View source for Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe

{{Short description|German principality (1647–1918)}}
{{Use dmy |date=April 2024}}
{{Expand German|topic=hist|Schaumburg-Lippe}}
{{Infobox former country
| native_name            = {{native name|de|Grafschaft (Fürstentum) Schaumburg-Lippe}}
| conventional_long_name = County (Principality) of Schaumburg-Lippe
| common_name            = Schaumburg-Lippe
| era                    = [[Early modern Europe]]
| status                 = Principality
| empire                 = Holy Roman Empire
| title_leader           = Prince
| leader1                = [[George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe|George William]] (first)
| year_leader1           = 1807–1860
| leader2                = [[Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe|Adolf II]] (last)
| year_leader2           = 1911–1918
| status_text            = {{ubli|[[States of the Holy Roman Empire|State]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (1789–1806)|[[States of the Confederation of the Rhine|State]] of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] (1806–1813)|[[States of the German Confederation|State]] of the [[German Confederation]] (1815–1866)|[[States of the North German Confederation|State]] of the [[North German Confederation]] (1867–1871)|[[States of the German Empire|State]] of the [[German Empire]] (1871–1918)}}
| year_start             = 1647
| year_end               = 1918
| event_start            = Partitioned from<br />{{spaces|4}}[[County of Schaumburg|Schaumburg]]
| event1                 = Inherited<br />{{spaces|4}}[[Lippe-Alverdissen]]
| date_event1            = &nbsp;<br />1777
| event2                 = Raised to [[Fürst|principality]]
| date_event2            = 1807
| event_end              = [[German Revolution]]
| event_post             = Merged into<br />{{spaces|4}}[[Lower Saxony]]
| date_post              = &nbsp;<br />1946
| p1                     = County of Schaumburg
| flag_p1                = Schaumburg-Grafschaft.PNG
| border_p1              = no
| s1                     = Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe
| flag_s1                = Flagge Fürstentum Schaumburg-Lippe.svg
| image_flag             = Flagge Fürstentum Schaumburg-Lippe.svg
| image_coat             = Coat of Arms of the Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe.svg
| image_map              = Schaumburg-Lippe in the German Reich (1871).svg
| image_map2             = Schau-lippe.png
| image_map_caption      = Schaumburg-Lippe within the German Empire
| capital                = [[Bückeburg]]
| stat_year1             = 1861
| stat_pop1              = 29,000<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1861 |title=A Treatise on Modern Geography, in which are Presented, Under Distinct Heads, the Natural Features, Productions, Zoology, and History of the Various Countries Throughout the World  |url= |location=Dublin |publisher=Congregation of the Christian Brothers |page=121 |isbn=}}</ref>
| national_anthem        = ''Heil unserm Fürsten, heil''<br />''Hail to our Prince, hail!''
}}
'''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 capital at [[Bückeburg]], an area of {{cvt|340|km2}} and over 40,000 inhabitants.

== 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 [[Principality of Lippe|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 the ruling Count, [[Friedrich Christian, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe|Frederick Christian]]. To counter these threats, Frederick's grandson, Count [[Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe|William]] (who reigned 1748–1777) retained a standing army of up to 1000 troops – quite a lot for such a small territory.

With William's death in 1777, the junior line [[Lippe-Alverdissen|Schaumburg-Lippe-Alverdissen]] inherited the county, thereby reuniting Schaumburg-Lippe with Lippe-Alverdissen.
[[File:Kleinstaaterei 1834.jpg|thumb|left|German cartoon from 1834 poking fun at the microscopic size of Schaumburg-Lippe by exaggeration, before the [[Zollverein]]]]
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 least populous state in the German Empire.<ref>{{Cite CE1913|wstitle=Schaumburg-Lippe}}</ref> The capital was [[Bückeburg]], while [[Stadthagen]] was the only other town. Under the constitution of 1868, there was a legislative diet of 15 members with ten elected by the towns and rural districts, one each by the nobility, clergy and educated classes and the remaining two nominated by the prince. Schaumburg-Lippe sent one member to the [[Bundesrat (German Empire)|Bundesrat]] (federal council) and one deputy to the [[Reichstag (German Empire)|Reichstag]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Schaumburg-Lippe}}</ref> The principality lasted until the [[German Revolution|end of the German monarchies]] in 1918, when it became a [[free state (government)#Germany|free state]] as the [[Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe]]. In November 1918, Prince Adolf was the penultimate German monarch to abdicate.

== Rulers of Schaumburg-Lippe ==

{{See also|Bückeburg#Aristocracy}}
[[File:Bueckeburg Schloss v O.JPG|thumb|[[Bückeburg]] Palace, former residence of the ruling princes, still owned by the princely family]]
[[File:Princely standard of Schaumbourg-Lippe (1911-1918).svg|thumb|Princely standard]]
=== Counts of Schaumburg-Lippe (1640–1807) ===
* '''[[Philip I, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1601-1681), Count of  Lippe-Alverdissen 1613-1640, of Schaumburg-Lippe 1640-1681
** '''[[Frederick Christian, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1655–1728), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1681-1728
*** '''[[Albert Wolfgang, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1699–1748), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1728-1748
**** '''[[William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1724–77), Count of  Schaumburg-Lippe 1748-1777
** ''Philip Ernest, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1659–1753)''
*** Frederick Ernest, Count of Lippe-Alverdissen (1694-1777)''
**** '''[[Philip II, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1723–87), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1777-1787
***** '''[[George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe|George William, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1784–1860), Count of Schaumburg-Lippe 1787-1807, became Prince in 1807

=== Princes of Schaumburg-Lippe (1807–1918) ===
* '''[[George William, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1784–60), 1st Prince 1807-1860
** '''[[Adolf I, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1817-1893), 2nd Prince 1860–1893
*** '''[[George, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1846–1911), 3rd Prince 1893-1911
**** '''[[Adolf II, Prince of Schaumburg-Lippe]]''' (1883-1936), 4th Prince 1911–1936, deposed 1918

==See also==
{{Commons category|Schaumburg-Lippe}}
*[[List of consorts of Lippe#Countess of Schaumburg-Lippe|List of consorts of Lippe]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle}}
{{States of the Confederation of the Rhine}}
{{States of the German Confederation}}
{{States of the North German Confederation}}
{{States of the German Empire}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord missing|Lower Saxony}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaumburg-Lippe, Principality of}}
[[Category:Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe| ]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in 1918]]
[[Category:States and territories established in 1643]]
[[Category:States of the Confederation of the Rhine]]
[[Category:States of the German Confederation]]
[[Category:States of the North German Confederation]]
[[Category:States of the German Empire]]
[[Category:Former states and territories of Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:1643 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Principalities of the Holy Roman Empire]]


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