by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe (Leopold Julius Bernhard Adalbert Otto Karl Gustav) was born Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld on May 30, 1871, in Oberkassel. Oberkassel was the seat of the counts and later princes of Lippe-Biesterfeld. In 1815, it was taken over by the Kingdom of Prussia and now Oberkassel is a district of the city of Bonn, Germany. Leopold was the eldest of the three sons and the second of the six children of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Karoline Friederike Cecilia of Wartensleben. Leopold’s father Ernst was the head of the non-reigning Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe, the most senior line of the princely house after the reigning Lippe-Detmold line.

Leopold had five siblings:

• Countess Adelheid (1870 – 1948) married Prince Friedrich Johann of Saxe-Meiningen, had six children, grandparents of Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, wife of Crown Prince Otto of Austria
• Prince Bernhard (1872 – 1934), married Baroness Armgard von Cramm, had two sons including Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, husband of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
• Prince Julius (1873 – 1952) married Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, had two children
• Princess Karola (1873 – 1958), unmarried
• Princess Mathilde (1875 – 1907), unmarried

Leopold’s childhood home, Lippe House in Oberkassel: Credit – By Tohma – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3570902

Leopold began his education at the Klosterschule Roßleben (link in German), founded in 1554 and still in existence, in Roßleben, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Thuringia. For his secondary education, Leopold attended the Pädagogium Putbus (link in German) in Putbus, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, graduating in 1891. From 1891 – 1894, Leopold served as an officer in the Imperial German Army. Leopold studied political science at the University of Bonn and the University of Berlin from 1894 – 1895. At the University of Bonn, he became a member of the Corps Borussia, a German student association. In 1895, Leopold returned home because the Lippe succession dispute required his presence.

In 1895, the childless Woldemar, Prince of Lippe died and his unmarried, mentally incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. Since 1871, Alexander had been confined at the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, a private sanatorium for men with nervous and mental disorders, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1890, Woldemar, Prince of Lippe issued a decree, ordering that it be kept secret until his death, appointing Prince Adolf of the reigning House of Schaumburg-Lippe, the brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, as his brother’s regent. After the reigning Princes of Lippe, Lippe-Biesterfeld was the most senior line of the princely house followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld and the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe. According to the house law, Leopold’s father Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld was the heir and entitled to be the Regent of the Principality of Lippe.

Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld disputed the regency of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe. The Lippe parliament confirmed Prince Adolf as regent but agreed, along with Prince Adolf, to submit to an arbitration decision. Due to the intervention of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, there was intense interest in the Lippe succession dispute throughout Europe. The dispute also caused a temporary rift between Wilhelm II, who supported his brother-in-law Prince Adolf of Schaumberg-Lippe, and his Chancellor, Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who supported Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld for legal reasons and also because of a family relationship. On June 22, 1897, the seven-member Court of Arbitration, comprised of King Albert of Saxony as President and six Judges of the Imperial Court, granted Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld the regency of the Principality of Lippe and the right to succeed Alexander, Prince of Lippe.

Leopold and his first wife Bertha with their three eldest children; Credit – Wikipedia

On August 16, 1901, in Rotenburg an der Fulda, Kingdom of Prussia, now in the German state of Hesse, Leopold married the first of two wives, Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld. Bertha was the daughter of Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Ernst of Hessen-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, a rear admiral in the Prussian and German Imperial Navy, and the second of four wives, Princess Juliane of Bentheim and Steinfurt.

Leopold and Bertha had five children:

• Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe (link in German) (1902 – 1987), married (1) Charlotte Ricken, divorced (2) Herta-Elise Weiland, had one son and one daughter
• Prince Leopold Bernhard of Lippe (1904 – 1965), unmarried
• Princess Karoline of Lippe (1905 – 2001), married Count Hans of Kanitz, had six daughters
• Prince Chlodwig of Lippe (1909 – 2000), married Veronika Holl, had one daughter
• Princess Sieglinde of Lippe (1915 – 2008), married Friedrich Carl Heldman, had two daughters and one son

Leopold’s father Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld died on September 26, 1904, and Leopold succeeded him as Regent of the Principality of Lippe. Four months later, Alexander, Prince of Lippe, the last of the Lippe-Detmold line, died on January 13, 1905. With the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who reigned as Leopold IV and would be the last reigning Prince of Lippe.

During Leopold IV’s reign, there was much economic and cultural advancement. The major building projects provided much-needed employment for the people of Lippe. Christ Church in Detmold (link in German) was built in 1908 to accommodate the growing Protestant community which had outgrown the small Church of the Redeemer. It is the burial site of Leopold IV, his two wives, and most of their children.

Christ Church in Detmold; Credit – Von Daniel Brockpähler – Eigene Fotografie, bearbeitet mit Photoshop von Nikater, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8648403

In 1825, Leopold II, Prince of Lippe had built a theater and established a very successful theater company, the Lippe Princely Court Theater (Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater). In 1912, the original theater burned to the ground because of a damaged chimney. Leopold IV had the theater rebuilt during World War I, financed with donations from the Detmold citizens and funds from the Princely House. The rebuilt theater and the theater company is still in existence today. Now called the Landestheater Detmold, it is a theater for operas, operettas, musicals, ballets, and stage plays in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

During World War I, Leopold upgraded the titles of some members of the House of Lippe. In 1916, Leopold’s nephews, sons of his brother Bernhard, were upgraded to the title Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld with the style Serene Highness. One of these nephews was Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would marry Queen Juliana of the Netherlands. The Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld also were upgraded with the creations of the title Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld and the style Serene Highness.

Following the German Empire’s defeat in World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, Leopold IV was forced to renounce the throne on November 12, 1918, by the Lippe People’s and Soldiers’ Council. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government allowing his family to remain in Lippe. Three months later, on February 19, 1919, Leopold’s wife Bertha died at the age of 44. She was buried at the Christ Church, one of her husband’s building projects, in Detmold, then in the new Weimar Republic, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen; Credit – geni.com

On April 26, 1922, in Büdingen, Germany, Leopold married Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen (1886–1980). Anna was the youngest of the eight children of Bruno, 3rd Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and his second wife Countess Bertha of Castell-Rüdenhausen. Princess Anna had been married for three years to Count Ernst of Lippe-Weissenfeld until he was killed in action early in World War I on September 11, 1914.

The nine-year-old daughter of Anna and her first husband became Leopold’s stepdaughter:

• Princess Eleonore of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1913 – 1964), married and divorced Adolph Sweder Hubertus, Count of Rechteren-Limpurg, had two one son and one daughter

Leopold and Anna had one son:

• Armin, Prince of Lippe (1924 – 2015) married Traute Becker, had one son

Leopold’s son Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe as a witness during the Nuremberg Trials;  Credit – Wikipedia

During the rise of Nazism in Germany, all three of Leopold’s sons by his first wife Bertha became members of the Nazi Party. The eldest son the Hereditary Prince Ernst is reported to have been the first German prince to join the Nazi Party when he signed up in May 1928. Ernst’s brother Chlodwig joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the other brother Leopold Bernhard joined in 1932. Hereditary Prince Ernst later became an SS-Major (Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer) and held a high-ranking post in the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. The SS (Schutzstaffel) was the agency of security, surveillance, and terror in Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe. The SS Race and Settlement Main Office was responsible for safeguarding the racial purity of the SS within Nazi Germany. At the end of World War II, Hereditary Prince Ernst of Lippe was taken prisoner by the Allies and took part in the Nuremberg Trials as a witness. The denazification tribunal in the Detmold administrative district classified Ernst as a Lesser Offender, Category III. He was not imprisoned but rather placed on probation for two-three years with a list of restrictions.

In addition to being pro-Nazi, both Hereditary Prince Ernst and Prince Khlodwig had made unequal marriages. Due to these circumstances, Leopold rewrote his will in 1947, indicating that Armin, his only child with his second wife, would succeed him as the head of the House of Lippe and become the administrator of the princely family’s properties such as the Residenzschloss Detmold (link in German), thereby disinheriting all three of his sons from his first marriage.

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe, aged 78, died on December 30, 1949, in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was buried with his first wife Bertha at the Christ Church in Detmold (link in German). Leopold’s second wife Anna survived him by thirty-one years, dying on February 8, 1980, in Detmold at the age of 94, and was also buried at Christ Church.

Leopold IV and Anna’s son Armin was head of the House of Lippe from 1949 until he died in 2015. Armin’s only child Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 1959) succeeded him as head of the House of Lippe. Stephan married Countess Maria of Solms-Laubach and they had three sons and two daughters.

Stephan, Prince of Lippe; Credit – geni.com

Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Lippe Index
• Profiles: Princes and Consorts of Lippe
• Lippe Royal Burial Sites

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ernst Leopold Prinz Zur Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Leopold_Prinz_zur_Lippe> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV. (Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV._(Lippe)> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ernest, Count Of Lippe-Biesterfeld. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest,_Count_of_Lippe-Biesterfeld> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold IV, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_IV,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
• Mehl, Scott, 2018. Lippe Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-lippe/lippe-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 13 October 2020].
• Petropoulos, Jonathan, 2009. Royals And The Reich. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

by Susan Flantzer
© Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Credit – Wikipedia

Alexander, Prince of Lippe (Karl Alexander) was the seventh of the nine children of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He was born on January 16, 1831, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Alexander had six older siblings and two younger siblings. It appears his brothers Leopold and Woldemar, who were both reigning Princes of Lippe, were the only ones who married but neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis.

• Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1821 – 1875), married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, no children
• Princess Luise of Lippe (1822 – 1887)
• Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (1824 – 1895), married Princess Sophie of Baden, no children
• Princess Friederike of Lippe (1825 – 1897)
• Prince Friedrich of Lippe (1827 – 1854)
• Prince Hermann of Lippe (1829 – 1884)
• Prince Karl of Lippe (1832 – 1834), died in childhood
• Princess Pauline of Lippe (1834 – 1906)

Alexander served as a captain in the army of the Kingdom of Hanover. He had a fall from his horse in 1851 and over the subsequent years, he developed the first signs of mental disorder. In 1870, due to the worsening of his mental disorder, Alexander was legally declared incapacitated. The following year, it became necessary to place Alexander in the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, a private sanatorium for men with nervous and mental disorders, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria, where he spent the remainder of his life.

St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium where Alexander was a patient from 1871 until his death in 1905; Credit – Wikipedia

There appears to be a history of mental disorder in the Lippe family. Alexander’s grandfather Leopold I, Prince of Lippe had mental disorders that interfered in his role as reigning prince and he was deemed incapacitated by the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, and placed under guardianship. Leopold I’s condition did improve for a while and that allowed him to marry. However, because of Leopold I’s tenuous mental condition, his wife Pauline became his governmental adviser and colleague, staying mostly in the background and avoiding anything that could be interpreted as exceeding her duties. Within the next few years, Leopold I developed intestinal tuberculosis and his mental disorders returned with memory loss. Leopold I, Prince of Lippe died at the age of 34. Prince Friedrich (1797 – 1854), Leopold I’s second son, was also described as temporarily mentally disturbed and Prince Kasimir August (1777 – 1809), Leopold I’s brother exhibited schizophrenic traits.

When Alexander’s father Leopold II died in 1851, he was succeeded by his eldest son Leopold III. The childless Leopold III died in 1875 and he was succeeded by his next brother Woldemar who was also childless. During Woldemar’s reign, Alexander became Woldemar’s only surviving brother, the last of the line of the House of Lippe, and therefore his heir.

Because Alexander had been declared incapacitated and therefore, incapable of governing, a regency would be necessary during Alexander’s reign. In 1884, Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld succeeded his father as the head of the non-reigning Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe. After the reigning Princes of Lippe, Lippe-Biesterfeld was the most senior line of the princely house followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld and the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe. According to the house law, Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld was the heir.

Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld; Credit – Wikipedia

However, Woldemar did not want Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld to be his brother’s regent because of a personal dislike and because of his desire to bequeath his principality to a member of a ruling princely house. In 1890, Woldemar issued a decree, ordering that it be kept secret until his death, appointing Prince Adolf of the reigning House of Schaumburg-Lippe, the brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, as his brother’s regent. When Woldemar, Prince of Lippe died March 20, 1895, his incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. However, Woldemar’s appointment of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe as his brother’s regent sparked the Lippe succession dispute.

Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld disputed the regency of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe.  The Lippe parliament confirmed Prince Adolf as regent but agreed, along with Prince Adolf, to submit to an arbitration decision. Due to the intervention of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, there was intense interest in the Lippe succession dispute throughout Europe. The dispute also caused a temporary rift between Wilhelm II, who supported his brother-in-law Prince Adolf of Schaumberg-Lippe, and his Chancellor, Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who supported Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld for legal reasons and also because of a family relationship. On June 22, 1897, the seven-member Court of Arbitration, comprised of King Albert of Saxony as President and six Judges of the Imperial Court, granted Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld the regency of the Principality of Lippe and the right to succeed Alexander, Prince of Lippe.

As for Alexander, he probably knew nothing about the Lippe succession dispute. He remained at the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium but was able to attend concerts and plays, and spent his time playing chess, copying pictures from illustrated newspapers, listening to music, and playing chess. However, Alexander did know his rank and position and insisted on the proper etiquette.

Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld, the future Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Count Ernst of Lippe-Biesterfeld remained as regent until his death on September 26, 1904, at the age of 62. His son Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld succeeded him as head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line, Regent of the Principality of Lippe, and heir to the Lippe throne.

Alexander, Prince of Lippe, the last of the Lippe-Detmold line, died on January 13, 1905, aged 73, at the St. Gilgenberg Sanatorium, near Bayreuth, Kingdom of Bavaria, now in the German state of Bavaria. He was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would be Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe.

Mausoleum on the Büchenberg in Detmold. photo: by Tsungam – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18903057

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Lippe Index
• Profiles: Princes and Consorts of Lippe
• Lippe Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ernst Zur Lippe-Biesterfeld. [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_zur_Lippe-Biesterfeld#Lippischer_Erbfolgestreit> [Accessed 21 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ernest, Count Of Lippe-Biesterfeld. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest,_Count_of_Lippe-Biesterfeld> [Accessed 21 October 2020].
• Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1895. Lippe Succession Decided.. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/07/08/105948202.html?pageNumber=7> [Accessed 21 October 2020].
• Timesmachine.nytimes.com. 1904. LIPPE’s INSANE MONARCH.; Prince Is Not Closely Confined — Goes To Concerts And Theatres.. [online] Available at: <https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/10/14/101399441.html> [Accessed 21 October 2020].

by Susan Flantzer © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Woldemar, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (Günther Friedrich Woldemar) was born on April 18, 1824, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was the second of the six sons and the third of the nine children of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

Woldemar had two elder siblings and six younger siblings. It appears that Woldemar and his elder brother Leopold were the only ones who married and neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis. After the death of Woldemar’s successor and brother Alexander and the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would be the last Prince of Lippe.

• Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1821 – 1875), married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, no children
• Princess Luise of Lippe (1822 – 1887)
• Princess Friederike of Lippe (1825 – 1897)
• Prince Friedrich of Lippe (1827 – 1854)
• Prince Hermann of Lippe (1829 – 1884)
• Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831 – 1905), unmarried, a regency was established due to his mental illness
• Prince Karl of Lippe (1832 – 1834), died in childhood
• Princess Pauline of Lippe (1834 – 1906)

Sophie of Baden, Woldemar’s wife; Credit – Wikipedia

On November 9, 1858, in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden, now in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, Woldemar married Princess Sophie of Baden. Sophie was the daughter of daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Württemberg. Her paternal grandparents were Karl Friedrich, the first Grand Duke of Baden, and his morganatic second wife, Louise Caroline Geyer von Geyersberg, Countess of Hochberg. The marriage of Woldemar and Sophie was childless.

Because Woldemar was a second son and not expected to succeed to the throne, he had a career in the Prussian Army. He achieved the rank of General and was the commander of the 55th (6th Westphalian) Infantry “Count Bülow von Dennewitz”. He was a Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle, the highest order of chivalry in the Kingdom of Prussia.

Woldemar succeeded his childless elder brother Leopold III, Prince of Lippe upon his death on December 8, 1875. He inherited an unpleasant constitutional situation that had been going on during his brother’s reign. Leopold III had opposed the liberal reforms, more participation in government and democracy, that resulted from the German revolutions of 1848–49. He dissolved the state parliament, repealed the constitution of 1849, and reintroduced the constitution of 1836. He then replaced his cabinet councilors with conservatives. Leopold’s position was that he had neither initiated nor approved, let alone sworn to, the constitution forced by the revolution. The constitutional dispute continued throughout Leopold III’s reign and the rift between conservatives and liberals, between town and country, deepened. The citizens of the Principality of Lippe hoped that their new, more liberal prince would remedy the situation and he did to a large extent.

On January 13, 1876, Woldemar appointed August Eschenburg as President of the Cabinet with the task of restoring constitutional conditions. Eschenburg succeeded in convening a working state parliament and persuaded the nobility to renounce its class privileges. Apart from his grandmother Princess Pauline, who served as Regent for eighteen years for her son Leopold II until he reached his majority, no other Prince of Lippe dealt with government affairs as successfully as Woldemar did.

Woldemar had no children to succeed him and his only surviving brother was Alexander who suffered from mental illness and had been declared incapacitated since 1871 and therefore, incapable of governing. A regency would be necessary during the reign of Alexander. In 1884, Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld succeeded his father as the head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld line of the House of Lippe. After the reigning Princes of Lippe, Lippe-Biesterfeld was the most senior line of the princely house followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld and the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe. However, Woldemar did not want Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld to be his brother’s regent because it would mean Ernst would become the heir. In 1890, Woldemar issued a decree, ordering that it be kept secret until his death, appointing Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe, the brother-in-law of Wilhelm II, German Emperor and King of Prussia, as his brother’s regent.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

Woldemar, Prince of Lippe died March 20, 1895, aged 70, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold. His wife Sophie survived him by nine years, dying on April 6, 1904, at the age of 70. She was buried with her husband. Woldemar’s incapacitated brother Alexander succeeded him as Prince of Lippe, with a regency. However, Woldemar’s appointment of Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe as his brother’s regent sparked the Lippe succession dispute that is discussed in Alexander, Prince of Lippe’s article.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Lippe Index
• Profiles: Princes and Consorts of Lippe
• Lippe Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Woldemar (Lippe-Detmold). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woldemar_(Lippe-Detmold)> [Accessed 6 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Woldemar, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woldemar,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 6 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Leopold II, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-ii-prince-of-lippe/> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Leopold III, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (Paul Friedrich Emil Leopold) was born on September 1, 1821, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. He was the eldest of the six sons and the eldest of the nine children of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

Leopold III had eight younger siblings. Leopold and his brother Woldemar were the only ones who married and neither had any children. This would eventually create a succession crisis. After the death of Leopold’s brother Alexander and the extinction of the Lippe-Detmold line, the throne of the Principality of Lippe went to Count Leopold of Lippe-Biesterfeld who would be the last Prince of Lippe.

Leopold, left, with his parents and sister Luise; Credit – www.findagrave.com

• Princess Luise of Lippe (1822 – 1887)
• Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (1824 – 1895), married Princess Sophie of Baden, no children
• Princess Friederike of Lippe (1825 – 1897)
• Prince Friedrich of Lippe (1827 – 1854)
• Prince Hermann of Lippe (1829 – 1884)
• Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831 – 1905), unmarried, a regency was established due to his mental illness
• Prince Karl of Lippe (1832 – 1834), died in childhood
• Princess Pauline of Lippe (1834 – 1906)

Leopold studied at the University of Bonn and served as an officer in the Prussian Gardes du Corps, the personal bodyguard of the King of Prussia. When his father died on January 1, 1851, Leopold became Leopold III, Prince of Lippe. A year later, on April 17, 1852, Leopold married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt in Rudolstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, now in the German state of Thuringia. Elisabeth was the daughter of Albrecht, the sovereign Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Princess Augusta Luise of Solms-Braunfel. The marriage of Leopold and Elisabeth was childless.

Leopold opposed the liberal reforms and the participation in government and democracy that resulted from the German revolutions of 1848–49. He dissolved the state parliament, repealed the constitution of 1849, and reintroduced the constitution of 1836. He then replaced his cabinet councilors with conservatives. Leopold’s position was that he had not initiated, approved, or swore to the constitution forced by the revolution. The constitutional dispute continued and the rift between conservatives and liberals, between town and country, deepened. This certainly hurt Leopold who was considered affable and friendly.

In 1854, Leopold did institute some religious reform when he issued edicts that gave the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Church the same legal status as the Calvinist State Church of Lippe. When Leopold became Prince of Lippe, the principality was a member of the German Confederation, and Leopold supported Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. After the war, when the North German Confederation was formed, the Principality of Lippe became a member and remain a member until the creation of the German Empire in 1871 following the Franco-Prussian War.

The Mausoleum on the Büchenberg in Detmold that Leopold III had built; Credit – Von Tsungam – Eigenes Werk, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18903057

On December 8, 1875, Leopold III, Prince of Lippe, aged 54, died in Detmold after suffering a stroke and was succeeded by his brother Woldemar. He was buried at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. For many years, the Church of the Redeemer (link in German) in Detmold served as the burial site for the House of Lippe. However, by the time Leopold III came to the throne in 1851, there was no room left, and some coffins were being stacked while others were being stored in the church basement. This led to Leopold III building the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg. The remains of several members of the princely family were moved from the Church of the Redeemer to the new Mausoleum after its completion in 1855. Leopold III’s wife Elisabeth survived him by twenty-one years, dying in 1896 at the age of 63, and was buried with her husband.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Lippe Index
• Profiles: Princes and Consorts of Lippe
• Lippe Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold III. (Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_III._(Lippe)> [Accessed 6 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold III, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_III,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 6 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Leopold II, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-ii-prince-of-lippe/> [Accessed 6 October 2020].
• Mehl, Scott, 2018. Lippe Royal Burial Sites. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/former-monarchies/german-royals/principality-of-lippe/lippe-royal-burial-sites/> [Accessed 6 October 2020].

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2020

Principality of Lippe: Originally called Lippe-Detmold, the Principality of Lippe came into existence in 1789 when it was raised from a County within the Holy Roman Empire to a Principality. Leopold I, Count of Lippe-Detmold became the first Prince of Lippe.

At the end of World War I, Leopold IV, the last Prince of Lippe, was forced to abdicate on November 12, 1918. However, Leopold negotiated a treaty with the new government that allowed his family to remain in Lippe. Today the territory that encompassed the Principality of Lippe is located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

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Leopold II, Prince of Lippe; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold II, Prince of Lippe (Paul Alexander Leopold) was born on November 6, 1796, in Detmold, Principality of Lippe, now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He was the elder of the two sons of Leopold I, Prince of Lippe and Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg.

Leopold with his mother and younger brother; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold had one younger brother and one sister who survived for only one day:

• Prince Friedrich (1797 – 1854), unmarried, served in the Imperial and Royal Army in the Austrian Empire
• Princess Luise (born and died 1800)

The mental disorders of Leopold’s father Leopold I, Prince of Lippe interfered with his role as reigning prince. In 1790, Leopold I was deemed incapacitated by the Reichskammergericht (Imperial Chamber Court), one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, and placed under guardianship. In 1795, the guardianship was conditionally lifted after Leopold I’s condition improved and that is when Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg agreed to marry him.

Because of Leopold I’s mental condition, his wife Pauline became his governmental adviser and colleague, staying mostly in the background and avoiding anything that could be interpreted as exceeding her duties. Within the next few years, Leopold I developed intestinal tuberculosis, and his mental disorders returned with memory loss. Leopold I, Prince of Lippe died on April 4, 1802, at the age of 34. As his son and successor Leopold II, Prince of Lippe was just five-years-old, his mother Pauline very capably acted as Regent of the Principality of Lippe until 1820.

Malwida von Meysenbug, a German writer who was also active politically and as a promoter of writers and artists. a German writer who was active politically and a promoter of writers and artists, wrote in her Memoirs of an Idealist: “The only thing that Princess Pauline could not do was bring up her two sons, her only children. In order to teach them the principles of strict morality, she had tyrannized the two of them and treated them like children for so long that the oldest had become shy and reserved by nature, half a savage.”

As Regent of the Principality of Lippe, Pauline postponed the transfer of power to her son Leopold II, Prince of Lippe several times because of her disappointment in him and her belief that she could not turn over the government to him with a clear conscience. Finally, she announced her resignation as Regent on July 3, 1820. Leopold II needed her assistance at first and Pauline ensured that her assistance was not overt. Once her son was settled in his position as Prince of Lippe, Pauline planned to retire. However, before she could retire, Pauline died on December 29, 1820, aged 51.

On April 23, 1820, in Arnstadt, Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, now in the German state of Thuringia, Leopold II married Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Emilie was the elder of the two children and the only daughter of Günther Friedrich Karl I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Princess Karoline of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, the daughter of reigning Prince Friedrich Karl of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Emilie’s brother succeeded their father as Günther Friedrich Karl II, Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen.

Leopold and his wife Emilie with two of their children; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Leopold and Emilie had nine children including three reigning Princes of Lippe:

• Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (1821 – 1875), married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, no children
• Princess Luise of Lippe (1822 – 1887)
• Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (1824 – 1895), married Princess Sophie of Baden, no children
• Princess Friederike of Lippe (1825 – 1897)
• Prince Friedrich of Lippe (1827 – 1854)
• Prince Hermann of Lippe (1829 – 1884)
• Alexander, Prince of Lippe (1831 – 1905), unmarried, a regency was established due to his mental illness
• Prince Karl of Lippe (1832 – 1834), died in childhood
• Princess Pauline of Lippe (1834 – 1906)

The court theater (Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater), photo from 1910; Credit – Wikipedia

Leopold, shy by nature, lived a restrained life. He had two passions: hunting and the theater. The Lippe Princely Court Theater (Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater) he established in Detmold was among the best in the German monarchies but the cost was disproportionately high compared to the principality’s income. The architect Johann Theodor von Natorp was commissioned to design the theater building and the groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 18, 1825. On November 8, 1825, the curtain of the Hochfürstliches Lippisches Hoftheater went up for the first time for Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s opera La Clemenza di Tito. The schedule for the theater included both opera and plays. In 1912, the original theater burned to the ground because of a damaged chimney. However, the theater was rebuilt, financed with donations from the Detmold citizens and funds from the Princely House. The rebuilt theater and the theater company established by Leopold II are still in existence today. Now called the Landestheater Detmold, it is a theater for operas, operettas, musicals, ballets, and stage plays in Detmold, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

• Official Website: Landestheater Detmold (link in German)

On January 1, 1851, Leopold II, Prince of Lippe died in Detmold at the age of 54. Initially buried at the Church of the Redeemer (link in German) in Detmold, now in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Leopold’s remains were later moved to the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg (link in German) in Detmold after the mausoleum’s completion in 1855. His wife Emilie survived him by sixteen years, dying in 1867. She was buried with her husband at the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg.

Crypt in the Mausoleum on the Büchenberg; Credit – Von unbekannt / Tsungam – Foto: Eigenes Werk; Infotafel: Freunde der Residenz Detmold, Gemeinfrei, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20182639

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Lippe Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• Principality of Lippe Index
• Profiles: Princes and Consorts of Lippe
• Lippe Royal Burial Sites

Works Cited

• De.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold II. (Lippe). [online] Available at: <https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II._(Lippe)> [Accessed 5 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Landestheater Detmold. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landestheater_Detmold> [Accessed 5 October 2020].
• En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Leopold II, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Prince_of_Lippe> [Accessed 5 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Leopold I, Prince Of Lippe. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/leopold-i-prince-of-lippe/> [Accessed 5 October 2020].
• Flantzer, Susan, 2020. Pauline Of Anhalt-Bernburg, Princess Of Lippe, Regent Of Lippe. [online] Unofficial Royalty. Available at: <https://www.unofficialroyalty.com/pauline-of-anhalt-bernburg-princess-of-lippe-regent-of-lippe/> [Accessed 5 October 2020].