Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe: In 1647, the County of Schaumburg-Lippe was formed through the division of the County of Schaumburg by treaties between the Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, and the Count of Lippe. In 1808, the County of Schaumberg-Lippe was raised to a Principality and Georg Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg became the first Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Adolf II, the last Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 15, 1918, and lived out his life in exile. In 1936, Adolf II and his wife were killed in an airplane crash in Mexico. Today, the land encompassing the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe is in the German state of Lower Saxony.

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Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe (Adolf Georg) was the eldest of the nine children of Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe and Princess Ida of Waldeck and Pyrmont. He was born at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony, on August 1, 1817.

Adolf had eight younger siblings. He was 24 years older than his youngest sibling:

Adolf was educated at the local school on Schulstrasse (School Street) in Bückeburg, founded in 1614 as a Latin school. A new school was constructed in a different location in Bückeburg from 1874 to 1876 and was named Gymnasium Adolfinum after Adolf, who was the reigning Prince at that time. The Gymnasium Adolfinum in Bückeburg is still in existence, however, it is located in a newer building in a different location. A gymnasium in the German education system is the most advanced of the three types of German secondary schools.

As was typical for German princes of that time, Adolf studied for short periods at several universities (Geneva, Leipzig, and Bonn), followed by a grand tour of Italy. In 1835, he served as a captain in the Schaumburg-Lippe contingent in the German Federal Army, the army of the German Confederation. From 1842 – 1892, Adolf served in the Prussian Army, ultimately reaching the rank of General of the Cavalry, fighting in the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the Franco-Prussian War (1870 – 1871).

Adolf and his wife Hermine in 1862; Credit – Royal Collection Trust

On October 20, 1844, at Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, now in the German state of Hesse, Adolf married his maternal first cousin Princess Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont, a daughter of Georg II, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym. Hermine was born on September 29, 1827. Through her brother and her father’s successor Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Hermine was the aunt of Princess Marie who married the future King Wilhelm II of Württemberg, Princess Emma who married King Willem III of the Netherlands, and Princess Helena who married Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Queen Victoria’s hemophiliac, youngest son.

Adolf and Hermine had eight children including two daughters named Emma who both died young:

On November 21, 1860, upon the death of his father Georg Wilhelm, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe, Adolf became the reigning Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe. In 1867, the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe joined the North German Confederation, the German federal state that existed from July 1867 to December 1870. After long negotiations with the Schaumburg-Lippe national assembly, Adolf agreed to a new constitution in 1868.

Proclamation of King Wilhelm I of Prussia as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 10, 1870, the legislature of the North German Confederation adopted the name Deutsches Reich (German Empire) and granted the additional title of German Emperor to Wilhelm I, King of Prussia. On January 18, 1871, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe was present in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France when Wilhelm I, King of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor. The Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe was one of the 26 constituent states of the German Empire.

After a reign of 33 years, Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe died at the age of 75, on May 8, 1893, at Bückeburg Castle (link in German) in Bückeburg, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. He was buried in the  Princely Mausoleum (link in German) at the St. Martini Church (link in German) in Stadthagen, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe, now in the German state of Lower Saxony. Adolf’s wife Hermine survived him by 17 years, dying on February 16, 1910, at the age of 82, at Bückeburg Castle, and was buried with her husband.

The Princely Mausoleum at the St. Martini Church in Stadthagen. photo: By losch – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17674154

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Schaumburg-Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

Works Cited

  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adolf I. Georg (Schaumburg-Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_I._Georg_(Schaumburg-Lippe)> [Accessed 15 October 2020].
  • De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Georg Wilhelm (Schaumburg-Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Wilhelm_(Schaumburg-Lippe)> [Accessed 15 October 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Adolf I, Prince Of Schaumburg-Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_I,_Prince_of_Schaumburg-Lippe> [Accessed 15 October 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. George William, Prince Of Schaumburg-Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_William,_Prince_of_Schaumburg-Lippe> [Accessed 15 October 2020].
  • En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Princess Hermine Of Waldeck And Pyrmont. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Hermine_of_Waldeck_and_Pyrmont> [Accessed 15 October 2020].
  • Mehl, Scott, 2018. Schaumburg-Lippe Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-schaumburg-lippe/schaumburg-lippe-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 15 October 2020].