Simon Henry Adolph, Count of Lippe-Detmold (25 January 1694 – 12 October 1734) was a ruler of the county 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. ...

Life

He was the son of

Frederick Adolphus, Count of Lippe-Detmold Frederick Adolphus of Lippe-Detmold (''Friedrich Adolf zur Lippe-Detmold''; 2 September 1667 – 18 July 1718) was a German nobleman and the Principality of Lippe, Count of Lippe-Detmold from 1697 to 1718. Born in Detmold Palace, Frederick Adolphu ...

and his wife Johanna Elisabeth of Nassau-

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German- Dutch holiday roa ...

. His five siblings all died young, of his seven step-siblings, only three sisters lived into adulthood: * Amalia 1701–1754 abbess of Cappel Abbey in

Lippstadt Lippstadt () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the largest town within the district of Soest. Lippstadt is situated about 60 kilometres east of Dortmund, 40 kilometres south of Bielefeld and 30 kilometres west of Paderborn. Geo ...

and St. Mary's Abbey in

Lemgo Lemgo (; ) is a university and old Hanseatic League, Hanseatic 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 H ...

* Franziska 1704–1733, married to Count Frederick Charles of

Bentheim-Steinfurt Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical county located in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia in the region surrounding Steinfurt, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of Bentheim-Bentheim, itself a partition of the County of Bentheim. Benthei ...

* Friederike Adolphine, 1711–1769 married to Count Frederick Alexander of Detmold His Grand Tour under the supervision of the Lord Chamberlain in 1710 took him to the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

and to the courts of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. During the Austro-Turkish War of 1716–1718, he took part in the campaign of Prince

Eugene of Savoy Prince Eugene Francis of Savoy-Carignano (18 October 1663 – 21 April 1736), better known as Prince Eugene, was a distinguished Generalfeldmarschall, field marshal in the Army of the Holy Roman Empire and of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty durin ...

in Hungary and Belgrade, and later returned via Vienna to Detmold, where he took up government 1718. Simon Henry Adolph is famous for the fact that in 1720 Emperor Charles VI offered to raise him to

Imperial Prince Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (, , cf. ''Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised by the Holy Roman Emperor. Definition Originally, possessors of the princely title bore it as immediate vassal ...

for a mere 4400 talers, but Simon Henry Adolph found himself unable to raise the money. A chronic shortage of money forced him to sell the Dutch lordships of

Vianen Vianen () is a city and a former municipality in the central Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. It is located south of the Lek river. Before 2002 it was part of the province of South Holland. Vianen is made up of a historic town centre tha ...

and

Ameide Ameide is a city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden, and lies about 9 km southwest of IJsselstein. Ameide received city rights in the 14th century. Ameide was a separate municipality ...

in 1725, and to pledge Sternberg Castle to the

Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...

in 1733. Historians judge that he loved pomp and circumstance as much as his father did. Although he was constantly in financial difficulties, he wasted money on parties as if he had an inexhaustible source of money, or so an expert on Lippe history says 200 years later. Mayor Möller of Lippstadt voiced quite a different opinion on 1784, praising Simon Henry Adolph for improving the state of the principality's economy and eradicating the high debt, some of which were caused by the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, and some by his charitable generosity, and some by his providing care and a suitable education to all branches of his family, not by taxation and oppression of his subjects, but by borrowing and selling off his Dutch possessions in 1725, and by mortgaging Sternberg in 1733. According to Möller, Simon Henry Adolph brought balance to the state's financial situation with his frugal policies, and he used extraordinary care to ensure the welfare of his country, vigorously promoted religion, morality, justice and prosperity for all his subjects.

Marriage and issue

On 16 October 1719 Simon Henry Adolph married princess Johanna Wilhelmina, daughter of Prince George August of Nassau-Idstein. Of her eleven children, four died young and three daughters remained unmarried: * Charles August, (born: 3 November 1723 in Detmold; died: 16 February 1724 in Detmold) * Charles Frederick Simon, (born: 31 March 1726 in Detmold; died: 18 February 1727 in Detmold) * Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold, born: 12 June 1727 in Detmold; died: 1 May 1782 in Detmold) * Frederick Adolph (born: 30 August 1728 in Detmold; died 8 August 1729 in Detmold) * Louis Henry Adolph (born: 7 March 1732 in Detmold; died: 31 August 1800 in Lemgo) ** married firstly in 1767 Anna of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (born: 14 December 1735; died: 7 January 1785), daughter of Landgrave

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld ** married secondly in 1786 with Louise of

Isenburg-Büdingen-Birstein Isenburg and Büdingen in Birstein is a hereditary title Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are nobility titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families. Though both monarchs an ...

(born: 10 December 1764; died: 24 September 1844) * Emil George (born: 12 March 1733 in Detmold; died: 8 July 1733 in Detmold) * August William Ernest Albert, (born: 11 January 1735 in Detmold; died: 23 January 1791 in Brake) ** married in 1773 Countess Wilhelmina of Trotha (born: 14 February 1740; died: 26 February 1793) * Elisabeth Henriette Amalia (born: 10 February 1721 in Detmold, died: 19 January 1793 in Brake), abbess of Cappel Abbey in

and St. Mary's Abbey in

, 1751 * Louise Friederike (born: 3 October 1722 in Detmold; died: 3 November 1777 in Brake) * Henriette Auguste (born: 26 March 1725 in Detmold; died: 5 August 1777 in Norburg) ** married on 19 June 1745 Duke Frederick of Schleswig-Holstein-Glücksburg (born: 1 April 1701; died: 27 November 1766), grandson of

Christian, Duke of Saxe-Eisenberg Christian of Saxe-Eisenberg (6 January 1653 – 28 April 1707) was a duke of Saxe-Eisenberg. He was born in Gotha, the eighth, but fifth surviving, son of Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Altenburg and Elisabeth Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg. Chris ...

* Charlotte Clementine, abbess, (born: 11 November 1730 in Detmold; died: 18 May 1804 at Brake Castle)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon Henry Adolph, Count of Lippe-Detmold House of Lippe 1694 births 1734 deaths Counts of Lippe 18th-century German people People from Detmold