Leopold III of Lippe (Paul Friedrich Emil Leopold; 1 September 1821 – 8 December 1875) was the sovereign of the

Principality of Lippe Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a 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 originated as a state during the Holy Roman Empire, an ...

reigning from 1851 until his death.

Early life and ascension

Leopold III 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 eldest child of Leopold II, the reigning prince of Lippe and his 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 (earldom) until 1697. In that year, it became a principal ...

(1800–1867). Being the

heir apparent An heir apparent is a person who is first in the order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. A person who is first in the current order of succession but could be displaced by the birth of a more e ...

to the throne from birth he had the title Hereditary Prince. He succeeded as Prince of Lippe on 1 January 1851 following the death of his father. A year after succeeding to the throne, Leopold was married on 17 April 1852 in

Rudolstadt Rudolstadt is a town in the German federal state Thuringia, within the Thuringian Forest, to the southwest, and to Jena and Weimar to the north. The former capital of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the town is built along the River Saale inside a wide ...

to Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1833–1896) the daughter of Prince Albert of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Augusta of Solms-Braunfels.

Reign

In 1854, Leopold issued two sovereign

edict An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu ...

s. The first on 9 March, placed the Catholic Church on an equal footing with the

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

State

Church of Lippe The Church of Lippe () is a Reformed (Calvinist) member church of the Protestant Church in Germany that covers what used to be the Principality of Lippe. The seat of the church administration is Detmold. The preaching venue of the spiritual leade ...

. The second six days later on 15 March, was to grant the same status to the

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

. Lippe went through various changes during his reign. At his ascension, the principality was a member of the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) 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, which had been dissolved ...

, and Leopold supported

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

during the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

of 1866. Following the war and the dissolution of the German Confederation, Lippe joined the

North German Confederation The North German Confederation () was initially a German military alliance established in August 1866 under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, which was transformed in the subsequent year into a confederated state (a ''de facto'' feder ...

on its creation in 1867. Lippe would then remain a member of the North German Confederation until the creation of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1871 following the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. Prince Leopold was one of the main promoters of the creation of the Hermann monument in the

Teutoburg Forest The Teutoburg Forest ( ; ) is a range of low, forested hills in the German states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Until the 17th century, the official name of the hill ridge was Osning. It was first renamed the ''Teutoburg Forest'' ...

which was opened by the German Emperor

William I William I may refer to: Kings * William the Conqueror (–1087), also known as William I, King of England * William I of Sicily (died 1166) * William I of Scotland (died 1214), known as William the Lion * William I of the Netherlands and Luxembour ...

in the summer of 1875. A few months after the unveiling of the monument, Leopold died in

. As Leopold was childless, his brother

Woldemar Woldemar is a given name, a variant of Waldemar. Notable people with the name include: * Woldemar Bargiel (1828–1897), German composer of classical music * Woldemar Brinkmann (1890–1959), German architect and interior designer associated wi ...

succeeded him as Prince of Lippe. The composer

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

was a member of the prince's household between 1857 and 1859 as a conductor and music teacher to his sister Princess Friederike.

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold Iii, Prince Of Lippe 1821 births 1875 deaths House of Lippe Princes of Lippe Lieutenant generals of Prussia