Party. The eldest, Prince Ernst, was reputedly the first German prince to do so.www.historyfiles.co.uk
/ref> In 1937, 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 = ...

married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands. On the accession of their daughter

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 ...

in 1980, the Netherlands Royal House officially remained known as the House of Orange-Nassau, although Beatrix and her sisters are agnatically members of the House of Lippe. Stephan, Prince of Lippe (b. 1959) is the present senior of the House of Lippe. He still owns the estate and castle 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 t ...

, the former main residence of the principality. Alexander, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, head of the younger formerly sovereign branch, still resides at

Bückeburg Bückeburg (Northern Low Saxon: ''Bückeborg'') is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, on the border with North Rhine Westphalia. It is located in the district of Schaumburg close to the northern slopes of the Weserbergland ridge. Population: 21,0 ...

Palace.

States ruled by the House of Lippe

(1123–1918), known as

from 1621 * Lippe-Brake (1621–1709) *

(1643–1918)

Non-ruling cadet branches

* Lippe-Alverdissen (1613–1640 and 1681–1777) * Lippe-Biesterfeld * Lippe-Weissenfeld

Castles of the House of Lippe

Detmold_-_2014-08-08_-_Schloss_(3).jpg,

Castle Detmold - 623 - Falkenburg (2).JPG, Falkenburg Castle, Detmold Schloss Brake, Lemgo.jpg, Brake Castle,

Lemgo Lemgo (; nds, Lemge, Lemje) is a small university town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of Hannover. T ...

Blomberg-1 Burg-Innenhof.jpg, Blomberg Castle Schloss Vahrenholz 01.jpg, Varenholz Castle,

Kalletal Kalletal is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

Schieder-Schwalenberg - 2018-09-14 - Burg Schwalenberg (07).jpg, Schwalenberg Castle Burg Sternberg winter.jpg, Sternberg Castle, Extertal Horn - 01.27 - Burgstr. 13 (9).jpg, Horn Castle Schloss Alverdissen 2012.jpg, Alverdissen Castle, Barntrup Schieder-Schwalenberg - 20 - Im Kurpark 1 (3).jpg, Schieder House,

Schieder-Schwalenberg Schieder-Schwalenberg (Low German: ''Schüer-Schwalenberg'') is a town in the Lippe district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately east of Detmold. It consists of 8 communes, which have been combined to a town in 1970 ...

Lopshorn02.jpg, Lopshorn hunting castle,

Augustdorf Augustdorf is a municipality in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has an area of 42.18 km² and about 10,100 inhabitants (2020). History In 1775 Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold Simon August, Count of Lippe (12 ...

EKG-Lemgo.JPG, Lippehof in

Detmold - Hochschule-fuer-Musik - Panorama.jpg, The New Palace at

References

External links