Founded ca. 1625 | ||
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Titles Prince of LippePrince of Lippe-BiesterfeldCount of Lippe-Biesterfeld Current head Armin, Prince of Lippe (also Head of the House of Lippe) | ||
Lippe-Biesterfeld was a countly cadet line of the House of Lippe between 1762 and 1905. In 1916, a new, Princely, cadet line was created for the wife and sons of Prince Bernhard of Lippe. It also became a title of the Dutch Royal House created in 1937.
Contents
History
The branch of Lippe-Biesterfeld was founded by Jobst Herman (1625-1678), youngest son of Simon VII of Lippe-Detmold. From the line Lippe-Biesterfeld later the branch Lippe-Weissenfeld was separated. Both the Counties Lippe-Biesterfeld and Lippe-Weissenfeld were ceded and sold to the princely line of Lippe(-Detmold) on 24 May 1762. The Head of the Lippe-Biesterfeld family was given the style Illustrious Highness (German: Erlaucht) at Detmold on 27 August and 1 October 1844.
When, in 1895, the mentally ill Prince Alexander ascended the throne of the Principality of Lippe, Prince Adolf of Schaumburg-Lippe was appointed to act as regent of Lippe, this according to a then secret kept decree of the predecessor Prince Woldemar. Alexander was the last male of the Lippe-Detmold line; the next senior lines of the House of Lippe were the Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld, followed by the Counts of Lippe-Weissenfeld, and then by the most junior line the Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe.
Shortly after becoming a member state of the German Empire in 1871, the Lippe-Detmold line died out on 20 July 1895. This resulted in an inheritance dispute between the neighboring principality of Schaumburg-Lippe and the Lippe-Biesterfeld line. The dispute was resolved by the Imperial Court in Leipzig in 1905, with the lands passing to the Lippe-Biesterfeld line who, until this point, had no territorial sovereignty. Since then the Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld were the Princes of Lippe.
The current head of the House of Lippe is Stephan, Prince of Lippe (born 24 May 1959). Stephan is the grandson of Prince Leopold IV (1871–1949), and a first cousin once removed of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (1911–2004), the prince consort of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (1909–2004).
1762 - 1905: Counts of Lippe-Biesterfeld
On 25 October 1905 Count Leopold became the reigning Prince of Lippe as Leopold IV.
1909 - 1916: Morganatic title and new cadet line
On 8 February 1909, the title Countess of Biesterfeld (not related to the previous title Count of Lippe-Biesterfeld) was created for Armgard von Cramm (1883–1971) and her descendants. Armgard was the wife of Prince Bernhard of Lippe (1872–1934), the brother of Prince Leopold IV. On 24 February 1916, Armgard and her two sons Bernhard (1911–2004) and Aschwin (1914–1988) were created Prince(ss) of Lippe-Biesterfeld with the style Serene Highness. They returned to a more senior position in the line of succession to the Lippian throne, in which they previously had been the very last. The suffix Biesterfeld was revived to mark the foundation of a new cadet line.
1937 - present: Dutch Royal title
By royal decree of 6 January 1937, the titles Prince of the Netherlands, with the style Royal Highness, and Prince of Lippe-Biesterfeld, were created in the Kingdom of the Netherlands for Prince Bernhard and his descendants. The Lippe-Biesterfeld title hereby became also a Dutch one. On 7 January 1937, Bernhard married Princess Juliana of the Netherlands (who later was the Queen regnant of the Netherlands between 1948 and 1980). From this marriage, four daughters were born who all hold the title Princess of Lippe-Biesterfeld:
Since the title is only inheritable in male line, with them the title will become extinct.
1998 - present: Other
By royal decree of 26 May 1998, the descendants of Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven (born 1968), eldest son of Princess Margriet, all have the newly created surname van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven.