by Scott Mehl
© Unofficial Royalty 2018

For many years, the Church of the Redeemer in Detmold (link in German) 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 basement of the church. This led to Leopold III having the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg built.

The Mausoleum at the Büchenberg (link in German) was built in the 1850s under the direction of Prince Leopold III. An old grotto which was part of the Friedrichstaler canal was rebuilt to become the final resting place for members of the House of Lippe. 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, with additional reburials taking place in 1908. The mausoleum has eight niches on either side, with two sarcophagi placed in the center. Other members of the family are buried in the grounds outside of the building.

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 Prince Leopold IV, his two wives, and most of their children.

Princes of Lippe

• Leopold I – November 5, 1789 – November 2, 1802
• Leopold II – November 2, 1802 – January 1, 1851
• Leopold III – January 1, 1851 – December 8, 1875
• Woldemar – December 8, 1875 – March 20, 1895
  • Regent – Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe (1895-1897)
  • Regent – Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1897-1904)
  • Regent – Leopold IV, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1904-1905)
• Alexander – March 20, 1895 – January 13, 1905
• Leopold IV – October 25, 1905 – November 12, 1918

Unofficial Royalty: Principality of Lippe Index

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Leopold I
Prince of Lippe
(reigned 1789 – November 2, 1802)

Unofficial Royalty: Leopold I, Prince of Lippe
Leopold I was born December 2, 1767 in Detmold, the son of Simon August, Count of Lippe-Detmold and Princess Leopoldine of Anhalt-Dessau. He succeeded his father as Count in 1782, and became the first Prince when Lippe was raised to a principality in 1789. On January 2, 1796, Leopold married Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg and had three children. He died in Detmold on November 2, 1802 and was buried at the Church of the Redeemer. His remains were later moved to the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg
Princess of Lippe,RegentofLippe

Unofficial Royalty: Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg, Princess of Lippe, Regent of Lippe
Princess Pauline was born February 23, 1769 in Ballenstedt, the daughter of Friedrich Albrecht, Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg and Princess Luise Albertine of Schleswig-Holstein. She married Leopold I in January 1796 and had three children. She outlived her husband, and served as Regent for her son, Leopold II, during his youth. Pauline died in Detmold on December 29, 1820 and was buried at the Church of the Redeemer. Later, her remains were moved to the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Children of Leopold I and Pauline

Leopold II, Prince of Lippe (below)

Prince Friedrich
(December 8, 1797 – October 20, 1854)
Prince Friedrich never married. He is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Princess Luise
(July 17, 1800 – July 18, 1800)
Princess Luise died just one day after her birth. She was buried at the Church of the Redeemer. Her remains were later moved to the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Leopold II
Prince of Lippe
(reigned November 2, 1802 – January 1, 1851)

Unofficial Royalty: Leopold II, Prince of Lippe
Leopold II was born November 6, 1796 in Detmold, the eldest child of Leopold I, Prince of Lippe and Princess Pauline of Anhalt-Bernburg. He became reigning Prince in 1802 when he was just five years old and was under a regency led by his mother until reaching his majority. On April 23, 1820, he married Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and had nine children. Leopold II died in Detmold on January 1, 1851 and was buried in the Church of the Redeemer. His remains were later moved to the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen
Princess of Lippe

• Unofficial Royalty: Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Princess of Lippe

Emilie was born April 23, 1800. She married Leopold II in 1820 and had nine children. The Dowager Princess died in 1867 and is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Children of Leopold II and Emilie

Leopold III, Prince of Lippe (below)

Princess Luise
(November 9, 1822 – March 26, 1887)
Princess Luise is buried at the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Woldemar, Prince of Lippe (below)

Princess Friederike
(February 1, 1825 – April 12, 1897)
Princess Friederike is buried at the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Prince Friedrich
(October 18, 1827 – August 21, 1854)
Prince Friedrich is buried at the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Prince Hermann
(July 4, 1829 – June 20, 1884)
Prince Hermann is buried at the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Alexander, Prince of Lippe (below)

Prince Karl
(October 11, 1832 – May 1, 1834)
Prince Karl died in infancy. He was buried at the Church of the Redeemer. His remains were later moved to the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Princess Pauline
(October 2, 1834 – August 24, 1906)
Princess Pauline is buried at the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Leopold III
Prince of Lippe
(reigned January 1, 1851 – December 8, 1875)

Unofficial Royalty: Leopold III, Prince of Lippe
Leopold III was born in Detmold on September 1, 1821, the eldest son of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondersahusen. Leopold married Princess Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt on April 17, 1852, but had no children. He died in Detmold on December 8, 1875 and is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt
Princess of Lippe

• Unofficial Royalty: Elisabeth of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Princess of Lippe

Princess Elisabeth was born in 1833, the daughter of Prince Albert of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Princess Auguste of Solms-Braunfels. She married Leopold III in 1852, but had no children. The Dowager Princess died in 1896 and is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Woldemar
Prince of Lippe
(reigned December 8, 1875 – March 20, 1895)

Unofficial Royalty: Woldemar, Prince of Lippe
Woldemar was born in Detmold on April 18, 1824, the second son of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He married Princess Sophie of Baden on November 9, 1858, but had no children. Woldemar succeeded his elder brother, Leopold III, as Prince of Lippe in December 1875. He died in Detmold on March 20, 1895, and is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

Sophie of Baden
Princess of Lippe

Unofficial Royalty: Sophie of Baden, Princess of Lippe
Sophie was born in Karlsruhe on August 7, 1834, the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Baden and Duchess Elisabeth Alexandrine of Württemberg. She married Woldemar on November 9, 1858 but had no children. The Dowager Princess died in Karlsruhe on April 6, 1904 and is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Alexander
Prince of Lippe
(reigned March 20, 1895 – January 13, 1905)

Unofficial Royalty: Alexander, Prince of Lippe
Alexander was the fifth son of Leopold II, Prince of Lippe and Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. Injured in 1851 after falling from his horse, he began to show signs of mental illness. By 1871, he was deemed incapacitated and moved to a sanitorium near Bayreuth, where he lived for the rest of his life. He succeeded as Prince of Lippe upon the death of his brother Woldemar in 1895. However, due to his illness, a Regent was put in place to oversee the principality. Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe served as Regent from 1895 until 1897, at which time the courts ruled in favor of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld who was closer in line to the princely throne. Ernst served as Regent until his death in 1904, and was succeeded by his son, Leopold became the reigning Prince of Lippe following Alexander’s death. Alexander died at the sanitorium on January 13, 1905. He is buried in the Mausoleum at the Büchenberg.

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Leopold IV
Prince of Lippe
(reigned October 25, 1905 – November 12, 1918)

Unofficial Royalty: Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe
Leopold IV was born in Oberkassel on May 30, 1871, the son of Ernst, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Countess Karoline of Wartensleben. In August 1901, he married Princess Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and had five children. In 1904, he succeeded his father as Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld and Regent for the Principality of Lippe. Following the death of Prince Alexander, Leopold became the final Prince of Lippe. His reign ended on November 12, 1918 when he was forced to abdicate following the end of the German Empire. Widowed in 1919, he married Princess Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen on April 26, 1922 and had one son. Leopold IV died in Detmold on December 30, 1949 and is buried at Christ Church.

Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld
Princess of Lippe
1st wife of Leopold IV

• Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, Princess of Lippe

Bertha was born October 25, 1874 in Burgsteinfurt, the daughter of Prince Wilhelm of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld and his second wife, Princess Juliane of Bentheim and Steinfurt. She married Leopold IV on August 16, 1901 and had five children. She died in Detmold on February 19, 1919, just three months after her husband was forced to abdicate the throne. She is buried at Christ Church.

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Children of Leopold IV and Bertha

Ernst, Hereditary Prince of Lippe
(June 12, 1902 – May 24, 1987)
Ernst married Charlotte Ricken in 1924, and was divorced in 1934. He then married Herta-Elise Weiland in 1937. He is buried at Christ Church.

Prince Leopold Bernhard
(May 19, 1904 – July 5, 1965)
Prince Leopold is buried at Christ Church.

Princess Karoline
(August 4, 1905 – October 12, 2001)
Princess Karoline married Count Hans of Kanitz in 1932. She is buried with her husband in the city cemetery in Bückeburg.

Prince Chlodwig
(September 27, 1909 – February 13, 2000)
Prince Chlodwig married Veronika Holl in 1940. He is buried in Rieden.

Princess Sieglinde
(March 4, 1915 – August 8, 2008)
Princess Sieglinde married Friedrich Carl Heldmann in 1942. She is buried in the Alter Friedhof (Old Cemetery) in Detmold.

Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen
Princess of Lippe
2nd wife of Leopold IV

Unofficial Royalty: Anna of Ysenburg and Büdingen, Princess of Lippe
Princess Anna was born February 10, 1866, the youngest child of Bruno, Prince of Ysenburg and Büdingen and Countess Bertha of Castell-Rüdenhausen. In November 1911, she married Count Ernst of Lippe-Weissenfeld, and had one daughter. Her husband was killed during World War I. She married Prince Leopold IV on April 26, 1922 and had one son. The Dowager Princess died in Detmold on February 8, 1980, and is buried at Christ Church.

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Children of Leopold IV and Anna

Prince Armin
(August 18, 1924 – August 20, 2015)
Wikipedia: Armin, Prince of Lippe
Prince Armin became Head of the House of Lippe upon his father’s death in 1949. He married Traute Becker in 1953 and had one son. Armin is buried at Christ Church.

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