Jacob von der Lippe (27 September 1797 – 2 October 1878) was a Norwegian politician and priest who served as

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Diocese of Christianssand from 1841 to 1875. He was also a member of the Parliament of Norway for a total of eight non-consecutive parliamentary terms from 1829 until 1861.

Education

Jacob von der Lippe was born in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

on 27 September 1797 into a merchant family. After graduating with an Examen artium certificate in 1818, he went on to study

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the Royal Frederick University in Christiania where he received a Cand.theol. degree in 1819.

Career

Priest

His first job after the university was as a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

in Haus, just outside of the city of Bergen in Western Norway. In 1821, he was given the job of parish priest in Skånevik in the far southern part of

Hordaland Hordaland () was a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark, and Rogaland counties. Hordaland was the third largest county, after Akershus and Oslo, by population. The county government was the Hordaland County Munici ...

county. He held this job until 1825 when he was transferred to the parish of

Avaldsnes Avaldsnes is a village in Karmøy municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located on the northeastern part of the island of Karmøy (island), Karmøy, along the Karmsundet strait, just south of the town of Haugesund (town), Hauge ...

on the island of Karmøy, just outside of

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

. In 1829, he was elected to be the Dean of the Karmsund prosti (

deanery A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of ...

) in northern

Rogaland Rogaland () is a Counties of Norway, county in Western Norway, bordering the North Sea to the west and the counties of Vestland to the north, Telemark to the east and Agder to the east and southeast. As of 1 January 2024, it had a population of 49 ...

county. In 1831, von der Lippe was elected to be the ''stiftsprost'' in

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...

, one of the highest ranking priests in the Diocese of Christianssand. During this time, he served as the acting Bishop twice. In 1841, the King appointed him to be the

of the diocese. He held that post until his retirement in 1875. He was succeeded by Jørgen Moe as bishop. During his time as Bishop, he was characterized as fairly conservative in his beliefs, and he was also thought of as fairly authoritarian. An old story about von der Lippe says that a farmer had met with the bishop, and afterwards exclaimed ''""'' which means "That is the biggest dictator I have ever met!".

Politician

He was first elected to the Parliament of Norway in the 1829 Storting election while serving as dean in Avaldsnes. When he moved to Christianssand, he was steadily re-elected to represent that city in the 1832 Storting election, the 1835 Storting election, the 1838 Storting election, and the 1841 Storting election. He declined re-election in 1845, but he did get re-elected in the 1847 Storting election. Again in 1850, he declined to run, but in the 1853 election he was elected again to represent Christianssand. He again decided not to run for re-election in 1857, but two years later in the 1859 Storting election he was elected for his final term in office. When the municipal government law was implemented in 1838 (see

formannskapsdistrikt () was the name of a Norwegian self-governing municipality. The name was used from the establishment these municipalities in 1838 until the name fell out of use in 1863. The municipalities had their legal basis from two laws enacted on 14 Jan ...

law), he was elected to the municipal council for the city of Christianssand, a position that he held until 1840.

Personal life

Jacob von der Lippe was born in

, on 27 September 1797 to parents Gerhard von der Lippe (1776–1830) and Antonette Ulriche Dietrichson (1770–1801). He was married on 5 July 1820 Ingeborg Erichsen (1800–1880). He is the great-grandfather to Frits von der Lippe and Jens von der Lippe. He died on 2 October 1878 in the city of

, at the age of 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippe, Jacob von der 1797 births 1878 deaths Clergy from Bergen Bishops of Agder og Telemark 19th-century Norwegian Lutheran bishops Politicians from Bergen Politicians from Kristiansand Members of the Storting 1859–1861 Members of the Storting 1854–1856 Members of the Storting 1848–1850 Members of the Storting 1842–1844 Members of the Storting 1839–1841 Members of the Storting 1836–1838 Members of the Storting 1833–1835 Members of the Storting 1830–1832