The House of Lippe-Weissenfeld (German spelling: Lippe-Weißenfeld) is one of the junior branches 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 dynasty ruling 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 ...

until the

German Revolution of 1918–19 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 ...

Branches of the House of Lippe

The Lippe-Weissenfeld branch split from the non-ruling comital branch 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 ...

in 1734. (However, in 1905, the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch inherited the throne of Lippe, with

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 ...

reigning until the German revolution of 1918). Another side branch of the House of Lippe was 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 ...

, which from 1647 ruled the county, and from 1807,

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 ...

until 1918.

Counts

Lippe-Weissenfeld is the name of a cadet branch of the formerly ruling

. The branch split from the branch

when Ferdinand I, count of Lippe-Biesterfeld, received Weissenfeld manor house in the forest near

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 ...

as his seat in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called ''paragiums'' (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) within the County of Lippe, the later

which existed until 1918. The County of Schwalenberg was inherited by the Counts of Lippe in 1365, and the estates of Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were parts of it.

Simon VII, Count of Lippe Count Simon VII of Lippe (30 December 1587 at Brake Castle near Lemgo – 26 March 1627 in Detmold) was a ruler of the Reformed county of Lippe-Detmold. Life He was the second-eldest son of Count Simon VI of Lippe and his wife Elizabeth ...

begat a younger son, Count Jobst Hermann (1625-1678) who founded the line of Counts of

, and whose grandson, Count Ferdinand founded a cadet (junior) branch of the family that became Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld.

Princes

The brothers count Ferdinand (1772–1846) and count Christian (1777–1859) founded two branches of the line of Lippe-Weissenfeld. On 24 February 1916 the members of the elder branch, namely the family of Count Klemens zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1860-1920) and his legitimate male line descendants, were granted the title of Prince/Princess with the style of

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 ...

. On 9 November 1918, all other legitimate cadet male/female members of the younger Lippe-Weissenfeld branch were also upgraded from the title of Count/Countess with 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 ...

and granted the title of Prince/Princess with the style of Serene Highness by

, who officially renounced the throne 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 ...

three days later, on 12 November 1918.

Rulers

Princes of Lippe-Weißenfeld (1916)

* Clemens, 1st

Prince 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. Th ...

of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1916-1920 (1860-1920) ⚭ Baroness Friederike von Carlowitz (1878-1942), heiress of

Proschwitz castle Proschwitz is a small village, part of the municipality of Meißen in Saxony, Germany. The nearby Proschwitz Castle is a property of Prince Georg of Lippe-Weissenfeld and is a winery. Besides wine production, the castle is open for concerts, ba ...

** Ferdinand, 2nd Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1920-1939 (1903-1939) ⚭ Princess Dorothea von

Schönburg-Waldenburg Waldenburg is a town in the district Zwickau in Saxony, Germany. The castle was owned by the House of Schönburg from 1378 until 1945. The pottery town of Waldenburg lies in the valley of the Zwickauer Mulde. The environment is characterized by fo ...

(1905-2000) *** Franz, 3rd Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1939-1995 (1929-1995) ⚭ Lucia

Stassen Stassen is a Dutch patronymic surname, originally meaning "son of Stas", a short form of Eustathius.Ortenburg (1913-2002) *** Ferdinand, 5th Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld, 1996–present (b. 1942) ⚭ Baroness Karoline von Feilitzsch (born in 1939) **** Ferdinand,

Hereditary Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wife ...

of Lippe-Weißenfeld (b. 1976) ⚭ Princess Auguste of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

(born in 1979), daughter of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria ***** Louis-Ferdinand Ludwig Beatus Bernhard Christopher Julio Patrick, Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 2013) ***** Carl Philipp, Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 2015)

Properties of the Counts and Princes of Lippe-Weißenfeld

During the 18th century, the branch continued to live at the rather modest Weissenfeld manor house and also owned the ''Weissenfelder Hof'' (Weissenfeld court) in

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 ...

, which both no longer exist. Towards the end of the 18th century, the family inherited considerable estates in the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...

, and moved there. Friedrich Ludwig, 2nd Count of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1737-1791), whose seat now was castle Saßleben in

Calau Calau (, dsb, Kalawa) is a small town in the Oberspreewald-Lausitz district, in southern Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 14 km south of Lübbenau, and 27 km west of Cottbus. Calau is also called the home of the Kalauer. Geo ...

, received the lordship of Baruth (including the estates of Rackel and Buchwalde) from his wife's family, the counts ''von Gersdorff'', in 1797, and later also acquired the smaller estates of Dauban and Sornitz. ( Baruth bei Bautzen must be distinguished from

Baruth/Mark Baruth/Mark is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin. Geography Baruth/Mark is structured in the following parts of town,Main constitution of ...

, a lordship of the counts and princes of

Solms-Baruth Solms-Baruth was a Lower Lusatian state country, from 16th century until 1945. History The House of Solms had its origins at Solms, Hesse, and ruled several of the many minor states of the Holy Roman Empire. These lost their independence in the G ...

). His elder son Ferdinand (1773-1846) inherited the Baruth lordship, while the latter's younger half-brother Christian (1777–1859) founded the younger line and received the estate of Teichnitz near

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budis ...

from the counts ''von Hohenthal'', the family of his mother as well as of his wife. Later some smaller estates such as Lubachau, Gersdorf and Döberkitz were added. His grandson Clemens, 1st Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld (1860–1920), acquired '' Schloss Proschwitz'' near

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

by marriage to Baroness Friederike von Carlowitz in 1910. All properties were expropriated in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

in 1945. After the

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

of 1990, Prince Georg of Lippe-Weissenfeld, a younger son of Christian, 4th Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld, re-purchased the estate and castle of Proschwitz and established the renowned wine estate ''Prinz zur Lippe''. Besides the wine production, he opens the castle for concerts, balls, banquets, conferences and weddings. In 1895 Count Egmont zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1841-1896) bought Castle Pfaffstätt in Austria. After his death a year later in 1896 his family continued to occupy the castle until 1909 when they sold it to Count Adolf von ''Peckenzell''. Egmont's younger son, Prince Alfred zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1881-1960), by virtue of marriage to Countess Anna von Goëss (1895-1972) came in possession of Castle Alt-Wartenburg, where his son Prince Egmont of Lippe-Weissenfeld spent his youth and where his sisters, princesses Karola, Sophia and Theodora were born. The castle was heavily damaged in 1945 during

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. File:Castle_Baruth_(Oberlausitz)_ca_1870.jpg, Baruth Castle (Oberlausitz, Saxony) File:Album der Rittergüter und Schlösser im Königreiche Sachsen III b 197.jpg, Teichnitz Castle, (Saxony) File:20050116850MDR Proschwitz (Meißen) Schloß Weingut.jpg, Proschwitz Castle (Meissen, Saxony) File:20060524085DR_Gersdorf_(Striegistal)_Rittergut_Schloß.jpg, Gersdorf Castle (

Striegistal Striegistal is a municipality in the district of Mittelsachsen, in Saxony, Germany. In 1994, the unification of the former municipalities of Berbersdorf, Goßberg, Mobendorf and Pappendorf as part of the regional administrative reform, created t ...

, Saxony) File:02048-Sornitz-1901-Schloß_und_Teich-Brück_%26_Sohn_Kunstverlag.jpg, Sornitz Castle (Meissen, Saxony) File:Schloss_Pfaffstätt-2.jpg, Castle Pfaffstätt, from 1895 until 1909 owned by members of Lippe-Weissenfeld younger line (Pfaffstätt, Austria) File:Schloss_Alt-Wartenburg.jpg, Castle Alt-Wartenburg (Oberthalheim, Austria)

Notable members

* Prince Egmont zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (14 July 1918 – 12 March 1944); Luftwaffe night fighter flying ace * Princess Anna of Lippe-Weißenfeld (10 February 1886 – 8 February 1980); second wife of

References

House of Lippe