Stephan, Prince of Lippe (''Stephan Leopold Justus Richard Prinz zur Lippe'', ; born 24 May 1959), is the son of

Armin, Prince of Lippe Armin, Prince of Lippe (''Armin Leopold Ernst Bruno Heinrich Willa August Fürst zur Lippe''; 18 August 1924 – 20 August 2015, also in Detmold) was the fourth son of Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, from his second wife, Princess Anna of Ysenburg a ...

and Traute Becker, and the current head of the

House of Lippe The House of 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 Schaumburg-Lippe. ...

since 2015. His traditional titles include Prince of Lippe, Lord and Count of

Biesterfeld Biesterfeld is currently part (''Ort'') of the Rischenau quarter (''Ortsteil'') of the city of Lügde, Germany. Rischenau History In the first half of the 17th century Count Simon VI of Lippe joined several failing dairy farms into one, and i ...

, Count of Schwalenberg and Sternberg, Hereditary

Burgrave Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from , ), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especially a royal or episcopal castle, and its territory called a ''Burgraviate'' or ''Burgr ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, etc. The prince is the owner of

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 ...

Castle which is open to the public. He also owns vast forests in the

Teutoburger Wald 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'' i ...

region and in the state of

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

. He is a lawyer and became widely known for his opposition to a nature reserve in the district 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. ...

which would have included large parts of his forests. He finally succeeded in getting the project dropped in 2012.

Marriage and children

He married Countess Maria of

Solms-Laubach Solms-Laubach was a County of southern Hesse and eastern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The House of Solms had its origins in Solms, Hesse. History Solms-Laubach was originally created as a partition of Solms-Lich. In 1537 Philip, Count of S ...

, daughter of Otto, 10th Count of Solms-Laubach and Princess Madeleine of

Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was one of several imperial counties and later principalities ruled by the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein. Most of the former county is located in the present district of Siegen-Wittgenstein (in the modern state of North ...

, on 15 October 1994 in Detmold. The wedding was attended by European royalty, among them the bridegroom's first cousin once removed

Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (later Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands; 29 June 1911 – 1 December 2004) was Prince consort of the Netherlands, Prince of the Netherlands from 6 September 1948 to 30 April 1980 as the husband of Queen J ...

and his wife, former Queen

Juliana of the Netherlands Juliana (; Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina; 30 April 1909 – 20 March 2004) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980. Juliana was the only child of Queen Wilhelmina and Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Sh ...

, the bride's maternal uncle

Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg Richard, 6th Prince of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Richard Casimir Karl August Robert Konstantin; 29 October 1934 – 13 March 2017) was the head of the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg and husband of Princess Benedikte of Denmark. Early lif ...

and his wife

Princess Benedikte of Denmark Princess Benedikte of Denmark, Princess of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (Benedikte Astrid Ingeborg Ingrid, born 29 April 1944) is a member of the Danish royal family. She is the second daughter and child of King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid o ...

, the bride's second cousin,

Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia (born 10 June 1976, as ''Georg Friedrich Ferdinand Prinz von Preußen'') is a German heir who is the current head of the Prussian branch of the House of Hohenzollern, the former ruling dynasty of the German Em ...

, and many other members of formerly ruling families of Germany. The couple live at Detmold Castle and have five children.

Ancestry

References

1959 births House of Lippe Living people People from Detmold Princes of Lippe Pretenders {{Germany-royal-stub