The House of Lippe-Weissenfeld (German spelling: Lippe-Weißenfeld) was a

comital Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and later

princely A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The fema ...

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the

House of Lippe The House of Lippe () is the former reigning house of a number of small Germany, German states, two of which existed until the German Revolution of 1918–19, the Principality of Lippe and the Schaumburg-Lippe, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe. ...

, a dynasty ruling the

Principality of Lippe Lippe (later Lippe-Detmold and then again Lippe) was a state in Germany, ruled by the House of Lippe. It was located between the Weser river and the southeast part of the Teutoburg Forest. It originated as a state during the Holy Roman Empire, an ...

until the

German Revolution of 1918–19 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Branches of the House of Lippe

The Lippe-Weissenfeld branch split from the non-ruling comital branch of

Lippe-Biesterfeld The House of Lippe-Biesterfeld was a comital and later princely cadet line of the House of Lippe (a German dynasty reigning from 1413 until 1918, of comital and, from 1789, of princely rank). The comital branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld ascended t ...

in 1734. However, in 1905, the Lippe-Biesterfeld branch inherited the throne of Lippe, with

Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe Leopold IV, Prince of Lippe (''Leopold Julius Bernhard Adalbert Otto Karl Gustav''; 30 May 1871 – 30 December 1949) was the final sovereign of the Principality of Lippe in northwestern Germany from 1905 until his abdication in 1918. Prior t ...

reigning until the

German revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

of 1918. Another junior branch of the House of Lippe was the

Schaumburg-Lippe Schaumburg-Lippe, also called Lippe-Schaumburg, was created as a county in 1647, became a principality in 1807 and 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 capi ...

, which from 1647 ruled the county, and from 1807, Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe until 1918.

Counts

Lippe-Weissenfeld is the name of a cadet branch of the formerly ruling

. The branch split from the

line when ''Ferdinand'' Johann Ludwig, Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1709-1787), received Weissenfeld manor house in the forest near Schieder-Schwalenberg as his seat in 1734. Both, Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were so-called ''paragiums'' (non-sovereign estates of a cadet-branch) within the County of Lippe, the later

which existed until 1918. The County of Schwalenberg was inherited by the Counts of Lippe in 1365, and the estates of Biesterfeld and Weissenfeld were parts of it.

Simon VII, Count of Lippe Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

begat a younger son, Count Jobst Hermann (1625-1678) who founded the line of Counts of

, and whose grandson, Count Ferdinand founded a cadet (junior) branch of the family that became Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld.

Princes

The brothers count Ferdinand (1772–1846) and count Christian (1777–1859) founded two branches of the line of Lippe-Weissenfeld. On 24 February 1916 the members of the elder branch, namely the family of Count Clemens zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1860-1920) and his legitimate male line descendants, were granted the title of Prince/Princess with the style of

Serene Highness His/Her Serene Highness (abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style (manner of address), style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Until 1918, it was also associated with the p ...

. On 9 November 1918, all other legitimate cadet male/female members of the younger Lippe-Weissenfeld branch were also upgraded from the title of Count/Countess with the style

Illustrious Highness His/Her Illustrious Highness (abbreviation: H.Ill.H.) is the usual English-language translation of the German word , a style historically attributed to certain members of the European nobility. It is not a literal translation, as the German word ...

and granted the title of Prince/Princess with the style of Serene Highness by

, who officially renounced the throne of

Lippe Lippe () is a ''Kreis'' (district) in the east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Neighboring districts are Herford, Minden-Lübbecke, Höxter, Paderborn, Gütersloh, and district-free Bielefeld, which forms the region Ostwestfalen-Lippe. ...

three days later, on 12 November 1918.

Rulers

Princes of Lippe-Weißenfeld (1916)

* Clemens, 1st

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1916-1920 (1860-1920) ⚭ Baroness Friederike von Carlowitz (1878-1942), heiress of Proschwitz castle ** Ferdinand, 2nd Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1920-1939 (1903-1939) ⚭ Princess Dorothea von Schönburg-Waldenburg (1905-2000) *** Franz, 3rd Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1939-1995 (1929-1995) ⚭ Lucia Stassen (b. 1922) ** Christian, 4th Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld 1995-1996 (1907-1996) ⚭ Countess Pauline zu Ortenburg (1913-2002) *** Ferdinand, 5th Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld, 1996–present (b. 1942) ⚭ Baroness Karoline von Feilitzsch (b. 1939) **** Ferdinand,

Hereditary Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent. ''Crown prince ...

of Lippe-Weißenfeld (b. 1976) ⚭ Princess Auguste of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

(b. 1979), daughter of Prince Luitpold of Bavaria ***** Louis-Ferdinand Ludwig Beatus Bernhard Christopher Julio Patrick, Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 2013) ***** Carl Philipp, Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 2015)

Properties of the Counts and Princes of Lippe-Weißenfeld

During the 18th century, the branch continued to live at the rather modest Weissenfeld manor house and also owned the ''Weissenfelder Hof'' (Weissenfeld court) in

Lemgo Lemgo (; ) is a university and old Hanseatic League, Hanseatic town in the Lippe district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Weser Uplands, 25 km east of Bielefeld and 70 km west of H ...

, which both no longer exist. Towards the end of the 18th century, the family inherited considerable estates in the

Electorate of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...

, and moved there. Friedrich Ludwig, 2nd Count of Lippe-Weissenfeld (1737-1791), whose seat now was castle Saßleben in Calau, received the lordship of Baruth (including the estates of Rackel and Buchwalde) from his wife's family, the counts ''von Gersdorff'', in 1797, and later also acquired the smaller estates of Dauban and Sornitz. ( Baruth bei Bautzen must be distinguished from

Baruth/Mark Baruth/Mark () is a town in the Teltow-Fläming district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 24 km east of Luckenwalde, and 53 km south of Berlin. Geography Baruth/Mark is structured in the following parts of town,Main constituti ...

, a lordship of the counts and later princes of Solms-Baruth). His elder son Ferdinand (1773-1846) inherited the Baruth lordship, while the latter's younger half-brother Christian (1777–1859) founded the younger line and received the estate of Teichnitz near

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

from the counts von Hohenthal, the family of his mother as well as of his wife. Later some smaller estates such as Lubachau, Gersdorf and Döberkitz were added. His grandson Clemens, 1st Prince of Lippe-Weißenfeld (1860–1920), acquired '' Schloss Proschwitz'' near

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

by marriage to Baroness Friederike von Carlowitz in 1910. All properties were expropriated in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

in 1945. After the

German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...

of 1990, Prince Georg of Lippe-Weissenfeld, a younger son of Christian, 4th Prince of Lippe-Weissenfeld, re-purchased the estate and castle of Proschwitz and established the renowned wine estate ''Prinz zur Lippe'', Saxony's largest private winery. Besides the wine production, he opens the castle for concerts, balls, banquets, conferences and weddings. In 1895 Count Egmont zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1841-1896) bought Castle Pfaffstätt in Austria. After his death, a year later in 1896, his family continued to occupy the castle until 1909 when they resold it to Adolf

Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...

von ''Peckenzell'', whose family owned the castle until 1868, when they had to sell it to a banker, Heinrich Klinkosch (1830-1889), uncle of Princess Johanna of Liechtenstein. Egmont's younger son, Prince Alfred zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1881-1960), by virtue of marriage to Countess Anna von Goëss (1895-1972) came into a possession of Castle Alt-Wartenburg in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, where his son Prince Egmont of Lippe-Weissenfeld spent his youth and where his sisters, princesses Karola, Sophia and Theodora were born. The castle was heavily damaged in 1945 during

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. File:Baruth_schloss_(Bautzen).jpg, Baruth Castle (Oberlausitz, Saxony) File:Teichnitz_schloss.jpg, Schloss Teichnitz, (Saxony) File:20050116850MDR Proschwitz (Meißen) Schloß Weingut.jpg, Schloss Proschwitz (Meissen, Saxony) File:20060524085DR_Gersdorf_(Striegistal)_Rittergut_Schloß.jpg, Schloss Gersdorf ( Striegistal, Saxony) File:02048-Sornitz-1901-Schloß_und_Teich-Brück_%26_Sohn_Kunstverlag.jpg, Schloss Sornitz (Meissen, Saxony) File:Schoss_Pfaffstätt_2023.jpg, Schloss Pfaffstätt, from 1895 until 1909 owned by members of Lippe-Weissenfeld younger line (Pfaffstätt, Austria) File:Schloss_Alt-Wartenburg.jpg, Castle Alt-Wartenburg (Oberthalheim, Austria) File:Saßleben_schloss.jpg, Saßleben schloss, (

Oberlausitz Upper Lusatia (, ; , ; ; or ''Milsko''; ) is a historical region in Germany and Poland. Along with Lower Lusatia to the north, it makes up the region of Lusatia, named after the Slavic ''Lusici'' tribe. Both parts of Lusatia are home to the ...

) File:Łomnica_Lomnitz_Schloss.jpg, Schloss Lomnitz, owned by Count Georg zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1894-1897), (

Zgorzelec County __NOTOC__ Zgorzelec County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Poland. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. It ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

) File:Liběchov_(zámek),_Liběchov,_okr._Mělník,_Středočeský_kraj_03.jpg, Liběchov castle, owned by Count Theodor zur Lippe-Weissenfeld (1822-1894),

Mělník District Mělník District () is a Okres, district in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the town of Mělník. Administrative division Mělník District is divided into three Districts of the Czech Republic#Municipalities wit ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

https://www.turistika.cz/mista/libechov-zamek-libechov/detail

Notable members

* Prince Egmont zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (14 July 1918 – 12 March 1944); Luftwaffe night fighter flying ace * Princess Anna of Lippe-Weißenfeld (10 February 1886 – 8 February 1980); second wife of

*Princess Teresa Amalia zur Lippe-Weißenfeld (21 July 1925 – 16 July 2008); first wife of Hans Heinrich Baron von Thyssen-Bornemisza; married secondly Prince Friedrich Maximilian zu Fürstenberg (1926–1969) *Princess Elisabeth of Lippe-Weissenfeld (b. 28 July 1957); wife of Christoph Prinz zu Schleswig-Holstein, Head of the

House of Oldenburg The House of Oldenburg is a Germans, German dynasty whose members rule or have ruled in Danish Realm, Denmark, Kingdom of Iceland, Iceland, Kingdom of Greece, Greece, Norway, Russian Empire, Russia, Sweden, United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, King ...

References

House of Lippe