Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe

Schaumburg-Lippe, also Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807, a free state in 1918, and was until 1946 a small state in Germany, located in the present day state of Lower Saxony, with its capital at Bückeburg.

County (Principality) of Schaumburg-Lippe
Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Schaumburg-Lippe
1647–1918
Flag
Coat of arms
Anthem: Heil unserm Fürsten, heil
Hail to our Prince, hail!
Schaumburg-Lippe within the German Empire
StatusState of the Holy Roman Empire
State of the Confederation of the Rhine
State of the German Confederation
State of the North German Confederation
State of the German Empire
CapitalBückeburg
GovernmentPrincipality
Historical eraEarly modern Europe
• Partitioned from
    Schaumburg
1647
• Inherited
    Lippe-Alverdissen
 
1777
• Raised to principality
1807
1918
• Merged into
    Lower Saxony
 
1946
Preceded by		Succeeded by
County of Schaumburg
Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe

History

Schaumburg-Lippe was formed as a county in 1647 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. The division occurred because Count Otto V of Holstein-Schaumburg had died in 1640 leaving no male heir. Initially Schaumburg-Lippe's position was somewhat precarious: it had to share a wide variety of institutions and facilities with the County of Schaumburg (which belonged to Hesse-Kassel), including the representative assembly and the highly productive Bückeberg mines, and the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel retained some feudal rights over it. It was further threatened by the headstrong policies of ruling Count Friedrich Christian. To counter these threats, Friedrich's grandson Count Wilhelm (who reigned 1748–1777) retained a standing army of up to 1000 troops - quite a lot for such a small territory.

With Wilhelm's death in 1777 the junior Schaumburg-Lippe-Alverdissen inherited the County thereby reuniting Schaumburg-Lippe with Lippe-Alverdissen.

German cartoon from 1834 poking fun at the microscopic size of Schaumburg-Lippe

Schaumburg-Lippe was a county until 1807 when it became a principality; from 1871 it was a state within the German Empire. In 1913, it was the smallest state in the German Empire in terms of population.[1] The capital was Bückeburg, and Stadthagen was the only other town. Under the constitution of 1868, there was a legislative diet of 15 members, 10 elected by the towns and rural districts and 1 each by the nobility, clergy and educated classes, the remaining 2 nominated by the prince. Schaumburg-Lippe sent one member to the Bundesrat (federal council) and one deputy to the Reichstag.[2] It lasted until the end of the German monarchies in 1918, when it became a free state as the Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe. In November 1918, Prince Adolf was the second last reigning German monarch to abdicate.

Rulers of Schaumburg-Lippe
Bückeburg Palace, former residence of the ruling princes, still owned by the princely family
Princely standard.

Counts of Schaumburg-Lippe (1640–1807)
  • Philip I (1601-1681) Count of Lippe-Alverdissen 1613–1640, of Schaumburg-Lippe 1640–1681
    • Frederick Christian (1655–1728) Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1681–1728
      • Albert Wolfgang (1699–1748) Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1728–1748
        • William (1724–77) Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1748-1777
    • Philipp Ernest, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1659–1753)
      • Friedrich Ernst, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1694–1777)
        • Philip II Ernest (1723–1787), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1777–1787
          • George William (1784–1860), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1787–1807, raised to Prince

Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe (1807–1918)

See also

References
  1. Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Schaumburg-Lippe" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Schaumburg-Lippe" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

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