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 1904 as regent.

Early life

He was born as Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld in Oberkassel, the son of Ernest, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess

Karoline of Wartensleben Countess Karoline Friederike Cäcilie Klothilde von Wartensleben (6 April 1844 in Mannheim – 10 July 1905 in Detmold) was a German noblewoman. She is a paternal great-great-grandmother of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. Early life ...

. Leopold belonged to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe which was the most senior line of the princely house after the reigning Lippe-Detmold line. He served as an officer in the German Army until 1894, when he left to study political science at the universities of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Ruler of Lippe

Since 1895, Lippe had been ruled by a regent due to the incapacity of Prince Alexander. Leopold's father had acted as regent since 1897, and following his death on 26 September 1904, Leopold assumed the regency. This was not recognized by the German Emperor William II, who initially refused to legally recognize Leopold as regent as there was an issue over whether Leopold and his siblings were of legitimate rank, and as such eligible for the succession. As a result, the Diet of Lippe appointed a high commission to consider the matter. The regency issue was still ongoing when Prince Alexander died on 13 January 1905. Leopold was confirmed as Prince of Lippe and Alexander's successor on 25 October 1905, following a court ruling. On 3 June 1911, while out motoring, Leopold and his brother Prince Julius were attacked by a gang of Italian laborers who hurled a shower of missiles at the princes. Though Leopold escaped unhurt, his brother received a head wound. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Leopold upgraded the titles of the various lines of the House of Lippe. One of the members to benefit from the granting of titles was Leopold's nephew Count Bernhard of Biesterfeld (son of Leopold's brother

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 ...

), who would go on to become the Prince Consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. On 24 February 1916, Bernhard and his brother were upgraded to the title Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld with the style Serene Highness. The Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld also benefited with creations of the title Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld, 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 ...

, taking place on 24 February 1916 for Count Clemens and his descendants, and again on 9 November 1918 for the other members of this line. Just three days after upgrading the titles of members of the Lippe-Weissenfeld line, and following the German Empire's defeat in

and the subsequent

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, Leopold was forced to renounce the throne on 12 November 1918. Following the end of his rule, the Principality of Lippe was transformed into a Free state in the new

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...

Post abdication

After the rise of

Nazism 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) i ...

in Germany all three of his sons by his first wife became members of the party. His eldest son the Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the party when he signed up in May 1928. In addition to being pro Nazis both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Chlodwig had contracted unequal marriages. So in 1947 when Leopold wrote his will, Armin, his youngest son and only child with his second wife, would succeed him as head of the House of Lippe and also become administrator of the princely family's properties such as Schloss Detmold. Thus when Leopold died 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 t ...

his three eldest sons were all disinherited and his youngest son Armin became head of the princely house.

Marriages and children

Leopold was married to Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (1874–1919) on 16 August 1901 in Rotenburg. They had five children. *Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (1902–1987) married first (1924) Charlotte Ricken (1900–1974). After divorcing in 1934 he married secondly (1937) Herta-Elise Weiland (1911–1970) *Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904–1965) *Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905–2001) married (1932) Count Hans von Kanitz (1893–1968) *Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909–2000) married (1940) Veronika Holl (1915–2007) *Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915–2008) married (1942) Friedrich Carl Heldman (1904–1977) He was married secondly to Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1886–1980) on 26 April 1922 at

Büdingen Büdingen is a town in the Wetteraukreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is mainly known for its well-preserved, heavily fortified medieval town wall and half-timbered houses. Geography Location Büdingen is in the south of the Wetterau below the Vogels ...

. From this marriage he had one son. * Armin, Prince of Lippe (1924–2015) married Traute Becker in 1953. Their only son is: ** Stephan, Prince of Lippe, born 1959, married Countess Maria of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of SolmsSee German article on the '' House of Solms'' or French article '' Maison de Solms. had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach ...

in 1994

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe 1871 births 1949 deaths Nobility from Düsseldorf Regents of Germany House of Lippe Princes of Lippe Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld German hunters